Unusual Pregnancy Symptoms

We all know the typical pregnancy symptoms that you read about in generic pregnancy books; I'm talking nausea, bloating, sore boobies, ummm. . . emotional-ness. These are all well and good - well, maybe not good - but I'm here to talk about weird pregnancy symptoms that sometimes occur, but aren't mentioned in most books. Just like the big kahuna symptoms listed above, the more obscure symptoms vary greatly from one woman to another. They can even vary greatly from one pregnancy to another. Don't think these symptoms aren't so much unusual as they are less commonly known about.

I'm going to start with a weird one that was my first pregnancy symptom with my second pregnancy- A small twitch in my calf. Do you ever get an eye twitch when anxious? Or an arm muscle twitch when you have over done it at the gym? That is what I was getting in my left calf muscle on December 27th 2009. I was sitting on the couch watching TV when I felt the small, involuntary tug. I barely took notice. A few minutes later it did it again. I was a little annoyed, but I quickly forgot about it again. Once my show was done, I got up and I felt a tiny twinge again that disappeared as soon as I started walking.

I walked into the kitchen to prepare my son's breakfast. I grabbed a clean bottle from the dishwasher, turned on the faucet, and waited for the water to run luke-warm. As I stood there, bottle in hand, impatient for the water temperature to rise, I stepped slightly to the left and my calf grazed the dishwasher door that was still open. It barely touched, but it got me thinking about the twitches I had felt earlier. They were small little twitches that were barely a bother. . . so why was I still bothered by them? I thought about it further and realized that they reminded me of the leg cramps that I got when pregnant the first time around.

At this point, we had been trying to conceive in a "just let it happen" fashion. I had several negative pregnancy tests the couple of weeks prior, and I was convinced that I just needed to wait for Aunt Flo to come so that we could try again next month.

The twitch got me thinking though, could this be a pregnancy symptom? It sounded like a long shot, but I had a stash of dollar store pee sticks in my bathroom cabinet, and I wasn't shy about using them. I was rather unconvinced still; I was just testing for good measure. Those pee sticks in the cabinet were burning like fresh allowance in the pocket of an 8 year old. I peed, and walked away to tend to my baby. I don't know exactly how long it took me to get back to the bathroom, but it was at least 10 minutes. When I finally did, I think my eyeballs tried to jump out of their sockets when I saw that faint pink second line.

So there you have it, I knew (ok, suspected at best) I was pregnant because of a small twitch in my calf. Definitely unusual, but I think these kinds of stories are common amongst mommas who have been pregnant more than once. Leg cramps are a more common pregnancy symptom in later pregnancy, but I hadn't yet heard of small muscle twitches being the little red flag of impending motherhood.

Here are some more potential pregnancy symptoms that are less well known:

• Drooling in your sleep - From increased saliva production and also hormones that cause your muscles to be more relaxed (relaxin).
• Snoring - Relaxin again
• Hip pain from sleeping on your side - This can pop up way before baby is big enough to put any pressure on you physically. This is once again an effect of hormones. I suggest getting a thick body pillow to put between your legs at night ASAP.
• Gas - This is a more common one, but it bears repeating because it can be jarring if you aren't expecting it.
• ACNE - Hello puberty
• Blood on toothbrush - Gross I know, but your body ramps up blood production while preggo which makes even healthy gums much more susceptible to bleeding.
• Metallic taste in mouth - The technical term is dysgeusia and it is caused by changing estrogen levels that affects your sense of taste and smell. 
• Craving non-food items like paper, chalk, or soap - This condition is known as pica and it is also a well-known pregnancy symptom. Some research suggests that pica can be associated with low levels of iron. I actually found myself wanting to nibble on paper a few times - so weird.
• Depth perception issues - All the extra blood flow going on causes your blood vessels to dilate which can cause dizziness, vertigo and decreased depth perception. My parallel parking skills became a hot mess during my 2nd pregnancy. I *may* have caused a dent or two in someone's license plate.
• Smell cravings - We all have heard of food cravings such as the cliche pickles and ice cream, but preggos can also experience smell cravings. It makes sense since both taste and smell are highly connected. During my 1st pregnancy, I craved the smell of my cat Mia (but not the other cat Spike). She really didn't smell like much being a relatively clean cat, but I felt the need to go sniff her frequently. That didn't happen the second time around.
• Food aversions - This is a relatively well known symptom, but I don't think women are necessarily prepared for how strong these can be. Many women don't have all that strong a food cravings, but have crazy food aversions. They might last all pregnancy, or they might change from day to day. They might be weird obscure foods that you never normally eat, or they could be your favorite food of all time.
• Food intolerances - I have always loved eating eggs, but whenever I get pregnant, my stomach can't handle them. It isn't so bad that I can't have anything with egg in it, but if I eat a whole egg while preggo, my stomach hurts the rest of the day. I'm sure these intolerances vary for everyone; for me, it lasted a few months post partum each time.
• Crazy vivid dreams - Lots of women report dreaming way more during pregnancy than ever before, and being able to remember vivid details. These dreams are often emotional in nature which makes sense since everything is more emotional in nature while you are pregnant.
• Irrational freakishness - This anxiety goes hand in hand with the emotions department. The best way I can think to describe this is with my own example. Whenever my hubby and I went somewhere together and he drives, I usually have no issues with it; he is a rather good driver. When pregnant and he drives, I hold on for dear life and freak out internally (and sometimes externally). Every time I think he is going to hit or get hit by something my heart starts racing. . . and that is roughly every 30 seconds. Some women have anxiety issues to an extreme where they actually get panic attacks during pregnancy.
• Overwhelmingly emotional - Yeah ok this may be the most classic symptom next to morning sickness, but I don't know if I was prepared for the randomness of it before actually experiencing it. I cried at commercials on TV for goodness sake. I'm not talking particularly sad ones like the childrens' fund in Africa stuff; I'm talking a random Charmin commercial or diaper commercials. I remember a pregnant friend of mine started bawling one Christmas season when The Cristmas Shoes song started playing. Yeah it is a sad song, but she started crying before any words were even sung.

Those hormones affect EVERYTHING, no doubt about it!

What are some weird or unexpected pregnancy symptoms that you have experienced or heard of?