Pregnancy is a life-altering and sometimes downright miraculous thing, full of a mix of anticipation, excitement, and bewilderment. Everyone theoretically knows about pregnancy, but there are a great many wonderful little details that aren’t quite so well known.A woman’s body changes in a dramatic way and the physical and emotional consequences are occasionally surprising, so pregnancy is potentially a highly individual process. Here, we shall bring some of the not-so-well-known and lesser-heard pregnancy facts which will amaze even those who have experienced it for themselves in the past.
1. The Body Can Grow New Organs
Possibly the most amazing and shocking aspect of pregnancy is the formation of a temporary organ—the placenta. While the placenta is not actually an “organ” in the strictest definition of the word, it functions in reality very much like one would. This unique structure forms during pregnancy and implants itself into the uterine wall. It acts as a support system for the baby’s life, providing oxygen and nutrients and waste products transport. The placenta only grows in the mother’s body but in accordance with the baby’s genes. The placenta carries out its role during the pregnancy term, and when giving birth to the child, it is pushed out and no longer needed.
2. Pregnancy Can Alter Your DNA
The body of the mother can also transform at the genetic level during pregnancy. The science has discovered that the cells of the baby can enter the blood as well as tissues of the mother. It is known as “microchimerism,” and it means that the DNA of the baby in the body of the mother is measurable years after giving birth.It’s astonishing as it shows that the child-mother relationship lasts for more than nine months.
Interestingly, the baby cells can even confer a benefit to the mother’s health in unsuspected ways. Some studies suggest that they can repair the mother’s tissues or even keep the mother from catching diseases like cancer. In some sense, then, the baby cells can stay behind with the mother her whole life.
3. Morning Sickness Isn’t Just in the Morning
The “morning sickness” is a misnomer to some extent. Though generally most common during the morning, it can occur at any time of day or night. Morning sickness is a term used to describe vomiting and nausea in most women at the beginning of pregnancy, typically in the first trimester. Endocrine changes, including elevated levels of hCG, have been used to explain the pathogenesis of morning sickness and might have an effect on the GI tract.
But even if nausea and vomiting are the most common symptoms, there is also an increased sense of smell in some women, and any odors become nauseating to them, contributing to the sensation of nausea.This may be extended to foods to other stimuli in the environment, like perfumes, cleaning products, or even fabric.
4. You Can Get Pregnant While Pregnant
Although it sounds like the plot of a science fiction book, it is quite possible to be pregnant while already pregnant, something referred to as “superfetation.” This occurs when the woman continues to ovulate due to being pregnant and another egg is fertilized by sperm at a later time. It is an extremely rare event, but it has been documented in a few cases worldwide. If superfetation occurs, then the two infants will differ in gestational age, and therefore the infants will be born weeks apart in a very rare pregnancy.
5. The Shape of Your Belly Can Reveal the Baby’s Position
The shape of a woman’s belly during pregnancy sometimes shows where the baby is located in the uterus. People have probably heard most of the old wives’ tales stating that the shape of the belly will tell them if the baby is going to be a boy or a girl, but there is some validity to the notion that belly shape can show the direction the baby is facing. For instance, a high belly will typically mean the baby is sitting in a position where it is applying additional pressure on the mother’s ribcage, and a spread of belly further down within the abdomen may mean the baby in head-down and ready-to-be-born.
The “ball under the shirt” look, a rounder, smaller belly, is said to be an indication of a breech baby (one who’s coming feet-first), while a bulging belly is said to indicate a head-first baby. This isn’t always the case for all women and caregivers, but there are some who say they can notice patterns in belly shapes during the pregnancy.
6. Pregnancy Can Cause “Pregnancy Brain”
“Pregnancy brain,” everybody jokes about, is when pregnant women describe themselves as scatterbrained, mentally cloudy, or spacey. They usually attribute it to the hormone change or sleep deprivation, but other research suggests that pregnancy actually affects the brain. Brain scans have shown that certain areas of the brain are more active when one is pregnant, and these are areas of the brain responsible for emotions and empathy.
While memory loss is possible, changes are believed to be adaptive, preparing the woman for the high demands of being a mother. After all, there is more emotional intelligence and capacity to multitask required to care for a child, and perhaps the brain is pre-conditioning these skills for when they will be necessary.
7. You Can Have Pregnancy Symptoms Even Without Being Pregnant
You may experience nearly all the symptoms of pregnancy without actually being pregnant, a state called “false pregnancy” or pseudocyesis. It is a relatively rare state but one that will cause a woman to experience physical symptoms like missed periods, nausea, breast enlargement, and even fetal movement. These symptoms can be very convincing but are not due to pregnancy but to hormonal disturbances or mental conditions.
The situation is generally emotionally and psychologically unsettling for the women involved since they really believe they are pregnant. The pseudocyesis can vanish through the assistance of health practitioners and psychiatric intervention in certain cases.
8. Pregnancy Can Change Your Hair Texture
Pregnancy affects hair growth, thickness, and texture because of hormonal changes. Owing to the greater circulation of blood and discharge of the hormone progesterone, thicker and thicker hair in pregnancy is what most women observe.
Therefore, pregnancy may be a period when a woman’s hair is particularly healthy and lustrous-looking.However, after delivery, the hair may begin to shed in so-called “postpartum hair loss.”.
On the other hand, there are women who go through changes in the texture of their hair during pregnancy. It can become curlier, straighter, or thinner, depending on the response of their body to hormonal variations. They are temporary, and the hair texture should return to its original form after a few months.
9. Pregnancy Can Make Your Immune System Stronger or Weaker
Pregnancy is a time of significant immune alterations. While most women say that they are more vulnerable to colds and infection, some studies have shown that pregnancy actually improves certain aspects of the immune system. The body could be safeguarding the unborn infant from illness or infection in this manner.
However, pregnancy also exposes other women to other illnesses, particularly respiratory illnesses. That is why pregnant women are encouraged to get flu shots and guard against illnesses that may hurt them or the unborn child.
10. Pregnancy Can Affect Your Vision
Hormonal fluctuations during pregnancy may cause changes in one’s vision. Others have complained of having blurry vision, dryness of the eyes, or photophobia while pregnant. These symptoms usually pass quickly and also may be caused by unwanted retention of excess water within the body, which reaches the cornea of the eye as well. In a few rare cases, women may develop gestational hypertension or preeclampsia, both of which alongside other symptoms also involve problems with vision like spots or temporary blindness.
Conclusion
Pregnancy is indeed a miracle, mysterious and surprising. The body is developing mind-boggling changes not always perceivable or understandable. From the creation of a temporary organ to changes in DNA, the pregnant body undergoes changes much greater than anything to be anticipated. Discovery of these startling facts of pregnancy is what can de-mystify pregnancy and grant a new appreciation for the many complex processes of conceiving anew. Every pregnancy is special, and while most of these facts may or may not be so in the case of certain women, they may not be so in every case. The mystique of pregnancy cannot be gainsaid, however, in all its complexity and wonder.
