54 Horrible Things Pregnant Women Went Through That They Never Expected

I stopped sleeping through the night at 8 months pregnant and I've never slept well since.

My son is 20...

During: endless vomiting.
After: the most intense sadness I’ve ever felt.

Wouldn’t do it a second time, but so glad I made it through once. Because she’s also made me feel joy at life again.

My feet changed shape. None of my old shoes fit properly afterwards.

After - the huge clumps of what looks like liver that falls out for a good week

It also messed up my teeth pretty bad. I’m still struggling with that and I’m terrified of dentists so it’s just an ongoing issue

Edit: I had no idea the teeth thing happened to soooo many women!! It’s just another of those things they don’t tell you or don’t account for hey? I wish someone had told me at the time because I spent so long being terrified and ashamed. I’ll be brave and try and make an appointment with a dentist when we get back off holiday.

Iron depletion. Take your iron levels including ferritin more seriously or it will cause a lot of damage later on. I refused iron infusions during both my pregnancies and post birth. That was so stupid of me.

First pregnancy was golden. Second one wrecked me. Ended up dilated to 4cm for over a month. Hemorrhages after birth. Because of that second pregnancy I developed a severe bladder and uterine prolapse at 28 and had to have a repair and hysterectomy at 29. Also developed cyclical vomiting of sorts and vomit about 1-2x/month for no good reason. Probably will have a rectal prolapse with how things are going but on the bright side by that time if will likely be time for my bladder repair revision so I can do them at the same time!

Injectable blood thinners for 9 months plus 6 weeks after. Cervical incompetence so had to be stitched together and bedrest for 4.5 months. Pre-eclampsia. Crash c-section. These all happened in various pregnancies.

Multiple pregnancy loss. I’ve been pregnant 10 times with 3 living children.

They are worth it though!

One thing I didn’t know is afterwards your internal organs (bladder, uterus) can kinda fall downwards and it’s unpleasant….

Do you know what happens if during c section they can’t get the baby out still?

They page orthopedics and open your pelvis like a book.

How quickly things can turn during childbirth and become life threatening. I was well aware of the risks and had friends who'd come up against things like preeclampsia, breach babies, etc. With one of mine it seemed plain sailing and I was due to have a home birth but then he changed position in labour and got stuck face first. I had to have an emergency c section and we both almost perished - they started cutting before I was knocked out. Everything changed within minutes, it was insane.
Really made me rethink my views on the importance of good pre and post natal healthcare even in a country like the UK!

I had a placental abruption, uterine hemorrhage, and lost almost 1/3 of my body's blood.

Sweating like a stinky old goat to get rid of all the extra fluid in your body after giving birth.

Did you know that pregnancy can trigger your body to develop allergies? I didn't know that either. I am now allergic to cats and I have an oral allergy to kiwi fruit, raw bell peppers, raw green beans, cashews, and walnuts. I had no allergies prior to my second pregnancy.

Sepsis 5 days after giving birth and being almost 2 days in labour and difficulty delivering. The nurses said I should be able to be up and walking in no time after being discharged the day after giving birth. They did not account for the missed placenta pieces that were slowly infecting me from the inside. 5 days after giving birth, I suddenly couldn’t get up and walk. It was a whole ordeal getting back to the hospital with a newborn and getting the proper treatment. 0/10 do not recommend.

24/7 sickness for over 30 weeks, gestational diabetes, induced labour, not pooing for over a week, a grazed vulva (you can tear up - I didn’t know that before I had kids!) that had me peeing in the shower for 2 weeks, mastitis…

Honestly, I could go on and on.

Parts of my feet and legs are still totally numb almost 4 months postpartum. It started in my hands during pregnancy and eventually hit everything below my knees.

I basically labored so long (26ish hours after my water broke) and got stuck at 9cm so they made the call to do a C-section. The epidural wore off halfway through them “putting me back together”. My husband says I went from totally chill to loosing it in the blink of an eye. The anesthesiologist knocked me out and I woke back up a few minutes later being rolled out of the OR. So needless to say I’m a one and done mom 🤣.

Dysphoric Milk Ejection Reflex (D-MER). I had never heard of it before experiencing it. Basically, every time you breastfeed or pump, your dopamine plummets. This causes a sudden and severe depression. I compared it to what I imagine the Dementors in Harry Potter felt like. So, that feeling 7 times a day while pumping, combined with sleep deprivation and trying to navigate having an infant.

Extremely rare, but your labia can fuse together after birth due to low estrogen from breastfeeding. Don’t ask me how I know that lol.

No one told me that once your waters break, they just… keep going.