6 Pregnancy Symptoms No One Told You About

So, you've told everybody you're pregnant, and the questions begin. 'Do you feel alright?', 'Are you tired?' and with these, the suggestions and advice come rushing in. 'You should eat for two,' 'Do not eat papaya,' this, that, and a whole bunch of other things in between.

Pregnancy is stressful, to say the least, and symptoms like nausea, fatigue, bloating, constant peeing, and frequent mood swings are considered normal. But, unfortunately, several other nuggets of information are not told to us by these well-meaning people or shown in movies.

So, we are here to give you a look into this delightful side of pregnancy (joking, honestly) that no one tells you about. You may have none or all of these, depending on how good or bad your karma is. Let's get started.

Oh, did we forget to say congratulations? Congratulations, you rock!

Pregnancy side effects you might not know about:

1. Your Breasts are Sore and Swollen

It is the first symptom that women notice even before they think they might need a pregnancy test. It might be confusing because it feels like having sore boobs before the onset of your period. Women suffering from PMS are all too aware of this. However, tender breasts during pregnancy feel a little different than usual. You might even find small lumps when you try to touch them. Don't worry about it because it's perfectly normal. They are hugely uncomfortable and painful but will go away after the first couple of weeks.

2. Your Nipples May Protrude, Tender, and Darker Areolas

It's said that pregnancy changes your body in many ways, which is one of the changes you might see. You might already know that breasts tend to become more prominent in preparation for breastfeeding while you're pregnant. What you might not know is that your areolas will become more pronounced and darker along with your nipples in the process. Pregnancy activates fat and sweat glands. Don't sweat it. Your body might not go back to its previous state again in some respects, and it's okay!

3. You May Be Constipated

I don't know why more people don't talk about it. It seems like a really crucial thing to talk about. Anyway. You have a lot of progesterone coursing through your body when you're pregnant. Progesterone relaxes your uterus muscles, so you don't have early contractions. What it also does in the process is relax all the other muscles as well. Meaning, your intestinal muscles go on a holiday, and pooping becomes hard.

The only way to relieve this is by having fiber-rich foods and consuming a lot of fluids. You will find that 'water solves everything' becomes the prescription for almost all pregnancy-related ailments.

It brings us to our next point.

4. Your Feet Might Get Bigger

Many women complain that their regular shoes don't seem to fit so well once they are pregnant. The culprit here is the hormone relaxin. The main job of relaxing is to relax the ligaments of your pelvis and cervix for painless childbirth. As a result of this, fluids retained by the body pool near the bottom, the feet, making them puff up.

Your feet may or may not go back to their original size postpartum. But that's nothing to worry about. Who cares if you have more giant feet all of a sudden. Right?

5. You May Get Nasal Congestion

Some women suffer from nasal congestion throughout their pregnancies. Estrogen causes all your mucous membranes to swell up, which can cause congestion and even nosebleeds in some. There is no way of getting around this one. It's a drag, and we have to accept it as such, I guess. And did we tell you this may even cause snoring?

6. You Might get Leg Cramps or Leg Pain

Here's another pretty one. Leg cramps are extremely common, but no one exactly knows what causes this pregnancy side effect. It could result from excessive pressure on the blood vessels from carrying all the weight around or the work of relaxin, as mentioned above. All we know is it is significant discomfort. Try flexing your foot up and down; imagine you want to touch your shin with your big toe. We heard it helps with the pain.

Hey, we know you're more scared than delighted about being pregnant after reading all the trivia above. But we know you are going to make it, just fine. You are making a whole new person inside your belly, and that's something. Your baby's face will make you realize all the pain was eventually worth it. Really.