While 80% of pregnant women suffer from what has commonly become known as “pregnancy brain”, that doesn’t mean that their minds are running a mile a minute. There is so much to consider when having a baby.

Will they breastfeed or formula feed? Will they use cloth diapers or disposable diapers? How will they decorate the nursery? Which stroller will they get? There are so many thoughts, so many questions floating around their brains. No wonder pregnancy brain is a thing.

With all the important questions in their minds, there are also a lot of random, weird thoughts that get thrown in there as well. It’s a time full of nerves and excitement and it can come out in all kinds of strange ways.

Going through it myself, I’ve listed 15 of the most random thoughts that have crossed my mind that I know are running through the minds of moms-to-be everywhere.

15 Oh. My. God. I’m Having A Baby.

It’s okay. It’s okay. It’s going to be okay. Whether you’ve been trying to get pregnant for a long time or if you just started, when that line finally turns blue odds are you and your partner may freak out.

Visit any pregnancy forum and you’re bound to find a few dozen moms who are having trouble coming to terms with pregnancy. Even when planned, having a baby has a huge impact on a person’s life. It is completely normal to feel a bit freaked out when faced with having a baby.

It can take some time for the news to set in. Not every newly pregnant woman feels pregnant right away and there are a million things to consider when a baby is on the way. It is overwhelming. The good thing is you’ve got nine months to let the news sink in. And as you have ultrasounds, you start to feel kicks and your bump starts to show, it will start to feel more real.

14 When Will I Start Looking Actually Pregnant?

While pregnant women can see their baby via ultrasound as early as five weeks, it takes more time for your tummy to look more baby and less big lunch. When a baby belly fills out depends on many factors, including if you’ve been pregnant before, your muscle tone pre-pregnancy, and other medical considerations such as a retroverted uterus.

Usually, during the first trimester, it’s easy to keep a pregnancy under wraps. Pants might start to feel a bit tighter than normal but this can be due to pregnancy bloating.

When I hit 12 weeks, I had just about had it. My pregnancy clothes didn’t fit, maternity clothes also didn’t work. I felt unlike myself and hadn’t come into any kind of pregnancy glow yet. People gave me bad looks when I took the priority seating on public transit. It was rough. But right around 18 weeks, my belly popped. It still wasn’t the round baby belly we all expect, but it was pretty clear I was pregnant.

If you’re still waiting for your belly to feel more full, you can expect to see more of a baby belly by four and half months. Come five months, there won’t be any way to hide the exciting news.

13 My Organs Are Literally Moving. I Think I Can Feel Them Shifting.

It isn’t often that a person can claim to feel their organs moving around and actually be completely correct.

It’s one of the miracles of the world that a woman’s body can accommodate a 6+ pound baby, an ever-expanding uterus and a 1.5+ pound placenta. It’s easy to see that a woman’s belly stretches to offer up as much more space as it possibly can. But a lot of the extra real estate comes from your internal organs moving, shifting and squishing into each other.

By the third trimester, your organs look like a bit of a clown car.

Your liver and your lungs are squeezed by your stomach and intestines. While you might not be able to feel the organs actually shifting, you will experience the side effects that come along with it. The close quarters are responsible for pregnancy symptoms such as heartburn, shortness of breath and indigestion.

12 I Want To Shake The Hand Of The Inventor Of Maternity Jeans

I live in jeans. From work to going out to hanging out around the house, I am most comfortable wearing jeans. When faced with pregnancy, I was terrified—will I still be able to wear jeans and be comfortable?

A lot of people told me not to bother buying any maternity jeans. They explained that they were uncomfortable, not stylish and just not worth the money.

I am here to tell you that that is not the case. I never plan on taking my maternity jeans off. They go all the way over your bump—think high waisted to the extreme. They are stretchy and grow with you. And best of all, they come in every style you’d get any other jeans in so you won’t feel frumpy wearing them.

If you see me in six months time, odds are I’ll still be rocking my maternity jeans. As long as I have a long shirt on, no one will ever be the wiser!

11 If I Can Just Make It Through The Next Ten Minutes I Swear I’ll Get Up To The Bathroom.

It’s a cliche for a reason—when of the many symptoms of pregnancy is needing to go to the washroom all the time. And I mean all the time. For most women, it starts in the first trimester due to all the hormonal changes occurring in the body and the pressure that the expanding uterus places on the bladder.

The second trimester can be a reprieve for some women. As the uterus rises higher, the pressure on the bladder can offer some relief. I have to say I’m jealous of those women. I would be able to make it about 30 minutes comfortably between bathroom breaks.

If you were lucky enough to have a break from the frequent urination, it will probably be short-lived.

In the third trimester, as the baby drops down in preparation for delivery, the uterus starts putting even more pressure on the bladder.

The nightly interruptions will at least help you prepare for all the late-night feedings but remember not to hold it. It can cause UTIs and late in pregnancy, it can also attribute to preterm labour.

10 Am I Crying/Laughing/Angry Because Of Real Life Or Hormones?

From emotional songs to sappy commercials and pretty much everything in between, it doesn’t take a lot to set off a pregnant woman’s emotions. I got stuck in traffic on the way to Easter dinner and man oh man, I lost it. I was going to be late! I would miss the egg hunt! Tears poured out of my eyes, I was in hysterics.

But why? Well, the joys of pregnancy of course!

The first culprit is those rising hormone levels. There’s a relationship between hormones and the brain’s neurotransmitters like serotonin. And some women are even more sensitive to these changes than others.

And if you aren’t affected by the rising hormone levels, you’ll probably be dealing with a lot of challenges that have an impact on emotions. Imagine this: you’re facing a huge change in your life, your extremely tired, stressed out and often uncomfortable. How would any normal person act faced with those challenges? It’s normal for pregnant women’s emotions to run amok.

9 I Love This Name, But Do I Want To Hear It Every Day For The Rest Of My Life?

Maybe the most overwhelming decision new parents are faced with is what to name the baby when it arrives. You have to pick a name for someone, the pressure is almost too much to bear.

It's meant to be the perfect expression of your personal taste. It’s a name that you will hear every day. And there are so many barriers to find that perfect name. Is it too common or too quirky? Does it remind you of someone you’d rather forget? Is it a family name you want to pass down? Is there a weird nickname associated with it?

Once you finally get past all those hurdles, you still have to find a name you love, a name you wouldn’t mind hearing for the rest of your life.

I’ll let you in on a little secret: there is no perfect name.

There will always be other names to consider and other names you love. But whatever name you choose, it will be the best name for your bundle of joy.

8 The Girls Are Seriously Looking Great!

There are a lot of pregnancy symptoms that aren’t that enjoyable. From morning sickness and heartburn to weight gain and nausea, some symptoms would be great to skip over. But thank goodness for the changes that happen to “the girls”!

Those changes are basically the equivalent of winning the lottery when it comes to pregnancy symptoms.

Breast growth is one of the first symptoms you and other people will start to notice during your pregnancy. Before your baby bump has even started to show, the twins will be growing thanks to an increase in estrogen. Sadly they will also start to get pretty sore to the touch and you’ll need to update your selection of bras to stay comfortable going into your second trimester. But try to embrace this pregnancy bonus. Grab a wrap dress or a low cut maternity and flaunt what you’ve got!

7 When Did Stairs Become The Worst Form Of Cardio?

Everyone knows the importance of working out during pregnancy—it boosts your energy, helps you sleep better, reduces your stress and lowers your risk of some pregnancy-related complications.

But if it’s so great for you, why is it so dang hard to exercise while pregnant? It has a lot to do with the shortness of breath that most pregnant women experience at one time or another.

Early on in pregnancy, this is caused by the increase in the hormone progesterone. Progesterone causes you to breathe in more deeply and may make you feel as though you’re working harder to get air.

Later on in pregnancy, as your uterus grows it begins to take up more space and will start to put pressure on your diaphragm, making it harder for you to breathe deeply. Even still, it is important to keep exercising. Work within your limits and remember to listen to what your body is telling you.

6 Was That Gas, Or Did I Just Feel The Baby Kick?

The moment when you first feel your baby move is miraculous. With all the ultrasounds, all the blood tests, all the gained inches, nothing makes pregnancy feel more real than that first baby kick.

But when you’re early on in your pregnancy, it can be a bit confusing. While a baby starts moving in utero in the second month of pregnancy, you won’t be able to feel it until around the fourth month. And it may take until midway through the fifth month before the baby can be felt from the outside.

If you’ve reached the 20-week point, you can start to determine if what you feel is a gas bubble or a tiny foot or hand? A good way to tell the difference is by frequency. A gas bubble will come and go and won’t return, whereas baby movements will start to develop a consistency and pattern that you will come to know.

5 My Belly Button Is Losing Depth. Am I Getting An Outie?

When I noticed that my belly button wasn’t as deep as it was pre-pregnancy, I had my own internal freakout. Was I going to have an outie? Would it feel different? What could I do to stop it? If you are attached to your inner, sadly there isn’t much you can do to stop your belly button from popping.

It doesn’t happen to every mom, but for many women, it starts to happen in the second or third trimester. As the uterus expands, it starts to put pressure on the abdomen. With the uterus and a growing baby, space is a pregnant woman’s body becomes a hot commodity.

The belly button literally gets pushed out of the way to make more space.

Thankfully, even if my belly button does pop, after delivery it will go back to normal—pregnancy outies go back to innies after the baby is born.

4 I Can’t Possibly Get Any Bigger Than This.

Here’s hoping that you don’t start feeling this way until week 35 at the earliest! For me, week 20 was a tipping point. I started to get a sore back and sore joints and while I knew I still had a lot—and I mean a lot—of growing to do, I couldn’t imagine how I was going to manage it.

Women are expected to gain anywhere from 15 to 30 pounds during pregnancy. How much weight is good for each woman is something you should speak to your doctor about. But as you move through the trimesters, the weight gain isn’t split evenly. Meaning at the halfway point, you can expect to gain more than half the weight you will gain.

Baby-to-be doesn’t even reach the weight of 1 pound until week 23. From there, the baby can gain anywhere from 5-8 pounds just from week 24-40.

So bear down and get ready to get more uncomfortable—the bulk of yours and baby’s weight gain will happen in the third trimester.

3 Why Did I Google That Completely Yucky Thing I Probably Didn’t Need To Know About?

A problem that is unique to this generation of moms, Google can be a pregnant woman’s best friend or worst enemy. Every single twinge, tweak and pain can be put into words and Googled. Best case scenario the internet and all the mom forums can help talk you down from your fears. But often times, that isn’t the case.

Instead, you’ll fall down a rabbit hole that sends you into a complete neurosis and you end up calling your doctor on their home phone or heading into the ER because of a little bit of gas.

While it’s impossible to stay away from the internet completely, just remember to ensure you consult trusted sources and if you aren’t happy with the answer you find, take the internet’s advice with a grain of salt.

Remember, women have been having babies for thousands of years, way before the internet was around to tell them what to do if their lower back starts to hurt.

2 But, Like, Will I Really Do #2 When I’m In Labour?

If a mom says she didn’t think about this during her pregnancy, I’m calling her bluff right now. Even if it isn’t an active worry, every pregnant woman at least thinks about the reality of pooping while pregnant.

It’s common, it’s normal and it does happen to a lot of women. But odds are you won’t even realize it has happened, your doctor won’t care and it will be cleaned up right away.

Pregnant women poop because you use the same muscles to push out a baby as you do when you have a bowel movement. There is also extra pressure on your colon during labour as the baby moves through the birth canal. And finally, because this is pregnancy, after all, the hormone prostaglandins is released during both labour and a visit to the bathroom.

1 Does My Baby Dislike Me?

Simple answer—no. But your emotions during pregnancy can be off the charts and often inexplicable and make you feel a lot of different things.

A great way to put these kinds of thoughts out of your mind is by bonding with your baby. For a lot of women, bonding with their babies in a no-brainer. From day one they feel a connection to their baby that defies explanation.

For other moms, bonding with the baby their carrying isn’t as simple. There are a lot of different things you can do to try to make that connection. Try reading books to your baby that have meaning to you. Try writing down a few things every week about your pregnancy that you want to share with your baby one day. Play the baby some music, start a baby book, or go to a prenatal yoga class.

Above all else, remember that everyone bonds differently and feels differently about being pregnant. You’re doing great!

References: bellybelly.com.au, parents.com, whattoexpect.com, babycenter.co.uk, momjunction.com, parents.com, babycenter.com, fitpregnancy.com, livestrong.com, babycenter.com, bellybelly.com.au, parents.com, babycenter.com, health.com, kidshealth.org, scientificamerican.com, womanshealth.co.uk, pinterest.com, deviantart.com, pinterest.com.au, pinterest.com, pinterest.ca, shape.com, pinterest.ca, mchildren.ru, pinterest.ca, pinterest.com, pinterest.ca, pinterest.ca, hellodoktor.com, pinterest.ca