I can’t possibly imagine what women go through when they are pregnant.

The anxiety, the pain, the uncertainty…it must be a truly terrifying experience the first time it happens.

But that’s why we think articles like this are really helpful to the ladies out there.

Women talked on AskReddit about what they wish they’d known BEFORE they became pregnant.

Let’s take a look.

1. Terrible.

“I was absolutely SHOCKED when my first pregnancy ended in miscarriage.

I thought that I must have done something to cause it. When my second pregnancy ended the same way I started to think that I had some kind of physical malfunction.

Only after talking to several other women about it did I realize how common it is. Still heartbreaking though.”

2. Hair loss.

“The hair loss!

I had read about it, but i was not prepared for just how much i would lose or how long it would last.

My daughter is 2 now and i still have some patchy spots.”

3. Painful.

“My f*cking bo*bs hurt so bad.

I hit one in my sleep and woke up in excruciating pain.

Like…wtf.

I knew they got bigger, but the pain was a surprise.”

4. No sleep.

“The sickest joke of all: you stop being able to sleep way before the baby gets here.

Everyone loves to tell me to “sleep now while I can” but pregnancy leads to unexplained insomnia and I’m a total wreck already.”

5. Always different.

“Each pregnancy is different, even with the same person.

I have 3 kids -the 1st pregnancy was very typical and followed the normal timeline. 2nd pregnancy was awful.

I was miserable and sick the entire time. 3rd pregnancy was easy peasy and I finally understood why some women liked being pregnant.”

6. Good to know.

“That not all gynecologists are competent. And if you have a feeling yours isn’t, find a new one.

Mine was very personable, did my d&c for my miscarriage before my first born, didn’t really give me any red flags until after I was pregnant again.

Long story short, he forgot (I guess?) to have me tested for gestational diabetes, and I had it. There were OBVIOUS signs that he didn’t catch, that I didn’t even know were signs until my new doctor told me. My son ended up having to be in NICU for 3 days after he was born because he couldn’t regulate his own blood sugar.

Every doctor and nurse I talked to along the way was appalled I hadn’t gotten tested. He also didn’t catch that I was anemic the whole pregnancy either.

Thank God we’re all healthy and happy now but looking back I should’ve changed doctors.”

7. Mother’s Apron.

“I wish I’d heard the term ‘mother’s apron’ before I had one.

Like, there’s warnings all over,”Your body’s going to change!” and some specifics on how, but everything I read and heard was reassuring me about how it would all mostly go back eventually.

I’m still pretty bitter.”

8. Crazy.

“Your hormones are crazy, literally making anything and everything that happens to your body a pregnancy symptom.

Bloody nose? Pregnancy.

Hands dry? Pregnancy.

Itchy skin? pregnancy.”

9. A very real thing.

“That no matter how much you planned and wanted your baby, postpartum depression can happen to you and it is very, very real.

It is not something you can control. Hormones are liars. Partners of new moms please pay close attention.

Get help. Do not try to tough it out. Get. Help.”

10. What was that?

“Baby kicks don’t feel like butterflies .

They feel like something crawled across your skin quickly; but from the inside”

11. Trust your gut.

“Sorry to be the Debbie Downer, but knowing things can go wrong in any situation.

My first child was stillborn at 41 weeks after a healthy and normal pregnancy from a umbilical cord accident.

Always trust your gut, count kicks, and advocate for you and your baby’s health.”

12. Well, there’s that…

“How being pregnant seems to make other people think they can make incredibly rude observations about your body that they’d never make otherwise!”

13. PUPPP.

“That you can get a horrible full-body rash.

It’s a rare condition called PUPPP. PUPPP occurs in about 1 in every 200 pregnancies and 70% of sufferers give birth to boys.

I gave birth to a girl. So I was in the 0.15% of women who get this horrible, itchy, mind numbing rash that I suffered with for over two months. I couldn’t sleep, I sat half of my day in oatmeal baths. I cried A LOT.

The only thing that stopped the itching for a few hours was Grandpa’s Tar Soap because it left a coating on my skin that soothed or protected it somehow.

I NEVER want to go through that again.”

14. Exhausted.

“How tired you can be in the first trimester. I was falling asleep at my desk most days.

I always hear that labor pains were like really awful period cramps. Nope. Mine felt like someone was stabbing the front of my hip.

And, I had heard about sciatic pain but was 100% unprepared for how bad it could be. I had a c-section and the gas pain was no joke. Had to sleep on an incline for days.”

Okay, ladies, now we want to hear from all of you out there.

In the comments, tell us about some of the things you wish you’d known about before you got pregnant.

Please and thank you!