28 Women Shared How Pregnancy Completely Changed Their Bodies, Proving It's No Small Choice
In light of the recently leaked Supreme Court draft potentially overturning Roe v. Wade, the landmark decision recognizing the constitutional right to abortion, people who have been pregnant are calling out those who believe it should be legal to force someone to carry.
Most recently, writer Amber Sparks shared how pregnancy completely changed her body, which inspired others to share how, in their own experiences, carrying a pregnancy is no minor feat before or after birth.
Pregnancy literally permanently changed the skeletal structure of my body but tell me more about how it’s a minor nine-month inconvenience
Here are 28 people who have gone through pregnancy and say they would never force the experience on someone else:
1.
@ambernoelle My rib cage will never be the same! People are so obsessed with weight, but never talk about how *your bones are in a different place than before.*
2.
@bookishkirsty @ambernoelle Also, losing teeth & jawbone deterioration due to calcium depletion.I spent a lot of my thirties having oral surgery after giving birth to two children.
3.
@ambernoelle After suffering through preeclampsyia and almost stroking out (BP hit 180/120), my blood pressure got high and stayed high. Pre-pregnancy, I had BP so low it actually concerned physicians. Post-pregnancy, 148/90 was my new normal, and I now require BP meds to control it.
4.
@ambernoelle My pelvis is permanently mangled, PT can only do so much. I make so much relaxin when pregnant that my SI joint just gave up the ghost. Now I've learned we all produce a little relaxin with our periods each cycle, so I get a refresher on that pain every month.
5.
@ambernoelle It cracked my daughter’s hip and now it constantly fuses to part of her spine, causing a lot of pain and difficulty with exercise. And that was a child she gave up to adoption.
6.
@ambernoelle And my feet. Buh bye cute shoes. My feet are a size bigger and wide now. Thanks for the hobbit feet, children.
7.
@ambernoelle @designmom My feet got 1/2 size bigger each time and I ended up needing root canal treatment after my first 2 pregnancies.
8.
@ambernoelle My tailbone broke delivering my first child. I had to go off antidepressants to carry my second. I threw up every day I was pregnant with her, including the day she was born. I wanted to die, literally. Surviving pregnancy was hard & I had attempted suicide twice (long before)
9.
@SabinaLivadariu @ambernoelle I lost 8-10 pounds during my first trimester with my daughter due to this. My doctor’s response: “you’re doing great on your weight!” 😑
10.
@ambernoelle YUP. Was not prepared for the expanded rib cage, also my legs are now different lengths? And then there’s the ol’ pelvic floor…
11.
@ambernoelle My first pregnancy triggered an autoimmune disease ✌️
12.
@ambernoelle My internal organs *did not return to their previous locations.* Things just aren't the same.
13.
@ambernoelle Yep, my ligaments spread and never went back and now my clavicle and ribs spontaneously dislocate and I’m permanently disabled thanks fully for a very wanted baby. No warning or clue this would happen. Just pelvis started torquing week 26 and progressed until I was bedbound.
14.
@ambernoelle I developed a metal allergy. After my first pregnancy is was a mild irritant with earrings, but after my second I can’t wear anything metal without getting rashes and skin peeling. They don’t talk about all of these weird things your body changes.
15.
@ambernoelle I couldn't sit for more than 5 min at a time with my daughter & standing caused shooting pain through my legs. The pregnancy literally distorted my pelvis & caused months of pain, not to mention the nausea, heartburn, headaches, sleeplessness & that's before actual labor
16.
@ambernoelle My baby is 15 years old and I still have medical complications and unavoidable lifestyle changes from my pregnancy with her, but yeah a few months of discomfort mmm-hm okay.
17.
@ambernoelle I vomited multiple times a day for 7 straight months. Postpartum I had to have gallbladder removed, and now have permanent hypothyroidism caused from pregnancy hormones. That’s aside from all the normal “my body isn’t the same” isms.
18.
@ambernoelle Add to that: can’t run without peeing, triggers autoimmune conditions in many people, hair falls out, boobs never the same, hormones never the same… it changes everything forever. It’s fine IF YOU WANT IT but a horrific thing to inflict on someone unwillingly.
19.
@ambernoelle My younger kid is 23 years old and I still have constant back and hip pain that started when I was pregnant and never went away. Everything in my body changed permanently from my hair to my feet. I never recovered, I just learned to live with pain.
20.
@ambernoelle I had spinal fusion surgery at age 14 and literally not one single Dr warned me that my pelvis spreading during my first pregnancy would lead to failure of my surgery and now at 43 my spine is disintegrating and I have constant pain.
21.
@ambernoelle I had to have surgery to literally rebuild parts of my body permanently damaged by pregnancy. Medical surgery, not cosmetic. Like necessary for my quality of life. That whole "bodies bounce back" rhetoric? Not true for everyone.
22.
@ambernoelle I gained a new allergy to only one of my cats while pregnant with my son. Her saliva causes painful welts if it gets on my skin. Also I can't stand certain 'flavors' of water now. Water at my house? Okay, it's not the worst some crystal light helps make it more tolerable.
23.
@ambernoelle My amazing mom suffered almost a whole year for me to be born. She couldn’t work. She couldn’t move. She didn’t have a single good day in those 9 months. There are no smiles or pictures. She was scared and though she initially wanted me, she didn’t anymore. Bc her life was hell.
24.
@MizzBellaKitty @ambernoelle I had to have a C-section to get my daughter out, she was stuck. It was awful. I was helpless when she cried that first night. It hurt to laugh and move. I kept saying "people choose to have this? I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy!"
25.
@ambernoelle I developed a condition that went undiagnosed for over a year. Skin peeled off my hands & my scalp, cried at the drop of a pin, couldn’t lose weight. I self diagnosed after reading article in a magazine & asked doc to be tested. During pregnancy my body killed off my thyroid.
26.
@ambernoelle Had to have my gallbladder out because of my first pregnancy. My pelvis is screwed because of my second (she was a gigantic baby). I love my kiddos and I can't imagine ever forcing anyone to stay pregnant when they don't want to be.
27.
@ambernoelle My daughter had to have surgery to repair her entire abdominal wall because it completely split open with her 2nd kid. And insurance wouldn’t cover it, considered it “cosmetic.” I thought she was joking, but I guess in Texas it’s not covered. Don’t know about elsewhere.
28.
@ambernoelle Pregnancy literally almost killed me. The zygote exploded my fallopian tube I was hemorrhaging so much and so fast the doctors were frantic. Took me months to recover. AND I was prescribed BC pills for a few months to allow my body to heal. SHARE YOUR STORY.
