We all know that pregnancy is accompanied with a couple of side-effects, the usual morning sickness, swollen ankles, tiredness and more. Then come the unexpected side-effects and you go WTF. While most mums-to-be keep it quiet about their weirder pregnancy side-effects, there’s this one mum who chose to post her weird pregnancy side-effect to Instagram. Podcaster and presenter Monique Bowley took to Instagram to share her ‘hairy’ belly to balance out the perfect Insta-worthy pregnancy photos.

Monique’s hairy surprise came along as early as her first trimester and it is still there some 25 weeks later. “I first noticed it when I looked down in the shower and decided my stomach could do with a shampoo,” Monique said in an interview. “I’m thinking I could knit my baby a small vest out of the excess hair,” she joked. She shared a picture of her hairy pregnant belly on Instagram.

Mum-to-Be Shares Pic of Hairy Pregnant Belly

She posted the picture on Tuesday and put a hilarious caption: “In the interests of balancing out perfect Instagram pregnancy posts, BEHOLD my HAIRY STOMACH. I’m calling it Hagrid and I love it sick.” She further apologises to her obstetrician, Dr Joseph Sgroi declaring that she’s ‘not shaving it down’ for him anymore. Kudos to the mum for sharing an unapologetic and real side-effect of her pregnancy and people couldn’t stop loving her for honesty.

Her obstetrician reassured her by commenting on her post, saying: “Don’t worry! This is mere baby fluff and very common! Hormones make body hair grow during pregnancy and it will fall out afterwards, between 1-6 months PP. Even hair that has been lasered grows back during pregnancy, much to surprise!” In an interview, Dr Sgroi explained the cause behind it, “excess hair is considered normal during a pregnancy because of ‘hormonal fluctuations’ that are caused by ‘increased levels of ovarian and placental androgens on the structures which consist of the hair follicles and its oil glands’.

Many women may experience changes in hair and nail texture and growth during pregnancy. Hair can grow faster, and growth may also occur in unexpected places such as face, stomach or nipples. All this gradually subsides after pregnancy. Other side-effects include enlarged nipples, hypersalivation and even bleeding gums.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 11, 2018 05:13 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).