20 MOST INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT PREGNANCY
20 Most Interesting Facts About Pregnancy
Pregnant and excited? Pregnancy is a wondrous thing akin to a miracle. You are basically creating life. Amazing. But how much do you really know about pregnancy? In this article, Beauty and Tips takes a look at 20 interesting facts about pregnancy.
“Mom, where do babies come from?” It’s a question we dread from our inquisitive six-year-olds.
“Just go and watch TV,” we say.
“But I wanna know where babies come from!”
“They come from a stalk, okay?! A big stalk flew down and delivered you to me.”
“WUT.”
“I DON’T KNOW.”
Any woman who has ever been pregnant will surely attest to the fact that it’s one of the most weird and wonderful experiences they’ve ever had, and are ever likely to have. It’s just utterly fascinating. You literally have a new life form growing inside of you. Your own baby that you and your partner created, and who will eventually go onto be as old and as fabulous as you. But as much as you think you know about the process, we reckon there is a lot you don’t know. Let’s take a look at 20 interesting facts about pregnancy.
Your Baby Pees Inside You
Okay, so we thought we’d get the most gross fact out of the way first. See, babies are just like you in that when they’ve gotta go pee, they’ve really gotta go. And just like you when you’ve REALLY gotta go, they don’t care where they do it. They don’t wait for the bathroom to be free. They just go. Right inside you. Yes. Your baby – after around four months of holding it in – will pee inside you. And once they’ve peed once, their seal is broken and they keep going. In fact, they releases up to a litre of urine per day! However, that’s not the worst thing. Perhaps the grossest fact here is that your cute little bunny also drinks its own urine. It literally has no shame. But hey, you did the same thing once!
Pregnancies Don’t Always Last 9 Months
And then we thought we’d get the scariest one out of the way second. Okay, brace yourself for this one. Scariest fact about pregnancy? A woman from LA was once pregnant for ten years. Yes. Ten. Years.
That’s like … WE JUST GOT BRAIN FREEZE TRYING TO CALCULATE HOW MANY DAYS.
Of course, the good news is that most pregnancies do last just nine months. But some have been known to last more than a year. So. Um. Brace yourself. Just in case, you know?
Your Hair Becomes Thicker
Ever wished you had thicker hair? It’s one of the bonuses of becoming pregnant! This is due to your oestrogen levels going crazy. It causes your hair to become thick and extra glossy. However, there is also a rubbish reason why oestrogen levels work this way when you’re pregnant. Wanna know it? Okay. Your hair becomes thicker because your hair isn’t growing back as much.
Oh! There’s always a caveat!
On the plus side, you lose less hair. Also, when you give birth, you might notice a lot of hair falling out. Don’t worry – this is normal. It’s simply the hair that should have fallen out during the previous few months.
Here’s How Big Your Uterus Becomes
Ever spent much time thinking about your uterus before you got pregnant? Probably not. But your uterus is an amazing, super flexible thing that’s roughly the same size as a small peach when you first fall pregnant. This is another one of interesting facts about pregnancy. As the time passes and your pregnancy enters its final days, your uterus stretches out. It stretches out so much that it become roughly the same size of a watermelon. Wow! You’ll know when it’s reached this gigantic size because it’s time for baby to pop out!
Your Joints Go Softer
Your joints are pretty strong pre-pregnancy (it’s to do with all that calcium), but one of interesting facts about pregnancy is that they soften once you’ve got a new lump growing inside you. Why? It’s an essential part of the process. As your body prepares for birth, it releases relaxin, which is a hormone that softens your joints. It has to do this so that it’s super easy for your baby to pop out during labour.
When You’re Pregnant, You Grow A New Organ
Think this sounds too bizarre to be true? Then what do you think about the miracle of life itself?! Just as you develop a whole new human being inside your body, you also grow a new organ – the placenta. Yup, in case you didn’t know it, the placenta is a brand-spanking new organ. It’s multi-faceted and transports nutrients and oxygen from your bloodstream to your new baby. Yay! Your placenta also protects your lovely new baby from contracting an infection, and it also helps to dispose of your boo-boo’s waste. It’s amazingly awesome, and it gets pretty heavy, too!
Your Veins Might Turn Blue
Good news – they might not. Blue veins are something we associate with elderly people. Remember the first time you saw your grandma’s blue veins? Pretty weird, huh? And not especially nice to look at. Unfortunately, some of us are genetically inclined to develop varicose veins during pregnancy. The best way to try and avoid them is to undergo some light exercise as often as you can.
Your Baby Can Taste Your Food
All that delicious spinach, broccoli and lettuce you’re eating? Your baby can taste it all, isn’t it one of fabulous and interesting facts about pregnancy? Maybe that’s why kids hate greens so much? They’re sick of them by the time they’re born! Actually, babies probably can’t taste everything, and we highly doubt that they have such a sophisticated palate so as to distinguish between lots of different flavours. For example, we can’t imagine them complaining that you didn’t season your soup with the right amount of garlic. But strong flavours, such as ginger? Yup, they can taste ‘em!
Want Triplets?
Every now and then, a woman makes headline news for giving give to multiple babies. Not just one or two, but three, four or even five. Sometimes six :O
What determines how likely it is that you’ll give birth to multiple babies? Thankfully, your chance is increased if you’re super tall or overweight. Why are we thankful for this? Because we just don’t want to imagine what would happen to a poor, small and skinny girl who had five babies inside her.
What Do Cravings Mean?
Another one of interesting facts about pregnancy is that cravings are not a myth – they are very real. But what do they mean? Unfortunately, nobody really knows. However, one common theory is that we get strong cravings for something whenever we are lacking a particular nutrient during pregnancy.
Your Sense Of Smell Is Sharper
We’re not saying that your sense of smell is as heightened as a dogs, but it’s pretty strong when you’re pregnant. In fact, you might notice that it gets so strong that you (falsely) believe you’ve got super powers! Calm down Wonder Woman, you simply have raised levels of oestrogen.
A Baby’s Fingerprints Develop Pretty Early
One of fabulous and interesting facts about pregnancy is that your baby’s fingertips develop very early on. If you’re suddenly missing a vital organ, you’ll be able to find the perpetrator pretty easily once you locate the stolen organ. How? It’ll have your baby’s fingerprints all over it! A baby develops its fingerprints just a few weeks into their formation – twelve weeks at the most. As an aside, every single human in the whole word has their own unique fingerprints. Amazing.
Your Body Literally Swells Everywhere
You become pretty big when you’re pregnant – you don’t need us to tell you that! But it’s not just your belly that balloons – you whole body is capable of swelling. This is your body is filled with extra fluid, which causes swelling. Most commonly, the swelling occurs in your ankles. This can actually be really annoying and painful. If it occurs, the best thing to do to ease your situation is to put you feet higher up than your hips when your day is over. Keep them raised for around fifteen minutes, or however long you can stand. You should also be drinking more fluid than usual. This will help your kidneys to perform their tasks with greater efficiency.
Dads DO Experience Pregnancy Symptoms
This is one of the funny and interesting facts about pregnancy. We understand that it sounds highly ridiculous to suggest that men experience pregnancy symptoms. Incredibly, though, they do, There is even a technical term for it – couvade syndrome. So the next time you get pregnant and he says he feels your pain, maybe believe him?
Babies Are Getting Heavier
Sure, there were heavy babies in the past. Maybe you were a mega-heavy baby yourself. But heavy babies used to be an exception rather than the rule. These days, babies – on average – are heavier than they used to be when they first pop out of momma’s belly and get weighed. There was a recent news report about a woman who gave birth to a newborn that tipped the scales at an incredible 15 pounds and 7 ounces. That’s heavy, and this trend is unlikely to change soon. Why? Because as a collective we’re eating more and eating better. Must be all that protein.
Your Skin Will Change
Perhaps the most annoying thing about being pregnant is that your skin will undergo changes. Why annoying? Because your skin is your most visible organ. If you can’t see all the changes, your partner can (stretch marks on your back, anyone?). The reason your skin will change is because of hormones. These will dry your skin out, while the extra collagen will tear easily. This is what causes those unsightly stretch marks. The most annoying thing? They don’t even disappear after birth. The best you can hope for is that they fade.
Where Are The Most Twins Born?
Twins are so cute! Unless you’ve seen The Shining, of course. In which case, you’ll never want to see twins ever again! Parents cry with joy whenever it’s revealed that they’re having twins. But did you ever wonder where most twins are born? It’s not China or Russia – it’s Central America. So, if you want twins, move to Central America! (it probably means that you have to be American – ed)
More Women Than Ever Are Giving Birth By Cesarian
There was time when a cesarian sounded really daunting. Cutting our bellies open? Scary. There was also a time when a cesarian seemed to be the exclusive of the rich and famous. Now, however, even your neighbour might have one. They’re still just as daunting to some of us, of course. But those who have them seem to have better, much less intense experience than those who give birth the normal way. And this is just as well, because nowadays one in three American women have cesarians.
Here’s Something About Eggs…
Here is another one of interesting facts about pregnancy…Boys can develop literally millions of sperm throughout their lives. And this is despite them not even developing any until they hit puberty. Girls on the other hand? Girls develop eggs pretty early. In fact, baby girls are born with eggs. And not just one or two eggs – they’re born with ALL the eggs they’ll ever need. They don’t develop anymore! Guess this must be the reason why you sometimes hear about strange stories of very young girls getting pregnant. Heh! Why couldn’t we wait until we develop all our eggs?!
How To Activate Labour Yourself
There aren’t many ways to stimulate the beginning of labour yourself. In fact, there is only one – and it’s kinda weird. It doesn’t really have a scientific name, and the only way we can refer to it is as “nipple simulation.” Yep, you guessed it: If you want to bring on labour yourself, you or your partner will have to role your nipples. Doing so will trigger the release of oxytocin, a hormone that can then trigger contractions. Actually, it does have a name, but it’s not very scientific – it’s known as the comfort technique.
Do you want to share other interesting facts about pregnancy?
Stay beautiful!
from Beauty And Tips Magazine
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