I was convinced I was going to be extra cute when pregnant… turns out my baby girl did a real number on me
MOST of us grow up imagining how we’ll look once we fall pregnant and carry a baby.
Neisha La Stevens, from North Carolina, the US, was no exception – she imagined she would be extra cute before giving birth.
But little did she know that things wouldn’t necessarily go according to plan and she would look slightly… different.
The mum-to-be took to TikTok to reveal just how much being pregnant with her daughter would change her, both laughing and crying at the new face.
At first, the now-viral video reveals how Neisha looked like before she found out she was pregnant – slim and with a snatched face.
Neisha remained hopeful that being a mum won’t have much on an effect on her appearance – she’d look just as good as she did pre-pregnancy days.
However, much to her surprise, the face saw a drastic change, particularly the nose which ballooned up twice its size.
”Baby girl is doing a number on me hunny,” the mum-to-be chuckled in the caption.
Pouting and with a messy hairdo, Neisha still looked fabulous, despite thinking she’s not as cute as she had initially hoped for.
And turns out, a swollen nose is a rather common occurrence during pregnancy, as fellow mums flocked to comments to share their stories.
”The pregnancy nose. currently going though it,” a parent-to-be cried.
Someone else revealed: ”my aunt’s nose got so swollen when she was pregnant my cousin asked if she was going to have the baby through her nose.”
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”Being pregnant really be having me sitting here like nah nomore , this is it. I don’t even recognize myself,” a third mum added.
Amongst the viewers was also someone who claimed a puffy nose is a good sign and Neisha should be happy.
”In my culture, they say the daughter takes the mom’s beauty when that happens. I’m Haitian.”
Of course, a ballooned nose isn’t the only change people experience when pregnant – and some remain that way even after you’ve given birth.
Speaking to The Sun, Doctor Rachel Ward, a GP at Woodlands Medical Centre, Derby, listed the three most common permanent changes you may notice after these nine months.
Wider ribcage and hips
“During pregnancy in order to accommodate a growing baby and prepare for giving birth, our body produces a hormone called relaxin,” she explained.
Relaxin works by increasing the flexibility and movement in our joints and ligaments.
“Many women find that after pregnancy the shape of their pelvis and ribcage remains different,” Dr Rachel said.
It is common to need a different bra size due to a change in chest circumference, the expert said.
“This is a reminder of the changes your body made to accommodate your baby and is nothing to be worried about,” she added.
Change in skin colour
During pregnancy, most women experience skin changes as it stretches to accommodate your bump and enlarging breasts.
“It is not uncommon to develop stretch marks.
“Though they will often fade over time and become a shiny pale colour, depending on your skin tone they will not go away completely,” Dr Rachel said.
“Some people do not like the way stretch marks look but they are an incredibly common change that we see in many people,” she added.
A change in breast shape
Breasts increase in size during pregnancy as the breast tissue prepares to produce milk.
And shortly after birth they will start to produce milk and become swollen, Dr Ward explained.
“If you choose to breast feed or not, it is likely that the shape, size and way your breasts look and feel will be different after pregnancy compared to before,” she added.
“This is not a problem but it is important that we do learn what the new normal is for our breasts so we can stay breast aware and pick up and changes that could be cancer.”