Sigh. Pregnancy. It's something else, isn't it? Sure, it's a blessing, a miracle, and all sorts of other warm and fuzzy stuff -- but some of it can be downright pathetic and a bit on the humiliating side.

From unpleasant symptoms and side effects like hemorrhoids, morning sickness, to having a major case of "pregnancy brain", expecting a baby has more than its fair share of total-state-of-embarrassment-inducing material to offer.

As if turning our bodies over to house a growing human for nine months isn't taxing enough on our figures, many of us fall victim to the unsightly phenomenon of stretch marks, which kill our hopes and dreams of ever wearing a two-piece bathing suit again.

Seriously, it's so unfair. Even if you work your butt off in the gym and lose every single last ounce of baby weight, you're still left with zebra stripes all up and down your belly -- putting the "mom" stamp on you for the rest of your life.

But there is some good news. While you may never get rid of your stretch marks completely, there are a few things you can try to at least reduce their appearance and make them less noticeable. And if you try some of these methods during your pregnancy as opposed to waiting until you deliver, you'll be one step ahead of the game.

OMG. It certainly took long enough, but Kim Kardashian has ditched her heels in favor of a pair of simple black flip-flops, which is enough to make anyone who has seen the horrifying photos of her feet crammed into and spilling out of heels breathe a huge sigh of relief.

And based on how swollen her poor tootsies still are even though she's wearing comfortable footwear, it's pretty obvious that poor Kim really had no choice but to make the switch to flats -- something we can only hope she continues for the remainder of her pregnancy.

And aside from giving her feet a much-needed breather, it looks like Kim is also giving her skin a break from spray tans and heavy makeup.

If the Beyonce pregnancy rumors have been at a dull roar since the Met Ball, consider them on FULL blast today. The diva has canceled tonight's show in Belgium and is "awaiting word from her doctors before making a decision" on tomorrow's show, which is also scheduled at the Sportpaleis in Antwerp. Her publicist cites "dehydration and exhaustion" as the cause. Uh huh! More like "pregnant with baby number two," amirite?! Okay, maybe, maybe not.

Although there are many signs that could possibly point to her expecting a sibling for Blue Ivy -- and this certainly seems like a tell-tale one -- all we know for sure is that she needed a break.

Everyone was pretty shocked after hearing that Halle Berry is pregnant with her second child at the age of 46 -- but it sounds like no one was quite as surprised as her.

She was so stunned, in fact, that Halle thought she had kidney stones when she went to the doctor to see what was going on. And even though I've never had a kidney stone, I can totally relate to what Halle went through. Like her, I was pretty dumbfounded when I found out that the abdominal pain I was experiencing was due to the fact that I was pregnant.

For the most part, I got really, really lucky and had a pretty routine pregnancy with my son seven years ago. Sure, I was huge, had more than my fair share of heartburn and hemorrhoids, and was uncomfortable as hell towards the end -- but I was never sick and/or miserable at any point during that nine months.

But while I didn't fall victim to morning sickness, there was one thing that absolutely made me gag -- the smell of my husband's deodorant.

OMG. It was the grossest thing EVER. I was so turned off by it, in fact, that he was forced to switch brands for the sake of me hanging onto my lunch.

Pregnancy comes with plenty of wacky and unpleasant side effects, and by far, having to pee constantly is one of the most annoying and inconvenient symptoms there is.

It's bad enough running back and forth to the bathroom a million times during the day, but unfortunately, most of us also have to deal with being woken up at night to relieve ourselves as well.

When I was pregnant with my son, I think I spent more time on the toilet than I did anywhere else for almost the entire nine months. (True story.)

After hearing that Drew Barrymore grew a goatee during her pregnancy, I couldn't help but laugh and think about the crazy things that happened to my own body while I was expecting my son.

No, I didn't wind up with unwanted facial hair like she did; however, I broke out in zits all over my back, much to my dismay. It was somewhere around my fifth month, and I guess my hormones must have been in overdrive, because I had acne worse than I ever did as a teenager.

And that's not the only strange thing that occurred. One of my feet also appeared to be bigger than the other, which I'm assuming can be attributed to being swollen like a balloon for most of my pregnancy.