10 Stunning and Curious Things You May Want to Consider Before Getting Pregnant and Having Kids

Life is a miracle, and the love between parents and kids is beautiful—but childbirth? More like an extreme sport. That’s why it’s crucial to know what you’re getting into before having kids. And here comes reproductive rights activist Abigail Porter, the mastermind behind The List.

Over the past few years, Porter has compiled over 200 reasons not to have kids, sharing them on TikTok. From the financial black hole they create to the way pregnancy can turn your body into a science experiment, we’ve gathered 10 most outstanding facts below—along with some science-backed explanations and comments of doctors.

Fair warning: some of these aren’t for the faint-hearted. But if you’re thinking about having kids, it’s best to know what you’re in for, and to learn how to cope with it with love and being fully-prepared.

1. The size of an average uterus before vs after giving birth (just forget about “bouncing back”)

Dr Jennifer Lincoln has posted a video on TikTok that quickly became viral, with more than 14K likes. Using a model, she demonstrated a stunning difference between the size of uterus before and after giving birth, and many people got a chance to visualize how many changes a woman’s body has to go through.

The doctor captioned her video, writing, “Once again, I am asking new parents to know that your body is beautiful and amazing! (That postpartum uterus size is right after baby and placenta are out! It starts shrinking immediately but TAKES TIME!!)”

In her video, the doctor summoned people to “get rid of toxic bounce back culture,” explaining that a uterus isn’t supposed to get back to “pre-pregnancy” size just in a few weeks. “Okay, you just grew a human!”, the doctor says.

2. You can become allergic to your own skin during pregnancy.

Yes, you got it right. It’s called pemphigoid gestationis, the condition that is believed to be caused by abnormal antibodies that mistakenly attack the body’s own tissues, triggering an autoimmune reaction.

While it’s a relatively rare condition, it can cause intense itching and blistering—because, you know, pregnancy didn’t already come with enough surprises!

3. The delivery may take not hours, but days.

You can be in labor not for 12, 15 or 24 hours. The labor may last for weeks and even months. The longest recorded labor in history lasted a mind-blowing 75 days! That’s over two months of contractions—talk about patience and endurance!

One woman from Poland, Joanna Krzysztonek, endured an unbelievable 75-day labor while lying nearly upside down to save her two premature babies. After the first of her three fetuses was born too early and didn’t survive, doctors had her stay in this difficult position for weeks to give the other two a fighting chance.

Her incredible perseverance paid off, she safely delivered her baby girl, Iga, and baby boy, Ignacy, at a neonatal clinic in Wroclaw, Poland. Amazingly, she said the discomfort didn’t bother her, proving that a mother’s determination knows no bounds!

4. There’s a possibility to detach your retinas during labor.

Yep, it’s possible to push so hard during contractions that you can actually detach your retinas! As intense as labor is, this kind of injury is a rare but real risk—caused by the extreme pressure on the body.

So while you’re focusing on bringing a baby into the world, it’s also a reminder that the body is seriously working overtime during childbirth.

5. Your entire eyeball can actually pop out while you’re giving birth.

One woman shared the wild story of what happened to her eye while she was pushing during labor. Bethany Collins posted a TikTok video on her account, where it quickly went viral, racking up over 1 million views.

In the video, she casually revealed, “My eye popped out while I was pushing,” showing a photo of her face after giving birth, along with one of her holding her baby, Phoebe.

As if labor wasn’t intense enough, she went on to explain in her caption that her eye actually went back to normal after six weeks. Imagine that! Talk about a literal eye-opening experience!

6. You can get pregnant, while you’re already pregnant.

Superfetation is an incredibly rare occurrence where you can get pregnant while you’re already pregnant! Normally, your body goes through changes that make it nearly impossible for a second fertilized egg to implant when there’s already one growing in your uterus. But with superfetation, a new pregnancy somehow bypasses those natural barriers.

Because these barriers are so effective, superfetation happening naturally is almost unheard of. In fact, most known cases involve assistive reproductive technology (ART). It’s like your body deciding, “Hey, let’s do this again!” while you’re already in the middle of it. Crazy, right?

7. When babies “kick,” they can actually bruise you from the inside.

The first kick is associated with something that can make you smile. Well, that sweet little tap has grown into a full-on karate move! Now, when your baby kicks, you really feel it—especially if their foot happens to hit your ribcage. Ouch! In fact, you might even get a little internal bruise if they keep going after the same spot.

If that happens, you can try gently “moving” your baby by shifting your position, which might encourage them to turn in a different direction. Sounds a little weird, but it can work—just be careful.

It makes sense, though—your baby is getting bigger and stronger. By this stage, they’re about 14 inches long and weigh around 1.7 pounds. Their skin, once translucent, is now turning pink, and they’re starting to focus on preparing their airways for the big day ahead. So, yeah, those kicks are getting serious!

8. You can become intolerant to your pet while being pregnant.

You might suddenly notice that your allergy to pet dander has gotten worse since you became pregnant—or maybe you’ve never had an issue before, but now you find yourself sneezing every time you cuddle with your pet. It’s not all in your head! Some people experience heightened allergies during pregnancy, and others might even develop new allergies they didn’t have before.

But here’s the silver lining: studies have shown that exposing your baby to pet dander during pregnancy—or even after they’re born—can actually lower their chances of developing pet allergies later on. So go ahead and enjoy those adorable baby + puppy snuggles! Not only are they super cute, but they could be doing your little one a favor down the road.

9. Your sweat can become colored.

A mom-to-be and her husband were left scrambling for answers when she suddenly noticed her sweat turning blue, sparking what she called “Smurf syndrome.” After doing some frantic online research and consulting with her OBGYN, she was diagnosed with chromhidrosis—the cause of her colorful sweat.

Chromhidrosis is a rare condition that affects about 10% of people at some point, causing sweat to appear in different colors, like blue, brown, or yellow. While it might look strange, it poses no harm to either mom or baby. Though anyone can have chromhidrosis, it’s often more noticeable during pregnancy, likely due to hormonal changes and an overall increase in sweating. So, no need to panic—just an unexpected (but harmless) pregnancy perk.

10. You can get billed an enormous amount of money after having a baby.

One woman went viral after revealing that her hospital billed her more than $50,000 for the birth of her baby!

Shannon Mayor, a California resident, found out she was pregnant in the fall of 2020 and immediately started searching for the “best insurance” to cover her costs. But even with what she thought was great coverage, she was hit with a jaw-dropping hospital bill. Talk about a huge shock for new parents.

And here are 10 facts about your everyday life that you might not know. But knowing them may save your life one day.