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Women Who've Given Birth Reveal The Most Common Misconceptions About Pregnancy

Women Who've Given Birth Reveal The Most Common Misconceptions About Pregnancy

Pregnant Women Reveal Things People Commonly Misconstrue About Pregnancy

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Story Time! When I went into labor with my first baby, I took three or four showers after my water broke. It wasn't that I felt dirty, it's just that I kept getting re-dressed and having to change because my water would leak every time I stood up. I thought that once it broke it would just stop. Like a gush and then done. Nobody told me it would keep leaking at random times and that I should just slap on a pad, grab a towel, and get on with things.

So when I saw one Reddit user asked:

Women of Reddit, what are some things people don't know or misunderstand about being pregnant?

I was in there immediately - and it turns out I wasn't the only one who had no idea about the water breaking thing! I picked out 20 of my favorite responses and piled them together for you.

BONUS MISCONCEPTION: For a lot of women, pregnancy is closer to TEN months.

Sleep Before Baby

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Don't tell a woman in her third trimester to "get sleep while you can, hahaha" because I can guarantee you that between the many bathroom trips, the discomfort every time you turn over and the general late pregnancy insomnia, she's not sleeping.

I have a 7 week old, and I get way more sleep now than I did in my last two months of pregnancy.

VIsit Politely Please

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Even a simple delivery is hard on Mum. You visit the baby then you need to remember the Mum is not the hostess. It may hurt for to sit, or walk or even pee.

She should not be making you a meal and drinks while you hold her baby, please don't leave a mess for her to tidy when you leave.

Keep visits short, and check with Mum how she is actually feeling, and check if it adds up with how she looks. If she looks tired but says she is fine, then she's probably tired but polite.

It's Okay To Not Be "Overjoyed"

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Pregnancy is sometimes really hard and sad. You don't feel like yourself, you don't look like yourself, you're uncomfortable and vulnerable because you have a ton of hormones rushing through you. You're scared that you're not doing the right things and that you're selfish.

You're also having a constant medical condition - you have something taking your blood circulation, your food, and crowding your organs. A baby acts like a parasite, so you're always a little weak and a little bit "off." It's difficult to tell when something is serious or just uncomfortable.

You have a LOT of pressure to be "overjoyed" and it's weird that people seem to think that any complaining is insulting, but they're always asking how you're doing. If you don't want to know, don't ask.

Now.

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When you got to pee, that means Now. Not when we get home, or on your lunch break, or next commercial break. Right NOW.

It's Not Gonna Stop

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I was only 18 and under the huge misconception that your water breaking is just one big gush and done. Nobody warned me. So when my "water kept breaking" I was freaking out.

So young girls of reddit, when you get pregnant and your water breaks, it's not gonna stop. Its gonna be like peeing yourself repeatedly.

Can't Control My Farts

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I can't control my farts. Ive never in 6 years farted in front of my husband. Now my farts are so loud they wake us up from sleep.

Im not lactating yet, but my bras smell like spoiled milk at the end of the day.

It's Not All Hormones

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Although pregnant women are hormonal, I don't recommend blaming everything on hormones or dismissing a pregnant woman's concerns and feelings by saying "you are just too hormonal." My husband learned this the hard way. Pregnant women can still have legitimate concerns and reactions. Go figure.

Bloodhound Nose

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My sense of smell is INSANE. I call it the bloodhound nose. It's kind of crazy how things that never bothered you before (ex: cooking meat) make you gag/vomit every time. Bro in law made hotdogs in the middle of winter with my first pregnancy and I had all the windows open to air out the stink. It was freezing, I didn't care.

Water

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There's an enormous misconception (hah) that when your water breaks, the baby is due like right now. The reality is it can still take up to a day or two for labor to begin in earnest. Some babies are born without mom's water ever breaking. It's rare, but it happens. It isn't the way it seems on TV or in movies very often.

Not All Pregnancies "Show" The Same Way

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I was slightly overweight when I got pregnant, lost 11lbs (yay morning sickness), then gained 13lbs. I started gaining weight when I was 24 weeks along (morning sickness started to fade a bit) and I didn't start showing obviously until I was 32 weeks. It really hurts to be told that you're faking being pregnant. Everyone's body reacts differently to growing another human, it's not nice to judge a pregnant woman for how her body is reacting. All baby bumps are fantastic.

So... Very... Tired

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Pregnancy is hard work! Even in the first trimester the tiredness is insane. There is an expectation that pregnancy is something that most women go through, so you should just get on with it, but needing to go to bed at 8pm is perfectly acceptable.

Stomach Sleepers Beware

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The worst part, forget pains and swelling and baby being made inside you, is when you can't sleep on your stomach anymore. You don't miss sleeping on your stomach until it is literally impossible, then it's like your humanity was stripped from you

Sometimes It Sucks

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Not all women enjoy the experience. I hated every second of all of my pregnancies. I had heartburn nearly from day one with sciatica and constantly feeling hot. Plus I worked jobs where I was on my feet the entire day. For some women pregnancy sucks!

This List

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  1. That pregnancy glow - it's a myth. We're just glistening because we're fat and heavy.
  2. Needing to pee all the time is seriously annoying.
  3. Finding clothes that are comfortable and fit is difficult. And also, does it look like I want f&@*$ing teddy bears and fluffy shit on my maternity clothes?
  4. Sleeping is uncomfortable.
  5. Cravings are real. Like - when it hits, you got fix it fast, because a grumpy, fat, sweaty, hormonal pregnant person is the last person you want to piss off. Hangry is horrid.
  6. If you touch my stomach without my permission, I will stab you in the eye.

"All About The Baby"

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That not everyone processes the physical, emotional and mental realities of pregnancy the same way. Not everyone wants to "perform" pregnancy. Not everyone wants to hold an extended conversation about All.Things.Baby. all of the time while they're pregnant. It's obnoxious when every conversation at work, out in public, at dinner with the in-laws gets turned into an extended discussion about your womb and its contents.

Yes, there's a sweetness to people's enthusiasm for you and I tried to focus on that, but I got really tired of my body being the focus of everyone's attention all the friggin time, and the fact that everyone needed to comment (usually advice/hilarious joke about "get your sleep now! har har! you'll never have any again!") Seriously, if you say that to a pregnant woman, I give her permission to slap you. Like I wasn't already barely functional on 14 hours of pregnancy-induced coma-sleep.

Also, women with children really assume how you feel now/or will feel once you hold your chilld, etc. Please stop telling me how to feel. I had post partum anxiety and depression, and didn't feel that "overwhelming rush of love and rightness and zen etc etc " everyone gushes about and wants to hear you gush about. No, the stars did not align and my place in the universe was not suddenly made clear to me.

"Morning" Sickness

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Hypermesis is a very serious thing. I cannot stress this enough. Morning sickness for some women isn't what you see in movies or tv shows.

It is disorientation, heightened sensitivity to smells and noise. I threw up just remembering food. You feel like you just drank a pint of used grease and it's right at the back of your throat waiting to jump out.

If you know anyone who has it please, please help in anyway you can. Drop off food for the rest of the family, offer to take older children, don't expect them to attend parties or events until baby is delivered.

Hands To Yourself

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You don't automatically have permission to "feel the baby."

Seriously, keep your hands to yourself.

Miscarriages Aren't That Rare.

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Miscarriages happen more often than people think (up to 15 - 20%), and it's not always because the mother did something criminally irresponsible with her body.

It's All Different

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Every pregnancy, birth, and baby is different. And they can be REALLY different.

Some people's breasts triple in size; some people's don't change at all. Some have morning sickness and throw up every day, some never feel sick at all. Some people love their c-sections and other people feel traumatized by them. Some women make too little milk to breastfeed; some women make way too much. Some babies sleep through the night at 2 months; some won't for 2 years. All of this is normal.

Please believe and support people when they tell you their honest experience. Don't compare or judge. Just listen.

H/T: Reddit

People Reveal The Weirdest Thing About Themselves

Reddit user Isitjustmedownhere asked: 'Give an example; how weird are you really?'

Let's get one thing straight: no one is normal. We're all weird in our own ways, and that is actually normal.

Of course, that doesn't mean we don't all have that one strange trait or quirk that outweighs all the other weirdness we possess.

For me, it's the fact that I'm almost 30 years old, and I still have an imaginary friend. Her name is Sarah, she has red hair and green eyes, and I strongly believe that, since I lived in India when I created her and there were no actual people with red hair around, she was based on Daphne Blake from Scooby-Doo.

I also didn't know the name Sarah when I created her, so that came later. I know she's not really there, hence the term 'imaginary friend,' but she's kind of always been around. We all have conversations in our heads; mine are with Sarah. She keeps me on task and efficient.

My mom thinks I'm crazy that I still have an imaginary friend, and writing about her like this makes me think I may actually be crazy, but I don't mind. As I said, we're all weird, and we all have that one trait that outweighs all the other weirdness.

Redditors know this all too well and are eager to share their weird traits.

It all started when Redditor Isitjustmedownhere asked:

"Give an example; how weird are you really?"

Monsters Under My Bed

"My bed doesn't touch any wall."

"Edit: I guess i should clarify im not rich."

– Practical_Eye_3600

"Gosh the monsters can get you from any angle then."

– bikergirlr7

"At first I thought this was a flex on how big your bedroom is, but then I realized you're just a psycho 😁"

– zenOFiniquity8

Can You See Why?

"I bought one of those super-powerful fans to dry a basement carpet. Afterwards, I realized that it can point straight up and that it would be amazing to use on myself post-shower. Now I squeegee my body with my hands, step out of the shower and get blasted by a wide jet of room-temp air. I barely use my towel at all. Wife thinks I'm weird."

– KingBooRadley

Remember

"In 1990 when I was 8 years old and bored on a field trip, I saw a black Oldsmobile Cutlass driving down the street on a hot day to where you could see that mirage like distortion from the heat on the road. I took a “snapshot” by blinking my eyes and told myself “I wonder how long I can remember this image” ….well."

– AquamarineCheetah

"Even before smartphones, I always take "snapshots" by blinking my eyes hoping I'll remember every detail so I can draw it when I get home. Unfortunately, I may have taken so much snapshots that I can no longer remember every detail I want to draw."

"Makes me think my "memory is full.""

– Reasonable-Pirate902

Same, Same

"I have eaten the same lunch every day for the past 4 years and I'm not bored yet."

– OhhGoood

"How f**king big was this lunch when you started?"

– notmyrealnam3

Not Sure Who Was Weirder

"Had a line cook that worked for us for 6 months never said much. My sous chef once told him with no context, "Baw wit da baw daw bang daw bang diggy diggy." The guy smiled, left, and never came back."

– Frostygrunt

Imagination

"I pace around my house for hours listening to music imagining that I have done all the things I simply lack the brain capacity to do, or in some really bizarre scenarios, I can really get immersed in these imaginations sometimes I don't know if this is some form of schizophrenia or what."

– RandomSharinganUser

"I do the same exact thing, sometimes for hours. When I was young it would be a ridiculous amount of time and many years later it’s sort of trickled off into almost nothing (almost). It’s weird but I just thought it’s how my brain processes sh*t."

– Kolkeia

If Only

"Even as an adult I still think that if you are in a car that goes over a cliff; and right as you are about to hit the ground if you jump up you can avoid the damage and will land safely. I know I'm wrong. You shut up. I'm not crying."

– ShotCompetition2593

Pet Food

"As a kid I would snack on my dog's Milkbones."

– drummerskillit

"Haha, I have a clear memory of myself doing this as well. I was around 3 y/o. Needless to say no one was supervising me."

– Isitjustmedownhere

"When I was younger, one of my responsibilities was to feed the pet fish every day. Instead, I would hide under the futon in the spare bedroom and eat the fish food."

– -GateKeep-

My Favorite Subject

"I'm autistic and have always had a thing for insects. My neurotypical best friend and I used to hang out at this local bar to talk to girls, back in the late 90s. One time he claimed that my tendency to circle conversations back to insects was hurting my game. The next time we went to that bar (with a few other friends), he turned and said sternly "No talking about bugs. Or space, or statistics or other bullsh*t but mainly no bugs." I felt like he was losing his mind over nothing."

"It was summer, the bar had its windows open. Our group hit it off with a group of young ladies, We were all chatting and having a good time. I was talking to one of these girls, my buddy was behind her facing away from me talking to a few other people."

"A cloudless sulphur flies in and lands on little thing that holds coasters."

"Cue Jordan Peele sweating gif."

"The girl notices my tension, and asks if I am looking at the leaf. "Actually, that's a lepidoptera called..." I looked at the back of my friend's head, he wasn't looking, "I mean a butterfly..." I poked it and it spread its wings the girl says "oh that's a BUG?!" and I still remember my friend turning around slowly to look at me with chastisement. The ONE thing he told me not to do."

"I was 21, and was completely not aware that I already had a rep for being an oddball. It got worse from there."

– Phormicidae

*Teeth Chatter*

"I bite ice cream sometimes."

RedditbOiiiiiiiiii

"That's how I am with popsicles. My wife shudders every single time."

monobarreller

Never Speak Of This

"I put ice in my milk."

– GTFOakaFOD

"You should keep that kind of thing to yourself. Even when asked."

– We-R-Doomed

"There's some disturbing sh*t in this thread, but this one takes the cake."

– RatonaMuffin

More Than Super Hearing

"I can hear the television while it's on mute."

– Tira13e

"What does it say to you, child?"

– Mama_Skip

Yikes!

"I put mustard on my omelettes."

– Deleted User

"Oh."

– NotCrustOr-filling

Evened Up

"Whenever I say a word and feel like I used a half of my mouth more than the other half, I have to even it out by saying the word again using the other half of my mouth more. If I don't do it correctly, that can go on forever until I feel it's ok."

"I do it silently so I don't creep people out."

– LesPaltaX

"That sounds like a symptom of OCD (I have it myself). Some people with OCD feel like certain actions have to be balanced (like counting or making sure physical movements are even). You should find a therapist who specializes in OCD, because they can help you."

– MoonlightKayla

I totally have the same need for things to be balanced! Guess I'm weird and a little OCD!

Close up face of a woman in bed, staring into the camera
Photo by Jen Theodore

Experiencing death is a fascinating and frightening idea.

Who doesn't want to know what is waiting for us on the other side?

But so many of us want to know and then come back and live a little longer.

It would be so great to be sure there is something else.

But the whole dying part is not that great, so we'll have to rely on other people's accounts.

Redditor AlaskaStiletto wanted to hear from everyone who has returned to life, so they asked:

"Redditors who have 'died' and come back to life, what did you see?"

Sensations

Happy Good Vibes GIF by Major League SoccerGiphy

"My dad's heart stopped when he had a heart attack and he had to be brought back to life. He kept the paper copy of the heart monitor which shows he flatlined. He said he felt an overwhelming sensation of peace, like nothing he had felt before."

PeachesnPain

Recovery

"I had surgical complications in 2010 that caused a great deal of blood loss. As a result, I had extremely low blood pressure and could barely stay awake. I remember feeling like I was surrounded by loved ones who had passed. They were in a circle around me and I knew they were there to guide me onwards. I told them I was not ready to go because my kids needed me and I came back."

"My nurse later said she was afraid she’d find me dead every time she came into the room."

"It took months, and blood transfusions, but I recovered."

good_golly99

Take Me Back

"Overwhelming peace and happiness. A bright airy and floating feeling. I live a very stressful life. Imagine finding out the person you have had a crush on reveals they have the same feelings for you and then you win the lotto later that day - that was the feeling I had."

"I never feared death afterward and am relieved when I hear of people dying after suffering from an illness."

rayrayrayray

Free

The Light Minnie GIF by (G)I-DLEGiphy

"I had a heart surgery with near-death experience, for me at least (well the possibility that those effects are caused by morphine is also there) I just saw black and nothing else but it was warm and I had such inner peace, its weird as I sometimes still think about it and wish this feeling of being so light and free again."

TooReDTooHigh

This is why I hate surgery.

You just never know.

Shocked

Giphy

"More of a near-death experience. I was electrocuted. I felt like I was in a deep hole looking straight up in the sky. My life flashed before me. Felt sad for my family, but I had a deep sense of peace."

Admirable_Buyer6528

The SOB

"Nursing in the ICU, we’ve had people try to die on us many times during the years, some successfully. One guy stood out to me. His heart stopped. We called a code, are working on him, and suddenly he comes to. We hadn’t vented him yet, so he was able to talk, and he started screaming, 'Don’t let them take me, don’t let them take me, they are coming,' he was scared and yelling."

"Then he yelled a little more, as we tried to calm him down, he screamed, 'No, No,' and gestured towards the end of the bed, and died again. We didn’t get him back. It was seriously creepy. We called his son to tell him the news, and the son said basically, 'Good, he was an SOB.'”

1-cupcake-at-a-time

Colors

"My sister died and said it was extremely peaceful. She said it was very loud like a train station and lots of talking and she was stuck in this area that was like a curtain with lots of beautiful colors (colors that you don’t see in real life according to her) a man told her 'He was sorry, but she had to go back as it wasn’t her time.'"

Hannah_LL7

"I had a really similar experience except I was in an endless garden with flowers that were colors I had never seen before. It was quiet and peaceful and a woman in a dress looked at me, shook her head, and just said 'Not yet.' As I was coming back, it was extremely loud, like everyone in the world was trying to talk all at once. It was all very disorienting but it changed my perspective on life!"

huntokarrr

The Fog

"I was in a gray fog with a girl who looked a lot like a young version of my grandmother (who was still alive) but dressed like a pioneer in the 1800s she didn't say anything but kept pulling me towards an opening in the wall. I kept refusing to go because I was so tired."

"I finally got tired of her nagging and went and that's when I came to. I had bled out during a c-section and my heart could not beat without blood. They had to deliver the baby and sew up the bleeders. refill me with blood before they could restart my heart so, like, at least 12 minutes gone."

Fluffy-Hotel-5184

Through the Walls

"My spouse was dead for a couple of minutes one miserable night. She maintains that she saw nothing, but only heard people talking about her like through a wall. The only thing she remembers for absolute certain was begging an ER nurse that she didn't want to die."

"She's quite alive and well today."

Hot-Refrigerator6583

Well let's all be happy to be alive.

It seems to be all we have.

Man's waist line
Santhosh Vaithiyanathan/Unsplash

Trying to lose weight is a struggle understood by many people regardless of size.

The goal of reaching a healthy weight may seem unattainable, but with diet and exercise, it can pay off through persistence and discipline.

Seeing the pounds gradually drop off can also be a great motivator and incentivize people to stay the course.

Those who've achieved their respective weight goals shared their experiences when Redditor apprenti8455 asked:

"People who lost a lot of weight, what surprises you the most now?"

Redditors didn't see these coming.

Shiver Me Timbers

"I’m always cold now!"

– Telrom_1

"I had a coworker lose over 130 pounds five or six years ago. I’ve never seen him without a jacket on since."

– r7ndom

"140 lbs lost here starting just before COVID, I feel like that little old lady that's always cold, damn this top comment was on point lmao."

– mr_remy

Drawing Concern

"I lost 100 pounds over a year and a half but since I’m old(70’s) it seems few people comment on it because (I think) they think I’m wasting away from some terminal illness."

– dee-fondy

"Congrats on the weight loss! It’s honestly a real accomplishment 🙂"

"Working in oncology, I can never comment on someone’s weight loss unless I specifically know it was on purpose, regardless of their age. I think it kind of ruffles feathers at times, but like I don’t want to congratulate someone for having cancer or something. It’s a weird place to be in."

– LizardofDeath

Unleashing Insults

"I remember when I lost the first big chunk of weight (around 50 lbs) it was like it gave some people license to talk sh*t about the 'old' me. Old coworkers, friends, made a lot of not just negative, but harsh comments about what I used to look like. One person I met after the big loss saw a picture of me prior and said, 'Wow, we wouldn’t even be friends!'”

"It wasn’t extremely common, but I was a little alarmed by some of the attention. My weight has been up and down since then, but every time I gain a little it gets me a little down thinking about those things people said."

– alanamablamaspama

Not Everything Goes After Losing Weight

"The loose skin is a bit unexpected."

– KeltarCentauri

"I haven’t experienced it myself, but surgery to remove skin takes a long time to recover. Longer than bariatric surgery and usually isn’t covered by insurance unless you have both."

– KatMagic1977

"It definitely does take a long time to recover. My Dad dropped a little over 200 pounds a few years back and decided to go through with skin removal surgery to deal with the excess. His procedure was extensive, as in he had skin taken from just about every part of his body excluding his head, and he went through hell for weeks in recovery, and he was bedridden for a lot of it."

– Jaew96

These Redditors shared their pleasantly surprising experiences.

Shopping

"I can buy clothes in any store I want."

– WaySavvyD

"When I lost weight I was dying to go find cute, smaller clothes and I really struggled. As someone who had always been restricted to one or two stores that catered to plus-sized clothing, a full mall of shops with items in my size was daunting. Too many options and not enough knowledge of brands that were good vs cheap. I usually went home pretty frustrated."

– ganache98012

No More Symptoms

"Lost about 80 pounds in the past year and a half, biggest thing that I’ve noticed that I haven’t seen mentioned on here yet is my acid reflux and heartburn are basically gone. I used to be popping tums every couple hours and now they just sit in the medicine cabinet collecting dust."

– colleennicole93

Expanding Capabilities

"I'm all for not judging people by their appearance and I recognise that there are unhealthy, unachievable beauty standards, but one thing that is undeniable is that I can just do stuff now. Just stamina and flexibility alone are worth it, appearance is tertiary at best."

– Ramblonius

People Change Their Tune

"How much nicer people are to you."

"My feet weren't 'wide' they were 'fat.'"

– LiZZygsu

"Have to agree. Lost 220 lbs, people make eye contact and hold open doors and stuff"

"And on the foot thing, I also lost a full shoe size numerically and also wear regular width now 😅"

– awholedamngarden

It's gonna take some getting used to.

Bones Everywhere

"Having bones. Collarbones, wrist bones, knee bones, hip bones, ribs. I have so many bones sticking out everywhere and it’s weird as hell."

– Princess-Pancake-97

"I noticed the shadow of my ribs the other day and it threw me, there’s a whole skeleton in here."

– bekastrange

Knee Pillow

"Right?! And they’re so … pointy! Now I get why people sleep with pillows between their legs - the knee bones laying on top of each other (side sleeper here) is weird and jarring."

– snic2030

"I lost only 40 pounds within the last year or so. I’m struggling to relate to most of these comments as I feel like I just 'slimmed down' rather than dropped a ton. But wow, the pillow between the knees at night. YES! I can relate to this. I think a lot of my weight was in my thighs. I never needed to do this up until recently."

– Strongbad23

More Mobility

"I’ve lost 100 lbs since 2020. It’s a collection of little things that surprise me. For at least 10 years I couldn’t put on socks, or tie my shoes. I couldn’t bend over and pick something up. I couldn’t climb a ladder to fix something. Simple things like that I can do now that fascinate me."

"Edit: Some additional little things are sitting in a chair with arms, sitting in a booth in a restaurant, being able to shop in a normal store AND not needing to buy the biggest size there, being able to easily wipe my butt, and looking down and being able to see my penis."

– dma1965

People making significant changes, whether for mental or physical health, can surely find a newfound perspective on life.

But they can also discover different issues they never saw coming.

That being said, overcoming any challenge in life is laudable, especially if it leads to gaining confidence and ditching insecurities.