12 Weird Things That Only Happen To Your Body When You Get Pregnant

Were you an innie before you got pregnant? If so, you might be an outie before the nine months are up. Many pregnant women's belly buttons "pop" in their second or third trimester. As Parents magazine explains, "It happens because your expanding uterus puts pressure on the rest of your abdomen, pushing your belly button outward." After you give birth, though, your belly button should return to its normal state.

Now that you've been ushered into the outie club, prepare for the possibility of pain, or at least discomfort. Some women experience bellybutton sensitivity during pregnancy, especially during the later trimesters. According to Healthline, it could be the result of a few different factors: Soreness from all the stretching as you grow; a new, irritated bellybutton piercing; or the pressure from your uterus on your abdomen.

To be fair, frequent urination isn't only a symptom of pregnancy; it's also associated with diabetes and prostate problems, among other conditions. The weird part, though, is the reason pregnant women have to pee all the time: According to What to Expect, the pregnancy hormone hCG increases blood flow to your pelvic area, which gets your kidneys all excited. Meanwhile, your uterus is putting pressure directly on your bladder, so you constantly feel the need to visit the whiz palace.

Pregnancy cravings are an easy target for sitcoms, but they're no joke. According to Psychology Today, these unpredictable hankerings usually begin early on and peak in the second trimester. Oddly enough, they vary depending on the culture. While a study of Tanzanian women found that the most common cravings were meat and mangoes, research has shown American women prefer dairy and sweets.

The causes aren't well-understood, but some doctors believe certain cravings might arise when a woman is deficient in nutrients found in the food.

On the flip side, many pregnant women experience the opposite of cravings: sudden aversion to taste and smells. As Mother & Baby explains, pregnancy tends to alter your sense of smell, usually by making it more sensitive. In fact, this sensitivity can be an early sign you're expecting.

According to Pregnancy magazine, you can blame hormones, particularly estrogen, for your supercharged nose. It's also likely that increased blood volume plays a role; when you have all that extra blood flowing around your body to your nose and brain, it's logical that your would smell things more strongly.

On average, non-pregnant women lose about 100 hairs a day. Pregnant women, however, start sprouting new hair all over the place, from their head to their nipples. According to What to Expect, hormones like estrogen are the reason your mane suddenly looks like an advertisement for hair conditioner; on top of making your hair grow faster, they make it less likely to fall out. (Until you give birth, that is.) It might even change in texture.

The same goes for your nails, by the way. Although they might feel a little more brittle, they grow faster when you're pregnant.

Swollen ankles are a common problem in pregnancy, and you have water retention to blame. According to the American Pregnancy Association (APA), your body produces 50 percent more blood and fluid during pregnancy, which provides for the growing baby and softens your body in preparation for all the expansion to come. This extra fluid can lead to swelling in the feet, face, face, and ankles, which is usually noticeable by the fifth month.

Luckily, there are ways to combat fluid retention: avoiding caffeine and increasing your potassium intake.

Given all the new stuff going on downstairs, it's probably no surprise that pregnancy usually comes with vaginal discharge. As the APA explains, this "leukorrhea" is white, thin, and might come with a slight milky smell. It might be annoying, but it's totally normal. By the way, you can also expect leakage in your breasts. Fun times?

As if you weren't uncomfortable enough already, about half of pregnant women experience muscle cramps. Usually, they occur in your legs, but muscle spasms are also known to happen in the back and abdomen.

Like a second puberty, pregnancy can bring about voice changes; an OB-GYN explained to Today that some women's voices may become deeper as extra mucus starts to line the vocal chords. Oh, and you can also look forward to pregnancy acne. Yay?

Here's your unsettling fact for the day: The placenta, which delivers nutrients and oxygen to the baby, is considered an organ. This means that during pregnancy, your body grows an entirely new organ. According to the National Institutes of Health, it starts to develop soon after fertilization, after which it attaches to the uterine wall and grows from there.

Last, but certainly not least, pregnancy means you're growing a tiny human inside your uterus. How weird (and cool and miraculous) is that?