Pregnancy

When people talk about pregnancy, they tend to talk about the big stuff. But during pregnancy, your body goes through many changes both big (no pun intended) and small. Some of the lesser known changes that occur might even be amongst the most shocking.

 

1. Shifting organs: As your uterus grows, your ribcage stretches and your internal organs shift. Your heart actually enlarges due to the extra workload.

2. Joints: During pregnancy, your body produces high levels of the hormones progesterone, oestrogen, and relaxin, which soften the joints and cause your ligaments to relax. This causes extra strain on your muscles and may lead to back pain.

3. Thick hair: Hair is an oestrogen receptor, and due to the large amounts of oestrogen during pregnancy, your hair will become thicker and glossier because hair growth slows and hair loss reduces.

4. Blood: You have 50% more total volume of blood in your body, 20% more red blood cells, and your heart pumps 40% more blood with each heartbeat.

5. Deep breaths: Your diaphragm compresses as your uterus grows, so while it may seem more difficult to breathe deeply, you are actually taking in more air.

6. Scent: Your sense of smell gets stronger, and this can cause changes in dietary preference as 90% of taste is affected by smell.

7. Teeth: Your gums become more vulnerable and you are more susceptible to gingivitis. If you maintain a healthy, balanced diet and see your dentist, you won’t have to worry about losing your teeth, but it is a risk.

8. Digestion: The progesterone in your body slows the digestive process so that your body can absorb more nutrients to pass to your baby.

9. Clotting: To protect you from bleeding out during birth, your blood begins to clot more easily during pregnancy, which can cause problems. It is important to maintain good circulation.

10. Water: As you uterus grows, it is able to hold more, including your baby and at least one pint of water.

Image by Veritas on Flickr Creative Commons.