Growing a little human being does some strange things to our bodies, but did you ever expect pregnancy to make you sound like a goat when you burp, or turn you from a coriander hater to a lover?
We asked our huge Facebook community of mums about the weirdest things pregnancy has done to their bodies and their answers didn’t disappoint. From milk coming out of armpits to sprouting toe hair and butt crack stretch marks – these are some of the strangest pregnancy symptoms we’ve ever come across.
Strap yourselves in ladies, you’re about to hear from expecting women who lactate from strange places and grow beards. Seriously, we can’t make this stuff up.
The weirdest pregnancy body changes
When it comes to unexpected, strange and downright weird pregnancy body changes, these take the cake.
“I had milk coming out of my armpits.” – Stacy
“I grew a beard with my first and couldn’t look at a penis without dry reaching with every pregnancy.” – Elizabeth
“My vagina looks like a deflated balloon … and not the small ones.” – Kelly
“I have no feeling in my fun parts anymore.” – Mélanie
“I’m not ticklish anymore.” – Jillian
“When I burp I sound like a goat. Started when I was pregnant and almost four years later it still happens.” – Dee
“My nipples are constantly ‘on’!” – Marlene
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“I found out I had a super small breast under my arm and it actually even produced milk.” Britny
Stretch marks … everywhere …
We expect a few belly stretch marks during pregnancy – but stretch marks down there? Yep, our mums found pregnancy stretch marks in the strangest of places.
“Stretch marks on my ankles” – Chloe
“Stretch marks on my knees.” – Laura
“I have a giant stretch mark on my hooha” – Jasmine
“I got stretch marks in my butt crack.” – Jody
Allergies cured and created
There’s already a pretty hefty list of foods to eat and avoid during pregnancy, but carrying a bump also means your body may just reject your favourite dishes.
“I’m allergic to pineapple now.” – Jennifer
“I had a citrus allergy between start of puberty until end of pregnancy. It magically went away. The theory is that a hormonal change was the cause of my allergy and the pregnancy hormones ‘rebooted’ my system and removed the allergy.” = Chloe
“I’m allergic to bandaids now.” – Estelle
“It made me stop being allergic to shellfish.” – Rachel
“I am now allergic to bee stings.” – Carice
“Made me allergic to sesame.” – Samantha
“Hay fever came back with vengeance.” – Darian
“My hay fever disappears when I’m pregnant. Best thing ever.” – Erin
“First pregnancy I became allergic to shellfish, second pregnancy developed an allergy to additives and shampoo and conditioner an my third pregnancy an my last I became lactose intolerant.” – Ally
“Allergies now to dye of any sort and lactose intolerant!” – Brooke
“I got an allergy to dogs after I gave birth!” – Brittany
“I became allergic to deodorant, body wash and perfume under my arms all through my second pregnancy.” – Louise Ware
“During my second pregnancy I developed an oral allergy to tomatoes. It’s nearly 12yrs later and I still have it.” – Sarah
“I’m now anaphylactic to so many things that i wasn’t before I had my daughter.” – Naomi
“Allergic to kiwi.” – Romana
“Cured my wheat intolerance I had had for 7 years prior.” – Jemma
“Given me food allergies to almost everything.” – Bec
“Makes me hate certain veggies!” – Cheryl
“I can’t drink orange juice without feeling sick anymore. I also love tomato sauce on hot chips now and I couldn’t stand it before.” – Chantelle
Food aversions and cravings
There are ‘normal’ pregnancy cravings and aversions and then there are strange and unexplained things that just don’t make any sense.
“I cant drink regular water, eat certain kinds of tortillas or eat certain bbq sauces now. And my son is five months-old.” – Sue
“Used to eat eggs EVERYDAY now I can’t even smell them.” – Laura
“Made me completely hate iced coffee now when I drunk it everyday rain hail or shine for years.” – Taylah
“Olives. Hated them, now I love them.” – Prudence
“I now get severe stomach cramps after eating bananas, cooked or raw … I love bananas.” – Sarah
“I can no longer eat eggs without instantly vomiting.” – Kelly
“Never ate tomatoes or drank coffee and now I do.” – Rebecca
“Made me love coriander.” – Masumi
“I cant eat spicy food anymore.” – Kylie
“Made me hate honey the smell the taste the look of it. Yuck!” – Nicole
“I now hate coffee. Thought oh it’s just a pregnancy thing, then a breastfeeding thing, it’s been nine months since I stopped feeding now and I still cannot stand the taste.” – Lucy
“I expected cravings, but a food aversion took me by surprise. I was on prac in a high school, a whole table of chocolate cake and sweets was laid out in front of me at a special morning tea for the staff, and all I could think was “meh, what else is there?” I normally love chocolate! So that was weird!” – Amy
“I now love olives, never did until after I had her.” – Tine
“I can’t stand the smell of mint since my fourth pregnancy. I had to use kid toothpaste when pregnant due to gagging on even mild mint ones. I used to love choc mint but now the smell makes me almost vomit!” – Pamela
Physical changes
From hair randomly changing colour to new freckles and feet that are two sizes larger (or smaller) than usual, these are the weird things pregnancy did to women’s bodies.
Hair texture, length and loss of curls
“My hair went from dead straight to curly.” – Jane
“In one pregnancy my hair fell out. I was expecting lush hair and then to have it fall out after the baby was born.” – Natasha
“The hormones make me grow facial hair.” – Dee
“The curl dropped out of my hair and it’s four shades darker.” – Adele
“The hair is EVERYWHERE. Started getting thicker and darker and growing all over my body! Two and half years later and am still battling with love hate relationship with it.” – Jess
“Eye and hair colour lightened over both pregnancies.” – Samantha
“My hair texture changed.” – Meg
“My hair profile has completely changed! Was curly and is now almost straight!” – Hayley
“I grew so many new baby hairs I grew a whole fringe.” – Haylie
“Stopped growing body hair as quickly.” – Kristy
“Scalp psoriasis.” – Melissa
“The top of my scalp hurt like after you let your hair down that was too tight.” – Cindy
“Turned my hair curly! I used to have dead straight hair that never held a curl. During my first pregnancy my hair went really curly. Then back to wavy in my second pregnancy and curly again with my third.” – Ashlee
Teeth and gums
“Made my teeth dodgy. I never had issues with my teeth before children, and since having them, I’ve had several extractions and fillings.” – Kellie Slade
“Bleeding gums at night.” – Sarah
“Dissolved a few of my teeth!” – Ursula
“Made my teeth move to different positions.” – Jess
“I had a ‘pregnancy tumour ‘ with my second where I developed an overgrowth of tissue in my gum between my teeth. It went away eventually.” – Kaylee
Foot size, arch height and more
“I didn’t know it was a thing before babies but my feet grew half a size each pregnancy so now I’ve gone from a 7 to a 9.” – Elise
“Hammer toe. Turns out when the hormones went through my body to relax everything to allow a melon out of my bits, my big toe was feeling a tad left out.” – Jess
“Toe hair like Chewbacca.” – Kerryn
“I had the most random little bump on my foot, only while pregnant! Then when I swelled like a beached whale it was gone.” – Johannah
“My arches dropped so I went up a shoe size.” -Jeny
“Made my feet shrink I was a 10 and then went to a 9.” – Sarah
“My feet have become extremely cracked and I have horrible fissures on the balls of my feet.” – Chelyce
“My foot arches collapsed.” – Amber
Skin pigmentation, eczema and extra glow
“Pregnancy took away my psoriasis . Returned weeks after bub’s birth unfortunately.” – Keira
“It cleared up my psoriasis for about three years. It’s just started to come back though.” – Jenn
“My acne cleared up while I was pregnant and while breastfeeding. But unfortunately it came back.” – Nicole
“I grew a bunch more freckles and moles!” – Erin
“I got ageing spots on my face.” – Shannon
“I have one bit of my bottom lip that keeps shedding. Just has as not stopped.” – Kristin
“Haemangiomas under my left eyebrow.” – Ellysse
“Spider capillaries all over my face and neck and arms.” – Mel
“Caused me to develop Rosacea. I’ve had it ever since I had my son. My skin is horrible now and I always look red and always have breakouts. It’s horrible.” – Belinda
“I got pigmentation on my face. Looks like I’ve got a large brown birthmark on my forehead close to my hairline. It has not gone away. Got bigger with my second pregnancy.” – Stephanie
“I’ve now got eczema all over my face.” – Jess
“I have terrible black heads. When I was pregnant with both kids, the blackheads cleared up. I had blemish free skin. As soon as they were born, the blackheads came back.” – Rebecca
Eyesight
“Ruined my eyesight and now I need glasses. Didn’t see that one coming.” – Rhi
“Messed my eyes up something chronic all three times to varying degrees. Thankfully seems to go back almost normal by about 12 months postpartum.” – Natalie
Changes from top to toe
“My rib cage expanded – none of my dresses/tops that were tight around my chest fit anymore.” – Jody
“I became a coeliac. No symptoms before pregnancy … then bam!” – Caroline
“Migraines are much less severe (survivable!) and periods are less painful.” – Anne
“Given me heartburn that always comes back whenever it feels.” – Molly
“Itchy back and spine!” – Emma
“I lost my sense of smell.” – Alisa
“Made my nose fatter.” – Lauren
“I got hypothyroidism.” – Adele
“I began leaking at the sound of any crying babies.”– Chantelle
“Wrecked my hip to the point of having surgery to fix it up.” – Erin
“Excess Melatonin. I kept my tan during winter.” – Michelle
“My nose got bigger.” – Margie
“Gallstones which lead to gallbladder removal.” – Jess
“Stopped me having heartburn constantly!” – Sarah
“Fixed my sciatica.” – Meg
“Left me with Sacroiliac Joint Dysfunction.” – Emma
“My first two helped me poo better almost everyday which is real good for me!” – Bree
“Pregnancy induced osteoporosis … didn’t even know it was a thing!” – Jes
“Had a bad cough during late pregnancy, coughed so hard I popped my stomach into my chest. Referred to as hiatus hernia. Also will never be able to do star jumps again.” – Lori La Rocca
“Gave me an autoimmune disease.” – Desiree
“Seizures while pregnant for no reason.” – Tara
“My hips have totally changed shape even after losing the weight I had gained while pregnant.” – Taylor
“Shrunk my forever enlarged tonsils back down to a regular size. I suffered tonsillitis bad as a child and as a result I grew up with enlarged tonsils, even into adulthood. After pregnancy, I was looking for some reason and they are now regular size, not swollen at all anymore.” – Casey
“I have mass amounts of saliva pooling in my mouth at all times. So bad I need a bag to spit in constant. Never had it in any other pregnancy.” – Taneka
“It killed my thyroid just enough that I get no symptoms except that I gain weight like crazy unless I eat 1000 calories or less per day (the average adult should consume double that).” – Rosemary
“I got carpal tunnel and forever lost my centre of gravity/balance.” – Renae
“I developed an under active thyroid.” – Nikki
“Stopped me sleeping for three weeks because of nocturnal panic attacks. Had to teach myself to sleep again.” – Minna
“I used to be able to sleep through anything, would fall asleep instantly in the car or planes. Since falling pregnant I really struggle falling asleep anywhere.” – Georgia
“Hernia above the belly button.” – Katie
“I developed asthma during my third pregnancy with twins. Still have it 10 years later but mostly just in the winter.” – Savannah
“Vulva Varicose. Luckily not permanent.” – Rebecca Patterson
“Itchy armpits.” – Angela
“Became coeliac with my second lactose intolerant with my third dairy allergy with fourth and gestational diabetes with my twins.” – Dawn
“Extremely heightened sense of smell, it was horrendously offensive all the time.” – Rebeka
“Expended ribcage, all my fitted clothes are really tight below my boobs.” – Chelsea
“Destroy my knees. I came out labour and they just don’t work.” – Joanne
“One of my ear’s keep blocking and unblocking all day. So annoying.” – Sallie
Sudden sensitivities
Pretty sure you’re not one to get seasick? That may all change once you’re pregnant …
“Im hypoglycaemic now.” – Veronica
“Couldn’t wear perfume for over a decade, still sometimes I have to wash it off.” – Thelma
“Fixed my IBS up no longer have it! First time in over 10-15 years I can eat whatever I want. Something doctors and specialists and a lot of money couldn’t fix over the years.” – Lorna
“Metallic taste in my mouth. I was a midwife. Had never heard of it.” – Nerissa
“Helped with my migraines. Before I had chronic frequent migraines, now I only get a few a month.” – Emily
“Developed sea sickness!” – Natalie
“I can’t go upside down without feeling sick.” – Jenna
“Fixed my lactose intolerance!” – Belle
“The smell of toilet appear would literally make me gag.” – Simone
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