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You may think you know whatever there is to know about pregnancy. We are sure you’ve heard the good, the bad, and the downright disgusting, but have you heard the bizarre facts about being pregnant? By bizarre we mean facts that are just plain weird and sometimes unbelievable.
So, take a look and enjoy the 18 bizarre pregnancy facts we have found.
1. Change in Size
Over the course of a woman’s pregnancy, the uterus expands to more than 500 times its normal size. Can’t image it? Picture a lemon stretching to the size of a medium watermelon. This is an approximate estimation, but hopefully you get the idea.
2. Meal for Two
You know how pregnant women eat everything in sight? They claim they are eating for two people – themselves and the baby. In a way, this is true, because babies in their womb can taste the food eaten by their mothers. Studies suggest that strong flavours like that of garlic can especially be tasted by the baby because it passes through the amniotic fluid.
3. A Gross Habit
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This point is equal parts disgusting and unbelievable, no matter how true it may be. Second trimester onwards, your baby pees in the uterus. It gets worse, because they actually drink the pee, causing it to turn into a gross ritual. Pee. Then drink the pee. This occurs over and over again.
4. More Pee Facts
Amniotic fluid is the liquid that surrounds your unborn baby during pregnancy for protection. Did you know that it is mostly made up of sterile urine?
5. Size Matters
Image: Gemini Laki cc licensed ( BY SA ) flickr
If you are tall or overweight and have always wanted twins or triplets or even more, you’re in luck. Women who are tall or overweight have higher chances of a multiple birth.
6. Motherly Instincts
Pregnant women and new mothers sort of have a superpower. They automatically start lactating when they hear a baby crying. An interesting twist is that they can lactate even if the crying baby isn’t their own.
7. Practise Makes Perfect
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Babies are well known for crying for various reasons. You know why they’re so good at crying? It’s because when babies cry in the womb, they are supposedly practising for the real world, not because they are upset. Scientists have proven this by measuring breathing patterns.
8. Girls Versus Boys
Girls are known to develop faster emotionally than boys. This includes baby girls being born with all their eggs. Boys, however, don’t develop sperm until they hit puberty.
9. 9 Months Too Short
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9 months is the normal pregnancy duration, give or take a couple weeks. Sometimes it’s less than 9 months if your baby is born prematurely. However, the longest known pregnancy has lasted for one year and 10 days!Now that is unbelievable.
10. Heartburn Might Link To Your Babyâs Hair
When you’re pregnant you hear a lot of myths, either about the baby’s gender or the hair on her head. One tale states that if mothers experience heartburn, their babies are most likely to have a lot of scalp hair. Scientists suggest that the higher levels of hormones (that are responsible for hair growth) relax the oesophagus, thereby resulting in acid reflux.
11. Swollen Parts
A woman’s heart increases in size during pregnancy because it has to adjust to the increased volume of blood. Your feet grow as well because of the swelling thanks to water retention and stretched ligaments.
12. Want Twins?
Studies suggest that there are more twins born in Central Africa (mostly Nigeria) than anywhere else in the developing world because of a higher consumption of yams.
13. Random Fact of The Day
For every 2,000 babies, one is born with a tooth. Usually, their teeth start growing well after birth.
14. Hormones Galore
Towards the end of your pregnancy, the placenta produces more oestrogen in one day than a non-pregnant woman produces in 3 years.
15. New Makeup
It’s common to experience a change in skin tone during pregnancy, which means its time to invest in some new makeup!
16. Bloody Nose
There is an increase in blood flow during pregnancy, which results in nosebleeds and random bloody gums that are supposedly normal.
17. Sense of Smell
A heightened sense of smell is common for pregnant women. It helps them decipher which food is bad for the baby – perhaps it’s another mommy instinct.
18. Another Random Fact
Rabbits, dogs, pigs, whales, and humans are the around the same size when they are eggs (approximately 0.2mm).
Pregnancy is undoubtedly a sweet period! But it does have its own share of strangeness as well! So the next time you come across any of these facts, we hope you don’t end up shocked!
