There are a lot of “body maintenance” or “grooming” activities I absolutely hate doing: I dislike shaving. I hate the act of washing my hair. I really, really hate flossing (though I do it every single night because I know I have bad genes when it comes to dental health). Clipping nails is also extremely tedious; I’m especially terrible at filing my nails. Even after I think I’ve filed them very carefully, I always manage to get a nail snagged on some towel or piece of clothing within an hour or so after.

So when I started realizing that my nails were growing at a much faster rate in the last few weeks, I felt a bit torn. On the one hand, I recognize this is a really common (and for most women, pleasant) pregnancy side effect: the increase in hormones in your body results in faster hair and nail growth, and these are all positive signs for pregnancy. However, on the other hand, I felt annoyed: this means I will have to cut my nails more often, which I hate doing! The last time I cut my nails was literally a week and a half ago, and this past weekend, they were so long and annoying, especially while cooking. I got all kinds of gross food bits stuck under my nails, which looks really unattractive and dirty. Immediately, I knew I needed to cut them yet again. I usually never have to cut them this often, so I knew for a fact that the quick growth was due to pregnancy.