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Nobody told me this!

When you get pregnant there are certain changes that you expect your body to undergo. You are going to develop a bump, maybe not straight away for some women but its going to happen eventually. Your boobs are going to get bigger (hurrah!) and I was fully prepared for a little weight gain all over. Your body needs to lay down some fat supplies for breastfeeding afterall. But there are some changes that happened to my body that I was definitely not expecting, some good...some not so good. Here goes...

1. Cellulite. Before pregnancy cellulite was never a concern of mine, I might have had a little but nothing particuarly noticable. After an inspection of my bum and upper thighs in the mirror during the third trimester I can now reveal that cellulite is now a new body insecurity that I can add to the ever growing list!

2. No more leg hair! Pack the Venus away my legs are now a hair free zone! Okay maybe not completely fuzz free but pregnancy definitely slowed the rate in which my leg hair grows...fortunate now that I am in the third trimester, the massive belly has made it somewhat difficult to shave below the knee!

3.BUT...Belly hair!! WTF?! Yep thats right thanks to those lovely pregancy hormones I got a hairy bump! Nothing extreme, we aren't talking a thick forest of hair but it's definitely hairier than it was. My midwife assured me that it is completely normal...I think she was just being nice, and I did shave it! Hopefully this is a rare pregnancy symptom and not every woman suffers belly fur!

4. Dandruff?! Another really weird one. Before pregnancy I never got dandruff at all, but during the first trimester I had it all the time no matter how often I washed my hair. Weirdly one of my pregnant friends also had it and she is also expecting a little boy so whether that has anything to do with it I don't know.

5. Clear skin!! Okay so the start of the first trimester my skin was spotty but the rest of the pregnancy I have had the clearest complexion of my life! I've always been prone to the occasional breakout and I would never have left the house without a layer of foundation but now I can get away with just powder and my skin has never looked better! whether it's pregnancy hormones or my prenatal vitamins I do not know but I love it!

6. Extra soft skin. It's not just me that noticed this my partner has commmented on this several times on how soft and smooth my skin is now...not that I  had rough, leathery skin before. It's true though thanks to baby it's now baby soft.

7. Bad breath. This has only been a symptom of the third trimester, and I think it may be related to the heartburn and acid reflux that I have been suffering with (yuck). If you are a fellow pregnancy halitosis sufferer then I would recommend seeing your dentsist as I think it is occasionally a symptom of other things aswell. I have found using activated charcoal before brushing has helped and whitened my teeth, but more on that in another blog.

8. A VARICOSE VEIN! This for me is probably the worst one! I developed a big, bulgy vein and the location of it only makes matters worse as it is right at the top of my left thigh boohoo. My midwife said that it is the pressure of the weight of baby and uterus etc and that is should go away of it's own accord once I have had the baby, fingers crossed!

9. Massive areola. Or burger nipples. Enough said on that one.

10. More body confidence! Yep that's right I have MORE body confidence than before I was pregnant. Even though the majority of the symptoms on the above list are hardly desirable, I feel incredibly proud of my body. Firstly for being able to make a baby (with a little help) but also for being able to carry a baby for what is now nearly 40 weeks. 
Okay so it may never go back to exactly how it was before and I am sure I will be left with some battle scars (hopefully not the vein) but it's done a pretty good job so far. To all the fellow pregnant ladies view your body with pride, even if it is a little diffent than before, a bit of cellulite and some loose skin is definitely a sacrifice worth making for a healthy, happy baby!

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