To us outsiders, being pregnant seems like such a beautiful experience. Months of researching baby names, learning about the human body during doctor's appointments, and bringing a new life into this world. Honestly, it sounds so magical.
But the everyday life of pregnancy is so much more than that. And way less glamorous than the movies want us to believe. Stylish maternity clothes are really expensive and hard to find, and that "glow" that everyone keeps mentioning is more sweat than sprinkles.
To paint you a more accurate picture of what it's really like to grow a human being in your belly, Bored Panda has compiled a list of honest posts that mothers and their loved ones made about them expecting.
#1 Unsolicited Advice
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#2 Oops
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To help you make sense of what pregnant women go through, Bored Panda contacted Vicki Broadbent, a writer, director, broadcaster, and founder of the parenting blog Honest Mum. "There is a myriad of changes which take place when you're pregnant: hormonal so chemical/emotional changes and of course physical as your body expands to house your precious cargo," the bestselling author of Mumboss (UK) and The Working Mom (the US and Canada) said.
Vicki herself has two boys and a baby girl on the way. "I believe pregnancy has provided me with somewhat of a maternal superpower too. My instincts are sharpened so my boundaries are stronger; I have less tolerance for any BS or drama as I'm protective of my mental and physical health and that of my baby's and my focus is firmly on that which brings me joy," she explained. "I recently read that women are born with all of the eggs they'll ever have in a lifetime and that when my mother was in my grandmother's womb I was there, nestled within her as a tiny egg. How incredible is that? I like to think there's a generational strength that has been passed down to me from this strong line of women, empowering me on a cellular level."
That's true, female babies are born with all the egg cells they're ever going to have; around 1-2 million of them! No new egg cells are made during their lifetime. When a girl reaches puberty, she has between 300,000 and 400,000 eggs left.
#3 A Gift My Husband Made For Me To Use When Strangers/Family Get Too Grabby Towards My Belly Without Asking First
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#4 Feelin’ Like A Whole Chicken
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Pregnancy starts taking its toll right from the get-go. "First-trimester nausea and fatigue certainly aren't fun. Nor is indigestion and insomnia of the second trimester but as this is my fourth pregnancy and third baby (I sadly lost a baby last year), I am relishing the magic of pregnancy as much as possible," Vicki Broadbent said.
That being said, Vicki still faces challenges. "I can't lie and say I'm fully at peace with my changing body as society/the media and my own pressure to not look 'too big' does affect me but I'm certainly trying to be kind to myself with loving affirmations and making healthy food choices and safely exercising. I'm doing daily meditation too so I can be more responsive and less reactive — hormones can be wild at times — so that helps!"
Tommy's, the largest UK charity researching the causes and prevention of pregnancy complications, miscarriage, stillbirth, premature birth, and neonatal death, also recognizes that it's natural to get a bit stressed when you're pregnant and acknowledges that coping with your symptoms and changing lifestyle, as well as everyday life, can sometimes be overwhelming. To relax, Tommy's offers these tips.
#5 My Pregnant Wife Had To Dress Up As A Superhero For Work Today
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#6 My Pregnant Wife Is Practicing Her Swaddling. Skittles Isn't A Fan
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Personally, Vicki prefers meditation and allowing herself to feel all the emotions that arise. This includes crying when she needs to.
"Talking candidly about how I'm feeling is key," she said. "I kept a lot of trauma buried within me after a tough first birth and I learned from that period that not expressing my pain was detrimental to my mental health so now I talk (and talk) to those I love."
The mom listens to her body too. "When I need to sleep, I sleep and any guilt I might have harbored to try and be superwoman in previous pregnancies has definitely gone this time around."
Vicki discusses her experiences in her blog Honest Mum as well as on Facebook and Instagram. She will be releasing a new post today so be sure to check it out. Nobody is quite as articulate and sincere as she is.
#7 I Texted My 36 Week Pregnant Wife To Ask How She Was Feeling, This Was The Photo I Got In Response
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#8 Pregnancy Problems
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#9 Pregnancy Is Beautiful They Said. You'll Glow They Said
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#10 My Wife Sneaking Up On Me
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#11 My Pregnant Wife Wanted Pancakes In The Middle Of The Night. I Delivered
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#12 Pregnancy Struggles
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#13 My Wife Is Pregnant And She Thought It Would Be Funny To Take A Picture Of Our Dog's Feet Looking Like They Are Her's
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#14 Pregnancy Probs
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#15 Help Your Wife Out
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#16 My 39-Week Pregnant Wife Went To The Store To “Get Stuff For Dinner”. This Is What She Came Home With
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#17 Pregnancy Brain
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#18 My Pregnant Wife Has Been Practicing Her Swaddling Technique On The Dog
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#19 Before And After
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#20 My Wife Is 39 Weeks Pregnant And Really Wants To See Deadpool 2
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#21 Pregnancy Problems
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#22 Pregnancy Struggles
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#23 My Husband Found Me Hiding In The Bathroom, Pants Down, Shoveling Cookie Dough Ice Cream In My Mouth And Hiding From Our Kids. This Is Pregnancy (29weeks)
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#24 Pregnancy Hormones
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#25 8 Months Pregnant And Came Out Of The Bank To Find This... (I’m The Blue Car)
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#26 Pregnant In A Heat Wave
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#27 I Heard “You’re So Big!” And “You’re So Small!” Literally Within The Same Day In Pregnancy And I Was Like Wut
What is it about our baby bumps that makes people think they can give us their UNSOLICITED comments and suggestions?
Here's a tip: Just wish us and our baby good health and safe delivery.
What's the worst unsolicited comment you've heard about your pregnancy?
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#28 Pregnancy Brain Is So Real. My Daughters Daycare Lady Sent Me This. I’m So Embarrassed
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#29 Looking All Over The House For A Good While... And Freaking Out Since Already Running Late, Finally Found My Damn Keys
Common side effect of parenting while pregnant.
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#30 The Next Person That Asks Me How My Pregnancy Is Going Will Just Be Shown This Picture
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#31 How Many Breakfasts Have You Had Today? This Is My Third
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#32 Too Hot To Wear Pants And Dresses Are Mostly All That Fits Me So I Had To Figure Out A Way To Shave My Legs While Not Being Able To Bend Over
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#33 Technically This Conversation With My Husband Happened Yesterday, But I Swear It Feels Like I Have A Similar One With Him Everyday
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#34 Nailed It
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#35 My Husband And I Took Our 5 Year Old To The Amusement Park For The First Time Today. I'm 9 Months Pregnant, This Was My Favorite Ride
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#36 I Sent This Series Of Texts To My Hubby Just Now
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#37 Cracking Up At The Hilarious (& Oh So Relatable) Difference Of My Undies From March vs. Today At 37 Weeks
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#38 Pickle Juice Popsicles
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#39 Pregnant Women Problems
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#40 No, I Am Not Enjoying Contractions. Also, I Had A Baby This Morning
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#41 Pregnancy Is Weird
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#42 "Let's Watch Football And Eat Nachos Together All Day!" Not
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#43 Im Not Saying That She Has Pregnancy Brain... I Mean It’s Also Possible That She Made Chocolate Waffles. Either Way It Smells Like A Delicious Campfire In Our Kitchen
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#44 Pregnant Wife Ordered Cheese Fries, This Isn’t Going To End Well
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#45 Pregnancy Struggles
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#46 Preggo Brain At Its Finest. Opened My Front Door This Morning To Find These In It
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#47 My Friend's Wife Is Pregnant. She Got Cravings For Sweet And Spicy
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#48 Let's Say I "Hypothetically" Forgot To Take A Pyrex Lid Out Of The Oven Before I Preheat It And It "Hypothetically" Melted
What would be the best way to get the plastic off the hypothetical oven rack? Or would one need to just throw the whole damn oven out? Asking for a friend.
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#49 Pregnant Problems
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#50 Third Trimester Probz
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#Parenting #FunnyPregnancyPics #Pregnancy #PregnancyProblems #BeingPregnant
