Having a baby is cause for lots of excitement! But after celebrating the initial surprise and excitement of the pregnancy, you may start to wonder about what exactly is in store with you for the next nine months.

When I was pregnant with my first child, I spent hours researching every minute thing that I felt during my pregnancy. I was curious about what was going on with the little person in my belly, but also had some anxiety about exactly what would happen when it eventually became the size of a watermelon... and HOW WOULD IT GET OUT OF ME? The more I researched, the more I wished I had not.

Pop culture does not assuage the fears that you may be feeling about your impending pregnancy or childbirth. The scariest stories that I heard weren't necessarily the ones that I heard from friends - those almost always had a happy ending or a comforting message - but it was the ones that were shared in pop culture that didn't offer any words of reassurance. I'm going to share celeb childbirth moments that scared me for life, but I'll also help you see that the little bundles of joy that get placed in your arms after it are worth it.

15 Pop Star's Scary Stories From Mom

Britney Spears is famously rumoured to have chosen to deliver her sons via c-section because her mom had shared that labour was "the most painful thing she had ever experienced in her whole life."

As someone who has had two children delivered naturally - without drugs - I won't lie to you. Childbirth is painful. But the pain is one of the hardest things to describe. It's intense and excruciating, but then the baby arrives and it completely dissipates. The pain and discomfort just disappears and you are left with a tiny little person whom you will love unconditionally.

Don't take just my word for it - Kristin Cavallari shared that "The pain was like nothing I've ever experienced," the new mom admits of her labor and delivery. "It was so painful but a different kind of pain — because I knew we were going to meet our son. It was worth every minute and I'll do it again."

14 Crying Over Everything

If you are randomly watching the news one evening only to find yourself sobbing at a story about the otters at a local zoo, know you are not alone. Even the most unflappable of women have been brought to tears for no apparent reason during pregnancy and your rapidly changing hormones.

Amy Poehler shared her experiences during her pregnancy: "Oh, my God, I'm crying at everything lately. I'm watching "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," and I was crying so hard. There's no shame in that. I'm crying at everything. The wind will blow a branch and I'm like, aw, nature." I was afraid that I would suddenly be unable to attend meetings without tearing up when my boss was delivering a retirement award to a colleague or have a conversation with my mother that didn't involve a full sob in the middle. I'm happy to report that I went back to my normal, crying only at the saddest of commercials on TV ways when I was no longer experiencing hormone fluctuations!

13 Crashing Vitals From Avatar Star

One of the scariest things you may have heard about childbirth is the risk that both you and your child(ren) will undertake while going through delivery - no matter if it's through a c-section or a vaginal delivery. Zoe Saldana shared that  "...your body experiences a kind of trauma through childbirth that is difficult to explain unless you've had that experience. My case was like that, everything from my thyroid to my platelets crashed." While the possibility of complications are real, find comfort in the fact that modern medicine has greatly reduced the risks associated with labour and delivery. The decline in infant mortality is unparalleled by other mortality reduction this century. The Center for Disease Control shares this reassuring fact: "If turn-of-the-century infant death rates had continued, then an estimated 500,000 live-born infants during 1997 would have died before age 1 year; instead, 28,045 infants died."

12 Oscar Winner Feeling Like A Failure

Many women plan to have natural deliveries and for medical reasons, are required to have emergency caesarean sections for the health of themselves or their babies. This is for your own safety! Because it happens though, some women feel "cheated" by the birthing experience. Academy Award winner Kate Winslet shared, "I felt like a complete failure. My whole life, I’d been told I had great childbearing hips. There’s this thing amongst women in the world that if you can handle childbirth, you can handle anything. I had never handled childbirth, and I felt like, in some way that I couldn’t join that ‘powerful women’s club.’” It is scary to think that you will not always have control of your birthing experience, but emergency decisions like this are required if your medical team deem it to be necessary. Remember that there is no shame or ned for feelings of failure if you don't deliver your child the way you had initially intended - the only thing that matters is that they arrive safely!

11 Model Behaviour Over 60 Hour Labour

Yes, you read that right. 60 hours of labour. While the intensity and stages of labour will have been different throughout that period, many women are surprised to find out not only that there are extremely long labours, but that they don't just include contractions. Model Camilla Alves shared that "... having a baby is a bloody, pukey, sweaty, primeval thing! And I mean that as a beautiful thing. It is wild." It is not uncommon for women to throw up or have a bowel movement involuntarily while delivering a baby - and those things are completely natural. I was horrified to think that these things could happen and discussed it with both my husband and Doctor before my first son was born. Unfortunately, my body did not cooperate as I spent the ride to the hospital throwing up on any surface that was in proximity of my mouth. The great news is that when I arrived at the hospital, they let me know that puking your guts out en route actually drastically speeds up delivery. I was only in labour for just shy of 3 hours with my first child, so maybe we should all be hoping for it.

10 Transforming Actress Turns Into A Different Person

As we've mentioned before, the best laid birth plans often go awry. Take Transformers actress Meghan Fox, who shared "I thought I was going to be tough and the nurses would be like, 'She's a warrior princess! She doesn't need an epidural! She's amazing! We're such big fans!' As soon as I got out of the car I was already crying for an epidural. I was asking the security guard for an epidural!" Before the arrival of my first child, my husband and I attended labour and delivery courses and had an instructor who asked us to type up a birth plan only to then tell us that one of the twenty women in the class would likely actually be fulfilling theirs during their delivery. Don't let this scare you, accept that this is a life-altering moment and journey and that you'll need to go with the flow.

9 Avoiding Vaginal Tearing

Another celebrity who has gone on to share some fear-inducing stories is Christina Aguilera. The singer and host of "The Voice" scheduled a c-section with her son, she later shared that the reason was to primarily to avoid vaginal tearing. Changes in the area "down there"  are often amongst the top concerns of new moms-to-be. The first thing, which may not help, is to know that this is is extremely common. It is currently estimated that 95 percent of first time mothers experience some form of tearing during a vaginal delivery. The important part to remember is that your body was designed to deliver babies and that the most likely outcome is a mild tear which will heal itself in only a few days, which you will likely barely notice as you're snuggling your newborn. You can also be inspired by the words of Kim Kardashian, who shared that after delivering her baby, "The first thing I did was go and look at my vagina in the mirror," she says. "It looks better-looking than before." If you are very worried about it, talk to your Doctor or midwife as they can potentially recommend some exercises which may help alleviate some of the risk of tearing.

8 Posing For Pain

Back to women's number one fear for a moment which so many pop culture moments do nothing to alive. Australian model Miranda Kerr shared a frightening quote about her labour and delivery of son, Flynn Christopher Bloom, in 2011. "I actually thought I was going to die at one point and left my body. I was looking down on myself, the pain was so intense." The pain of childbirth is very real, but I promise you - as someone who has delivered two children without any pain relief - that you will survive it, just as billions of women before you have and billions after you will. I was one of the women whose plans were completely different from reality because both of my children arrived so quickly that I was unable to have any drugs. Since I cry when I stub my toe walking around the house, I was sure I wouldn't make it. But here I am, writing about it years later. I promise it will be OK.

7 Stomach Side Effect For Singer

Many people associate Jennifer Lopez with an amazing body - myself included. Did you know that even Jenny from the Block was concerned with what her body would look like after a pregnancy? She shares this intimate moment from her delivery: "I remember my flabby belly hanging out right after I gave birth. I kind of laughed and said to Marc, 'Look, baby! Isn't this crazy?' I just didn't care," Lopez said after giving birth to her twins, Max and Emi. The one thing to remember is that the amount of fitness and tone you have in your abdominal muscles before you deliver will not magically be changed after you deliver. If you were carrying around a little extra weight before, it will still be there after - plus some additional baby weight. The great news is that there are so many options out there to lose the weight after baby if you're concerned about it. A great suggestion is to look for fitness courses specifically designed for new moms where you can bring your baby. You can not only get fit, but also get to know new moms in the area!

6 Stylist Goes fFr Stylish Labour

Pregnancy is definitely not a glamorous exercise. There are photographs out there of women labouring who look FANTASTIC, but the reality is far from that. Celebrity stylist Rachel Zoe shared that she was very concerned with her looks during labour - not because of what she actually looked like, but because of how it made her feel. "The problem is, it's such an unglamorous experience that if you feel really unattractive, it makes it so much worse." She did her hair and makeup before heading to the hospital to deliver her son. While many of us may not be that concerned, I can assure you that having a little bit of your normal look when you are heading out to your life changing event may help your psyche. As I was preparing to head to the hospital during both my labours, I put on my best waterproof mascara, threw on a little coverup and blush, brushed and styled my hair as best as possible and brushed my teeth. Did anyone care about what I looked like? Nope. Absolutely not. But it did help me feel a little more like me in a moment when I had no idea what was happening to my body and for that, I think it was worth it.

5 Life Changing Moment For Singer

Having a baby will change your life. Pregnant women hear this all the time, but if you are like I was, you are not only afraid of the whole birthing process, but also afraid of what that means for who you, as a person, will become afterwards. Turns out that pop singer Pink was also in the same camp as me, when she shared that "You hear people say it all the time, how life changes so drastically. But you can't possibly grasp how beautiful that is until you have your child." It's true - your life will change, and it will be for the better. I found the best thing to do while pregnant and experiencing already how my life had changed (No wine! No sushi!) that finding ways to stay in tune with my old self was extremely beneficial. I scheduled mani/pedis with my girlfriends and even travelled around the world - with the blessing from my Doctor - before my first baby was born.

4 Never Ending Nausea For Actress

The stories of epically terrible nausea are one of the most common gripes of pregnancy. Unfortunately, hearing about nausea while experiencing it does not help. While there are serious cases of women suffering from pregnancy complications like Hyperemesis Gravidarum (you may remember that this is what Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge, suffered through during her pregnancies with Prince George and Princess Charlotte), many instances can be alleviated somewhat with finding what works for you. Award-winning actress Jennifer Connolly shared this about her nausea: "I had to stand in front of my refrigerator, which was open, dipping pretzels in cream cheese and stuffing them in my mouth. If I did that, I was good. Otherwise I was nauseous." The best news about nausea is that it generally disappears after the first trimester, so hang on. I recall sitting in traffic one day and having to open all the windows and blast the air conditioning... In the middle of winter when there was frost on the buildings around me. It worked for me for those terrible weeks where there is nothing you can do about it.

3 Worries Of Balance From Celebrity Mom

While you may only be worried right now about getting through your pregnancy and birth, there has been an immense amount of attention paid in the last few years to something that comes along with motherhood... Work-life balance. How do you balance having a career and being the best mother that you can be for your children? Actress Bryce Dallas Howard shared her thoughts which I think hit it right on the head: "It's hard for any working parent. I think it's one of those things that you can only plan so much. You just have to make decisions on a day-to-day basis." If you love, nurture and find ways to spend quality time with your children, you'll be providing them with everything they need to thrive in those precious years when they need it the most. I found this struggle starting even when I was pregnant and coming to terms with the fact that I couldn't do everything I had done in the past like working 16 hour days in the office when I could barely keep my eyes open at the end of the day. Bethenny Frankel apparently agreed, stating “In many ways, being pregnant and working were more difficult than motherhood." You'll find a balance and fit that will work for you.

2 Let's Talk About Sex With A Reality TV Star

It's a taboo subject, but one that is likely on your mind if you're newly pregnant and wondering what it will be like as you approach your due date. Reality TV star turned wife of football player Kristin Cavallari shared that “Sex is funny when you’re pregnant. Guys get weird about it. I’m like, ‘Oh Jay, the baby’s kicking!’ And he’s like, not wanting to know about it.” There is every reason in the world to be worried about how your sex life will change before and after birth, and I can not say that it won't. There will be days when you can barely keep your eyes open through dinner when pregnant or nights where you'll be covered in something that came out of a baby afterwards. What I can tell you is that if you have a caring partner who is supportive of the absolutely remarkable journey that you are going through that you will find an intimate life during pregnancy and after baby that is just as satisfying as it was before.

1 Permanent Versus Temporary With A Celebrity

When I was pregnant, I spent an inordinate amount of time on the internet searching for every single thing that was happening with my body. Was that supposed to happen? Would this other thing go away once the baby was born? I was not alone, as actress Hayden Panettiere shared about her post-baby body: “I’m still trying to figure out what [pregnancy] has done to my body, how it’s changed it. What’s temporary and what’s permanent. I feel like an 80-year-old woman trying to go down the stairs, you know — please tell me this is temporary!

But I know some things will never be the same again.” Hayden is right - your body will change. What you have to remember is that you will too; you will be a mother. The most important thing to remember is that you will figure out what the new normal is after your baby has been born and during your pregnancy, there are few things you can do to alter it. I applied the most expensive stretch remover cream that man had invented that was guaranteed to work wonders, only to wind up with the same stretch marks that graced the stomachs of my mom and grandma. On the other hand, my feet that grew two sizes while pregnant did shrink back to their normal size afterwards. My shoe closet sighed in relief.

So while I wholeheartedly admit that what you may hear about pregnancy and childbirth through pop culture can be petrifying, the key thing to remember is that women have been having babies for centuries before us, and they will continue to do so for centuries after us. The thing I chose to focus on was finding ways to make pregnancy less scary, like talking to friends who have experienced it rather than just the horror stories without the comfort that you may find online. Always focus on the fact that you're going to have a warm, cuddly bundle of joy in your arms and trust me, you'll be fine.

Sources: Parents.com, Elle.com, CDC.com, Momtastic.com