A mum was shocked when her nose ‘grew like Pinocchio’ during pregnancy, adding she thought it was just an ‘old wives tale’.
Gabriela Garrido, from Hackney, East London, was shocked to discover her nose had grown by a third by the time she reached the nine-month mark.
The 36-year-old, who got married eight months after giving birth, said her larger nose was visible in wedding photos.
Two years later, the mother of one admits her nose is still ‘not the same’, but it deflates over time.
Gabriela Garrido, from Hackney, East London, was shocked to discover her nose had grown by a third by the time she reached the nine-month mark. On the left of the photo: before pregnancy and on the right, in her last month of pregnancy
Gabriela shared before and after photos of her ‘pregnancy nose’ on TikTok, which racked up almost half a million views.
The post, captioned “one of the many joys of pregnancy,” shows Gabriela’s nose before pregnancy compared to now, adding that it looked a lot “wider and rounder” at 37 weeks pregnant.
Gabriela said: ‘My nose was wider and rounder. It filled up as if someone was inflating it like a balloon.
‘I don’t know if it has doubled in size, but maybe by a third. It was like Pinocchio when his nose grew bigger.
‘It was about six months into my pregnancy, I couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was. I felt my face looked a little swollen.
‘Over the past month I thought my nose looked decidedly different, especially after comparing it to old photos.
‘I got married when my son was eight months old. I remember this was one of those times I looked at the pictures and thought, “Wow. My nose is still different after pregnancy.”
Gabriela said she thought noses getting bigger during pregnancy was just an “old wives’ tale.” Left: Her nose before her pregnancy. Right: With a larger nose during the last month of pregnancy
The business owner says she has had mostly positive reactions, but also some hate. Above: Her nose before pregnancy
Gabriela is shown lovingly holding her son as a baby. He is now two years old and she says her nose still hasn’t fully returned to its former state
Gabriela said she is kinder to herself and accepts that life is “inevitably going to change so much.” Above: Left, before pregnancy and right, in her last month of pregnancy
‘It’s been two years since I had my son. I don’t think it’s exactly the same, but it’s probably similar to what it looked like before pregnancy.”
It is believed that a ‘pregnancy nose’ is the result of an increase in hormones, which leads to dilation of the blood vessels and increased blood flow to certain parts of the body.
This increase in size is usually only temporary and most women find that their noses return to their normal size a few weeks after giving birth. However, it has led to the condition being compared to cartoon character Pinocchio on TikTok.
The business owner, whose son is now two years old, said she thought ‘pregnancy nose’ was an old wives’ tale and was stunned when it happened to her.
Gabriela said, “I’m Dominican. It is a common joke in Latin culture that women’s noses get bigger when they are pregnant.
The business owner, whose son is now two years old, said she thought ‘pregnancy nose’ was an old wives’ tale and was stunned when it happened to her.
‘I always thought it was an old wives’ tale. When it happened to me, I thought there was some truth in this.
‘It felt a little strange to look in the mirror and feel like you don’t look the same, but I wouldn’t say I felt bad about the way I looked.
‘My approach was more to be kind to myself and accept that when you’re pregnant, especially with your first baby, life is inevitably going to change so much.
“It wouldn’t be fair for me to have a negative feeling about that.”
Now Gabriela is sharing her nose transformation journey to normalize it for other women who experience the same thing during pregnancy.
Gabriela said: ‘I just wanted to normalize these changes.
‘A lot of people talk about the pregnancy glow, but I think it’s normal not to feel radiant.
‘Maybe you don’t feel better, maybe you feel a little strange. Society’s expectation at the moment and the standard of beauty is to have a thin nose.
‘All noses are beautiful. It’s okay to feel weird about your new nose, but it’s not ugly.’
Despite being inundated with kind comments praising her for sharing the photos, Gabriela said she was “surprised” by a rude comment that read, “This is making me consider getting a vasectomy,” which she has since removed it.
Gabriela said: ‘There are many men who have very unreasonable expectations and opinions about women and what they look like when they are pregnant.
‘I was surprised by the fact that someone could feel entitled to say something like that about a woman’s appearance and suggest that it would be better for a woman not to get pregnant because her appearance could change.
“I didn’t want to risk other pregnant women seeing the comment and thinking that others might think that about them too.”
Gabriela said many people have praised her for showing a different side of pregnancy, but she has also received hate
Many users online praised Gabriela for sharing the changes.
One user wrote: ‘Still the most beautiful.’
Another commented: ‘I think it’s because you have more blood in your body during pregnancy which causes swelling.’
Others expressed concern about developing a “pregnancy nose.”
One wrote: ‘I’ll wear a tape around my nose if I get pregnant.’
Another commented: ‘Does it return to normal later?’