Tell INNOVO™ what no one warned you about pregnancy & childbirth. Win £300 Voucher. NOW CLOSED

[RebeccaEMumsnet]

In order to celebrate the launch of their alternative solution to pelvic floor strengthening – Innovotherapy – INNOVO™ want to hear the effects of pregnancy on your body that took you by surprise as nobody warned you about them.

Here’s what INNOVO™ have to say: '"Motherhood can be such a blessing and change your life in ways you never imagined, however it is filled with many shocks and surprises. Some good and some not so welcome, such as a those ‘little accidents’ that we all try and hide.
Unfortunately a weak pelvic floor and the resulting incontinence is often part and parcel of pregnancy however it doesn’t have to stay that way.
Innovotherapy is a non-invasive way to restore your pelvic floor, treating the primary cause of urinary leaks rather than just masking the symptoms. Using a hand held controller that is attached to a two part garment, Innovotherapy sends targeted impulses via conductive pads (attached to your upper thigh and buttocks) to safely and effectively activate the muscles of the pelvic floor. It is a proven technology which has been designed to optimally strengthen your pelvic floor allowing you to return to return the more important things in life, such as your little ones.”

You can read more about the product and advice on pelvic floor strengthening here.

So, what unexpected effects did pregnancy and giving birth have on your body? Did anyone tell you to expect urinary leaks after having a baby? Did you consider the importance of toning your pelvic floor? Were you surprised by any other physical effects that nobody warned you about?

INNOVO™ would also love to know about any unexpected positive effects of pregnancy and giving birth. Does parenthood make you feel like you can take on the world? Do you now feel like you are more focused on what matters most?

Whatever the unexpected effects of pregnancy and childbirth were for you, post your story below. Everyone who adds a comment will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £300 Love2Shop voucher.

Standard Insight T&Cs apply

I knew about the fact that it's common for hair to fall out after having a baby but had no idea mine would fall out during pregnancy and then continue to fall out afterwards too! My hair got so thin and has only just got back to being thick now 2 years later...and now I'm pregnant again! Ah well it's only hair!

I knew about it but I had no idea what actual tiredness meant. I read up on most things and was warned by relatives about a lot. Am glad those baby-up-all-night days are over!

That my rib cage would expand in pregnancy, and even after all the weight is lost, and tummy returns to normal, the ribs would stay bigger. I have clothes I just can't fit in now, even though I'm skinner than pre babies?!

How everyone and anyone would ask the most personal questions of you about conception, birth and beyond. Weird!

This company were testing this product a while ago on here apparently.
I wonder if those testing it had any success?

The chronic backache is the worst one for me. I had three generous sized babies and epidurals with all three and my back plays havoc with me all these years later.

Stress incontinence during pregnancy. Given how common it is I think it should be discussed during pregnancy routinely with advice to start pelvic floor exercises with the first pregnancy.

The baby never reads your birth plan.

I think they've been mentioned but pregnancy insomnia, restless leg syndrome & the fact that when baby kicks it can actually be pretty uncomfortable.
With my second baby, when she kicked it gave me the most awful tingling feeling all through my arms (on a nerve maybe?). Barely enjoyed any of her kicks from 6months on. So different to my first.
Weak pelvic floor is very difficult to strengthen I'm finding

Nobody warned me I could end up with vulval varicose veins that would leave so swollen I'd feel like I had a bunch of grapes in my pants.

I knew about pelvic floor stuff but what I didn't know was;

How tired you get
That morning sickness is ALL THE TIME and doesn't stop after twelve weeks.
HG
How gassy you get.
That not getting any sleep starts before the baby arrives.
How hot you get.
How in the third trimester you can sweat from places you didn't think possible.
That water retention is a thing and you might have to buy different size shoes and take your wedding rings off.
Pelvic girdle pain.
Heartburn.
That the list you've made of all the food you're going to eat once the baby is here goes out the window because you're too tired to care.
That it can hurt when the baby kicks you.

It really is a magical time.

Ugh. I hated being pregnant. No one tells you how tired you get. I fell asleep all the time. And how you can't take ANY medicine at all. So frustrating when you have a blocked nose.

I didn't know that the first trimester would feel exactly like the worst hangover ever - without the consolation of having at least had a fun night out! Grinding and relentless nausea, exhaustion and desperate cravings for salty crisps and lemonade. Shudder.

Because I didn't have particular problems with my pelvic floor in my first pregnancy, I wasn't prepared for it to spring a leak in my second pregnancy. So to speak. I had a lot more problems with it from the second trimester onwards - so when my waters broke, it took me a minute to realise that I wasn't just wetting myself . Remembering to do the exercises was surprisingly difficult - I should have set reminders on my phone. Thankfully it resolved mostly maybe six months after delivery but to be honest, I would still avoid trampolines. I know I should keep doing the Kegels. I don't know why I'm not more strict about it.

That morning sickness can be constant and may just involve feeling sick constantly and not actually being sick.

That you might have piles after pushing.

To ask for laxatives if you've not been for a few days post birth, the constipation pains on day 3 were horrendous.

Firstly, how much heartburn pregnancy causes and that antacids can't relieve you of the fact that your stomach is being squished causing the acid to reside in your oesophagus!!
Secondly, to plan your pregnancy so your last 3 months don't coincide with summer

SPD..
No one ever warned me that could happen and I was in agony with it with both of my children. It's been 15 months since my youngest was born and I still suffer now.

I love my children to bits and would never regret having them but if I had known about that possible pregnancy problem I would have saved a bit more money first as I had to be signed off sick

With regard to the 'morning sickness' idea as well - who came up with that name? It diminishes and minimises what can be a truly debilitatin experience. I expected to vomit in the morning and then feel better. I didn't expect to pile multiple times a day and feel not even a moment's relief from the crippling nausea. People go on so much about how 'pregnancy isn't an illness' but actually sometimes it causes really severe illness!

*debilitating
*puke

Can I add 'forgetfulness which continues several years after being pregnant' to the list?

Pregnancy: no one warned me about, ahem, wind . You can't control it and it's toxic!

Birth: I wish I'd known I had rights and could push to be treated as a competent adult, instead of having to do as I was told.

Post birth: that lochia can stop and start again, that you will get used to poo touching you/your clothes, that you will probably need pads regardless of how many pelvic floor exercises you did during pregnancy.

Negative - I think I thought I had avoided pelvic floor issues post child birth but dd2 is 2 now and I am realising trampolines are not a good idea

Positive - I am a lot more accepting of my body and all its flaws, it carried by two wonderful children!

I was petrified of going to the loo for at least a week after having both my kids. I had no idea childbirth would be so brutal!

I really wish I'd done my pelvic floor exercises as I can't go on the trampoline with the kids

I didn't realise how enormous my boobs would get. They went up to a 34H and were as big as my head.

I am lucky enough to have a pelvic floor made of steel even after two children but the chronic lower back pain is horrendous and I have tinnitus now which started just after Dd2 arrived which I could live without thank you.

However I have kept my bloodhound nose which I can't decide whether it's useful (that milk has just turned!), annoying (sweaty colleague didn't shower this morning, blurgh) or lovely/pretentious (mmm, do I detect a top note of vanilla and cherry in this overpriced wine?)

'Morning sickness' might not just be mornings or magically stop at 12 weeks, get some good antiemetics!

The afterpains for a few days after labour, thought they'd left a baby in there and I was having contractions again, get good painkillers!

I had to throw away all my gorgeous matching underwear sets and all my shoes as neither my boobs nor my feet returned to their pre-pregnancy Souza and shape.
Super annoying and super expensive.

On the plus side pregnancy and motherhood saved me hundreds of pounds a month from not smoking or going out drinking. So much so that I could afford to drop to part time hours at work!!!