Pregnancy can be super tough to prepare for! In the 9 months before you give birth, your body will change in many unexpected ways!
Lucky for you, there are a few things you can do immediately to prepare for pregnancy and the crazy adjustments that come with it. I’ve put together a list of the most unexpected pregnancy symptoms I experienced, as well as some ideas of how to prepare for these changes yourself!
This post will tell you about 11 unexpected pregnancy symptoms and how to prepare for them!
Unexpected Pregnancy Symptoms
1) Swollen feet
I had no idea how much my feet would swell up in pregnancy! It was summer time, we had no AC, and my body was retaining as much water as possible. By my third trimester, NONE of my shoes fit, and I resorted to wearing my husband’s sandals.
In addition, my feet stayed swollen until about 2 weeks after I gave birth. At first I was freaked out that they would never un-swell, but it just took some time.
To prepare for this symptom, plan out what shoes you’ll wear in late pregnancy. You might borrow some of your partner’s shoes or set aside some money to buy a pair or two.
2) Fatigue
Next, I was surprised at how tired I felt in pregnancy! Lots of people talk about feeling tired once you have a baby, but I was also exhausted while growing the kid. There were many days when I drifted off to sleep in the middle of the day, went to bed right after dinner, or slept in late.
To prepare for this symptom, practice keeping a bedtime routine so that you get as much night time sleep as you can. If possible, plan a nap into your days and take advantage of all the times you can sleep in or go to bed early. In addition, you can talk to your doctor about medications that help with sleeping. Unisom tablets, for example, helped me finally sleep through the night in my third trimester!
3) Bitter taste
Another surprise I had in pregnancy was that in addition to morning sickness, I often experienced a horrible taste in my mouth that made me feel extra nauseous.
To prepare for this, make sure you have some gum or hard candy on hand. Keeping a pleasant taste in your mouth, without eating a heavy meal, might help to keep some nausea at bay.
4) Food FOMO
I had another symptom that we lovingly named ‘food FOMO’. While pregnant, you body spends a lot of energy growing your little one, and you might find yourself extra hungry! I turned out to be so hungry that whenever I saw any food, I started to crave it.
This happened often when my husband was preparing food for himself – whether he was cutting up an apple or baking cookies, I just had to have that food, too! I always asked my husband to share his food, and he joked that my stomach had a fear of missing out on whatever he ate.
To prepare for this symptom, stock up on your favorite snacks! Make sure to eat meals that fill you up and drink tons of water.
5) Long term nesting
Have you heard of nesting? It’s this instinct you can experience during pregnancy to prepare your home for a new baby, which often includes physically organizing a nursery or washing baby clothes.
I was surprised to feel this urge for my entire pregnancy – maybe because I’m a planner who likes to organize? Starting in my first month of pregnancy, I spent hours cleaning, decluttering, reorganizing, and decorating our apartment in preparation for a baby.
To prepare for this urge, you might be interested in my favorite organizing book! It’s loaded with tips to organize every area of your home in small bites, and I followed the book religiously over the months of my pregnancy.
That book is linked 6) No hot tubs Did you know doctors recommend avoiding hot tubs in pregnancy?! I was unprepared for that and felt very bummed about it. You can prepare for this sad part of pregnancy by cherishing hot tubs before you get pregnant. Another fun symptom of pregnancy that I experienced was extra hairiness! I had to shave my legs almost twice as often as normal because my hair grew back like crazy. I also had extra hair on my face and belly, areas where I didn’t have much hair before. Luckily, that ended once I gave birth, but consider yourself forewarned. To prepare for this symptom, make sure you’re stocked up on shaving cream and razors if you want to shave. In addition to extra hair, my body also produced extra sweat! Again, I was pregnant during the summer in an apartment that lacked air conditioning, so maybe this symptom won’t be so prevalent for fall/winter pregnancies. If you’re having a summer baby, prepare for the heat with some heavy duty fans or top notch air conditioning. You might also be interested in purchasing a traveling fan, my favorite one can be handheld, stood up, or latched onto something. It’s super handy! Linked here. Another unexpected part of pregnancy for me was how underwhelming the doctors appointments turned out to be. The first appointment was very exciting, and so were the ultrasounds of course. However, most of the other appointments turned out to be standard, short, and kind of boring. Every few weeks I went to the doctor and did the same thing – peed in a cup, got my blood pressure taken, and heard the baby’s heart beat. Some of my appointments were less than 10 minutes, especially if I didn’t bring any questions to ask the doctor. To prepare for this, keep your expectations low. Make a big deal out of the appointments that are fun or unique. Write down any questions you have for your doctor so that you remember to ask them. One funny symptom I was unprepared for was that by the time I was in my third trimester and had a big belly, it was super hard for me to stand up on my own! My husband got into a habit of offering me his arm (aw, sweet) because he knew I would not be able to stand up after sitting down. You just become so front-heavy that it’s difficult to heave your body up, especially from low/deep couches. To prepare for this, find humor in it. There may be times when you have to ask friends or other family members to help you up, and that’s okay! Laugh about it. You could also try to sit by furniture or the end of couches so that you have some sort of hand hold. Last one! I was so surprised at how mild braxton hicks contractions turned out to be. There were many days by the end of my pregnancy when I felt dozens of braxton hicks every day. It’s hard to explain what they are, but once you notice your tummy getting super tight and feeling like a basketball, you’re feeling braxton hicks! They don’t hurt and don’t mean you are going into labor, and apparently they can happen all the time. No need to do much in preparation for braxton hicks, besides maybe ask your doctor what they’re like if you’re curious. In addition, be sure to ask your doctor about the signs of labor so that you know when to head to the hospital to finally have your baby! I hope this helped you learn more about some unexpected pregnancy symptoms and how to prepare for or handle them! Now that I’ve scared you with so many negative aspects of pregnancy, I just want to remind you of all the great things that come along with being pregnant! Some of my favorite memories in pregnancy included telling my friends and family members that I was pregnant! My sweet friends got so giddy, screamed with delight, and bought me a bunch of cute baby clothes (and shoes! Too cute!) My parents actually cried because it was their first grandkid and they were so excited :’) Another great part of pregnancy is that during the last half, you can feel the baby kick more and more each day. My husband loved to rub my belly and feel his baby girl kick his hand, so precious. We spent hours every week daydreaming about who she would be and what we were excited to do with our own baby! Then, of course, at the end of pregnancy you get a beautiful little baby! It’s not all sunshine and rainbows after that, but it feels amazing to have a child of your own. Even though I experienced these hard parts of pregnancy myself, I would do it all again over and over in order to get my sweet baby. Best of luck to you and your growing family!7) Hair
8) Sweat
9) Doctor appointments
10) Standing up
11) Braxton hicks
Conclusion
