We've all heard about the glow, the luscious locks, and feeling like a Goddess when pregnant, but what about the not so great things that come with it? Lucinda from Nurturing Mums goes through a few of the possible side effects of pregnancy, but don't worry, it's not all doom and gloom.

* THE TIREDNESS - Especially in that first trimester it's like nothing you've ever experienced. I could barely leave the sofa in the evening when I returned home from work in those early days… my inability to leave the sofa had added benefits of my husband doing more cooking, cleaning (and ordering of takeaways….) so it wasn’t all bad!

* NEEDING TO WEE THE WHOLE TIME - It's not just a problem in that final trimester, your bladder starts misbehaving from the get go...  it’s also NOT helpful when people tell you that getting up in the night to wee will prepare you for disturbed sleep and life with a newborn… I’ll get sleep and rest whilst I still can thanks!

* 'MORNING' SICKNESS - These nauseous feelings can last ALL day. A simple whiff of coffee could set me off… sucking hard-boiled ginger sweets was about the only thing to keep me on the straight and narrow.

* MOOD SWING CENTRAL - I probably uttered about 3 nice words to my husband in the first 3 months. He couldn't even breathe without me commenting how loud it was… the great thing about mood swings is they also swing the other day, so some days would be the best wife in the world… I’m not sure he knew what to expect one day from the next, but neither did I to be fair!

* YOUR BODY DOES STRANGE THINGS - Our bodies all respond in different ways to being pregnant. I got a really itchy head thanks to a bout of sensitive skin and had to switch to all natural skincare and hair care products. My boobs have also tripled in size.. alright for some but a real heavy inconvenience for me! One real benefit is tanning easier when I’m pregnant.. I’m not someone who normally gets a natural tan, but I’m loving my skin soaking up all the good Vitamin D.

* TODDLER TASTEBUDS - I needed to eat such plain foods in the early days of pregnancy just to keep something down. Chicken nuggets ✅ toast ✅ chips ✅ hardly the super healthy options I envisaged having... now I’m into the second trimester the site of veg is FAR more appealing.. thank goodness!  

* THE GLOW TAKES TIME - If it comes at all. It's hard to feel glowing when your body is changing, and you're permanently a hot and sweaty mess thanks to that extra blood pumping around your body for the human you're carrying around doesn't help either!!

* WEEPY CENTRAL - Keep a box of tissues close, anything can set me off... a pampers advert sends me over the edge! This was actually one of the first signs I was pregnant… who knew such happy news could make you so tearful all the time?!

Nurturing Mums was established by two North London mums as a place to for them to share their experience of motherhood with others. Now owned by Lucinda, who provides post-natal courses for first-time mums, and even second time mums - giving information on sleep training, weaning, baby development and first aid.

Let us know your experiences of pregnancy in the comments below!