Here are the ways your body changes when you’re pregnant that nobody talks about

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Having a baby is like entering a fight club. The first rule of having a kid is don't talk about having a kid. New moms end up with weird marks on their bodies, but they don't talk about how they got there or why. They just smile as they tell other women motherhood is such a joy.

There are so many other things we don't talk about when it comes to pregnancy. Hearing about the veritable war zone your body turns into is enough to snap anyone out of the highest of baby fevers, which is why so many women probably keep the truth to themselves. But it's important to talk about the changes because it normalizes them. Here are some of the ways your body changes that your health textbook isn't going to cover.

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Ashley Graham shared an empowering photo of her pregnant body, embracing her stretch marks

Instagram / Ashley Graham

When Demi Moore's nude pregnancy photo in Vanity Fair came out, it was groundbreaking. We had never seen a woman's pregnant body presented in such a natural state (albeit, one that was heavily lighted and likely photoshopped.) Nowadays, Instagram has made it common for celebs to post photos of their uncovered growing bellies, but sometimes it feels like we're not seeing pregnancy for what it is. It isn't always beautiful, and you probably don't have a team of stylists following you around making sure everything is just right. You don't experience that magic "pregnancy glow" for nine months. It comes with stretch marks and weight gain, morning sickness, and melisma.

Many women experience the less-than-glamorous symptoms of pregnancy, and yet, we hardly ever see them. Supermodel Ashley Graham stripped off all the glamour and posted a nude photo of her pregnant body, celebrating all of the "imperfections" that come with growing a baby. Graham, who is pregnant with her first child with husband Justin Ervin, chose to present her body with child au natural, stretch marks and all.Graham posted the photo on Instagram five days after she announced her pregnancy. "Same same but a little different," she wrote in the caption.

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A man described the awe of watching his wife give birth, and it's giving us all the feels

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Comedy legend Carol Burnett once said, "Giving birth is like taking your lower lip and forcing it over your head." She wasn't joking.

Going through childbirth is widely acknowledged as one of the most grueling things a human can endure. Having birthed three babies myself, I can attest that Burnett's description is fairly accurate—if that seemingly impossible lip-stretching feat lasted for hours and involved a much more sensitive part of your body.

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5 things you've probably never considered about being pregnant while in prison.

As Americans, we have inherited some pretty huge problems with our criminal justice system.

People of color face incarceration at disproportionate rates compared to white people, and many people go to jail or prison when they should be getting mental health treatment instead.

A lot of these problems remain under the radar because for many Americans, prisons are out of sight and out of mind. Lately, thanks to the hard work of activists, filmmakers like Ava Duvernay, and other advocates, criminal justice reform has been in the spotlight.

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