It’s never a dull moment when you are pregnant and at 12 weeks pregnant, I can honestly say that your body starts to change in the strangest ways. This week, I started to notice a hairy pregnant belly emerging out of now where.

So far, I’ve been prepared keeping my knowledge up to date with a pregnancy app. But never did I expect this would happen. I personally don’t have many friends who have been or are currently pregnant and extended family members have never once discussed this either. But during the end of the first trimester, I’ve noticed lots of hair in the stomach region. Yes, you read right- the hairy pregnant belly appears out of no where and man, it is sure noticeable. I started to wonder why I’ve never heard of this before and why there’s not warnings or discussion on this. Is it normal?

Why Am I Getting a Hairy Pregnant Belly?

In short, it’s the hormones. The changes that are happening on the inside are now starting to affect the outside of the body. I read that you’ll start to see more changes physically and this can be a challenge for a lot of women- dealing with body changes can be difficult, particularly if you are not use to seeing your body bigger, more curvy or with some unusual features. I’ve had people tell me my feet with swell up, my hands will get bigger and even more nose will get bigger! Though so far, none of these odd physically changes have happened, the hairy pregnant belly really took me off guard for a moment.

With all these changes to the body to help create this beautiful baby, I started to ponder whether or not it could be a similar reaction to individuals who take hormones for other reasons i.e. sex change or for health reasons and the effect it can make physically. And I guess it happened more so in the belly region because that’s where the baby is.

Regardless, I choose to embrace my new hairy belly. Did I feel like a monkey at times? Yes! Particularly because I was hairless before pregnancy. But in all honestly, you never really expose your belly in the real world to feel strange or embarrassed about it anyway.

When I finally was able to ask a few women who were pregnant and who recently had kids, I asked them whether or not if they also had hairy bellies. I think having an open discussion about it is good- it helps to relieve any concerns or worries that you are not the only one. It’s always a funny topic to talk about.

To Shave or Not to Shave?

When I started noticing my hair pregnant belly, I openly discussed this with my husband. The first thing he said was to not shave it or wax it. It may be tempting but don’t do it. I also strongly recommend not to start shaving or waxing the hair either. This will most likely cause a rash, further hair growth and some uncomfortable itchy moments in the near future.

If you are worried that the hair will keep growing and remain there for the rest of your life, this is not true. I did read that the hair falls out during the first two months after you’ve given birth- so it is not permanent at all.

Am I having a boy?

Upon doing my Google research on the subject matter, I came across this notion that if your belly becomes hairy, it could be an indication that you are having a boy. It’s an old wives tale about pregnancy that if your belly appears hairy or hairier than usual it can mean that you are having a boy. Much like other theories to determine the gender of the baby, some can be really a hit or miss. There is a 50 percent change though LOL.

I was pretty convinced of this at first but after reading some women speaking of their pregnancy in forums, I found that it can be a hit or miss and it’s best to go with the results of the 19 weeks scan rather than an old wives tale. Whether our baby is a boy or girl, doesn’t really matter. As long as our baby is healthy and happy is more important than anything else.

Discovering new physical changes can always be a little daunting and hard to accept. But embracing it at 12 weeks pregnant is the best way to deal with these changes. Have a laugh, a giggle and an interesting discussion with your friends, family and partner. Although the hairy pregnant belly appearing did catch me by surprise, it made me realize just how much my body is working to create this bundle of joy- something I would not trade anything for including a hairy belly.