# Does being pregnant make your dreams any different? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 23, 2003, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-being-pregnant-make-your-dreams-any-different/214833 "2003-11-23T14:05:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2003, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-being-pregnant-make-your-dreams-any-different/214833/1 "2003-11-23T14:05:36Z")
Pregnancy changes your body in lots of different ways, especially with respect to the hormones coursing through your body. Does being pregnant make your dreams more vivid, or memorable than they would be normally? ---
**Author:** ![LifeOnWry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/96bed5/32.png) [@LifeOnWry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LifeOnWry)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2003, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-being-pregnant-make-your-dreams-any-different/214833/2 "2003-11-23T14:28:33Z")
I don’t know if there’s any official say-so on this phenomenon, but when I was pregnant, the answer was definitely yes. When I mentioned it to my OB/GYN, he said it was fairly common, and then said that there were a couple dreams in particular that pregnant women seemed to report a lot. One was the “building dream” in which the preggie is trapped in a building with an unknown someone stalking her; another was the “roller coaster dream” in which the preggie starts off on a slow train or car ride that turns into a wild and scary roller coaster. He mentioned a few others, too, although I can’t bring any specific ones to mind just now. I do remember having one dream that completely addled me, though - I was attempting to nurse a cat! Just from what my doc said, and the dreams I recall from that time, I’d say pregnancy dreams are pretty easy to analyze. I remember waking up several times during my pregnancy thinking that Freud woulda had a field day with some of these! ---
**Author:** ![angelicate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@angelicate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/angelicate)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2003, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-being-pregnant-make-your-dreams-any-different/214833/3 "2003-11-23T15:20:36Z")
I had very vivid and extremely weird dreams when I was pregnant. I remember dreaming that I had a C-section, and they’d left my stomach open and never took the baby out, so I lifted my shirt and grabbed her out, and started nursing her. When she was done, she started talking to me and was walking around. I also had a lot of dreams that involved me sitting near the ocean and watching a huge tidal wave approach, and either being sucked under, or going into a nearby house and watching as the wave engulfed the house. After I had her, I dreamed that I fell off of a large ship (My husband is in the navy, so probably a ship about that size.) and the current caused by the ship’s movement puled me under, and was pulling me toward the propellers. I woke up, unable to breathe and with my chest feeling like it was going to explode. If the dreams have to do with hormones, that’d make sense, because your hormones are screwy after you deliver. ---
**Author:** ![AbbySthrnAccent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@AbbySthrnAccent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AbbySthrnAccent)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2003, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-being-pregnant-make-your-dreams-any-different/214833/4 "2003-11-23T15:43:34Z")
For me, yes. ---
**Author:** ![Alias](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e4f/32.png) [@Alias](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alias)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2003, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-being-pregnant-make-your-dreams-any-different/214833/5 "2003-11-23T15:54:22Z")
When I was pregnant, I had loads of dreams about my unborn child. Some dreams were just wonderful where my labor and delivery were no big deal, and my child was born perfect. Other dreams were my worst fears, such as my child being born dead, or damaged or something. Pregnant dreams for me were definitely different than my normal ones. ---
**Author:** ![SnoopyFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@SnoopyFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnoopyFan)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2003, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-being-pregnant-make-your-dreams-any-different/214833/6 "2003-11-23T16:45:58Z")
Yes, my dreams were very vivid. ---
**Author:** ![LilyoftheValley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@LilyoftheValley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilyoftheValley)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2003, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-being-pregnant-make-your-dreams-any-different/214833/7 "2003-11-23T20:04:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LifeOnWry \* > \*\*I remember waking up several times during my pregnancy thinking that Freud woulda had a field day with some of these! \*\* Agreed…I seem to be having a lot of dreams that I’m living at home with my parents again! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Flutterby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Flutterby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flutterby)\ **Post date:** [November 23, 2003, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-being-pregnant-make-your-dreams-any-different/214833/8 "2003-11-23T22:01:16Z")
Pregnant? Check… Weird dreams? Check… Everything I heard about weird dreams during pregnancy people told me they would be stuff to do with baby (subconscious fears and the like)… but mine have nothing whatsoever to do with becoming a parent, taking care of baby or anything like that… instead it’s sex… I dream of lots and lots of sex… from the mundane to the slightly kinky. Maybe that has to do with being single and not having gotten any since… well shortly after baby was concieved. I dunno… ---
**Author:** ![Adoptamom\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Adoptamom\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Adoptamom_II)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-being-pregnant-make-your-dreams-any-different/214833/9 "2003-11-24T03:05:24Z")
I wish I would’ve dreamed about sex :::sigh::: instead I dreamed about giving birth to litters of kittens or puppies instead of a human child :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_News_Baboon)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-being-pregnant-make-your-dreams-any-different/214833/10 "2003-11-24T04:59:49Z")
Prior to being pregnant I never recalled my dreams. Now I have very vivid ones every night. ---
**Author:** ![SnoopyFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@SnoopyFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnoopyFan)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-being-pregnant-make-your-dreams-any-different/214833/11 "2003-11-24T05:20:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Adoptamom\_II \* > \*\*I wish I would’ve dreamed about sex :::sigh::: instead I dreamed about giving birth to litters of kittens or puppies instead of a human child :eek: \*\* I dreamed about sex. A lot. okay, a whole lot ---
**Author:** ![thirdwarning](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecccb3/32.png) [@thirdwarning](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thirdwarning)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-being-pregnant-make-your-dreams-any-different/214833/12 "2003-11-24T06:44:56Z")
I didn’t have a lot more dreams, but the ones I had I still remember somewhat, and it’s been 22 years. I had several that had to do with water, including one where I was on the campus of the College of Saint Mary at Notre Dame, and there were canals all over the place. The worst one I had, though, was not a water dream. I dreamed I was delivering my baby, and when they held him up for me to see he didn’t have a face. There was only smooth skin on the front of his head. I woke up terrified, and was afraid to go back to sleep. ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-being-pregnant-make-your-dreams-any-different/214833/13 "2003-11-24T12:58:53Z")
I had extremely vivid and strange dreams during all three pregnancies. FWIW, I also tend to have stranger and more vivid dreams during my period. So, my WAG would be that it’s a hormonal thing. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-being-pregnant-make-your-dreams-any-different/214833/14 "2003-11-24T14:11:25Z")
In my experience: yes. For the entire first trimester, and much of the second and third, I had extremely vivid and lifelike dreams. They were more like watching or participating in a movie than the usual fuzzy disjointed stream-of-consciousness stuff I tend to get. It’s actually one of the coolest parts of being pregnant, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![Wicked\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/2acd7d/32.png) [@Wicked\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wicked_Blue)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-being-pregnant-make-your-dreams-any-different/214833/15 "2003-11-24T14:56:58Z")
I’m pregnant, and I have noticed that my dreams are much more vivid now. Many of my dreams have babies in them, and sometimes they are stressful and sometimes they are nice. For example, in one dream I was cutting open a pineapple and a whole bunch of little yellow humanoid fetuses came spilling out. I felt terrible about it and tried to put them back in, but they started chasing and attacking me. Shortly after my baby shower, I had a dream that my babies were born (I’m having twins) and they had to sleep in dog beds because I didn’t have a cradle. I was a little disappointed that I hadn’t gotten cradles at the shower, so that one made sense. I used to have vivid and strange dreams before my period as well, so I believe some of it is hormone related. Add raging hormones to the stress, worry and anxiety about the impending birth and that’s a fine recipe for crazy dreams, IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [November 24, 2003, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-being-pregnant-make-your-dreams-any-different/214833/16 "2003-11-24T22:24:30Z")
With the first one, I had weirder dreams than I did with the second. But yeah, weird dreams all over the place, usually involving some bizarre baby-form. The other week I had to wash a bunch of plastic baby dolls, and it was very much like a pregnancy dream. 😛