10 Pregnancy Dreams Decoded:

Just when you thought pregnancy couldn’t throw you another curveball, visions of breastfeeding your cat begin to dance through your head. Pregnancy dreams can be wild, wacky or just plain bizarre. And missing out on precious Zs before your baby arrives is a nightmare, so dive into our dream decoder to break down what it all means. Sweet dreams (hopefully) to follow …

You're breastfeeding animals

Decoded: Old McDonald had a farm, but relax, these dreams don’t mean that you are going to have one. According to Veronica Tonay, Ph.D., licensed psychologist and psychology professor at the University of California, Santa Cruz, dreams about breastfeeding animals are subconscious dress rehearsals for the motherly duties that are to come. Without a clear picture of what baby could look like, our minds substitute things that are familiar to us, like Fluffy the family cat.

Everyone you know is a
cartoon character

Decoded: Get ready to change the channel, mommas. These dreams mean you are preparing to see the world in a more childlike, innocent way, Tonay explains. So while your coworkers likely won’t be replaced with the cast of Dora the Explorer in real life, once the baby arrives you will begin seeing people and things from a changed perspective.

You unzip your belly, take out the baby and put it back

Decoded: Toting your unborn tot around like a tube of lipstick in a purse sounds glamorous, but according to Tonay, the actual reason for this dream is far less appealing. Most moms that experience this are going through morning sickness or some other uncomfortable pregnancy symptom and visualize temporarily removing the baby
for relief.

You are a brick house. Literally.

Decoded: Sadly, this isn’t the type of brick house The Commodores were referring to. Tonay explains that women begin to dream of modestly sized houses in their first trimester; as the weeks go by, the buildings get bigger and bigger. Simply put, as your belly and body grow, so do the buildings. But don’t fret — the gigantic skyscraper you’ve dreamt you’ve become will be demolished in nine months.

You are in the midst of a
natural disaster

Decoded: No, it’s not from watching too much news; pregnant women rarely dream about current events, Tonay says. Instead, she points out that women are worried about where their Prada pumps are going to land once the pregnancy ends. They see their life about to be destroyed by a seven-pound natural disaster: a baby. Worries like regaining footing at work and maintaining solid relationships begin to creep in and shake up a wave of anxiety.

You are fielding marriage proposals from everyone and anyone

Decoded: Suddenly the delivery room is looking a lot more like the set of a soap opera. Paging George Clooney! But Tonay points out this dream is not about wanting extra male attention; it is more about saying goodbye to your carefree and footloose lifestyle and embracing a new love interest in your life: your baby.

Your belly doesn’t have a baby in it, but a full-course buffet

Decoded: It’s every pregnant woman’s fantasy — a belly full of pickles and pizza to nibble at 24/7. Tonay says that dreams about food replacing the baby are a collision of pregnancy’s two worlds: food cravings and the desire for the baby to be out and the stomach to return to its normal functions.

You have a baby the size of an action figure and keep losing it

Decoded: Expectant moms worry about losing the baby, forgetting it at home, leaving it in the cart at the grocery store and just about every other place under the sun, says Tonay. Dreams such as this one just reflect the anxiety about actually being able to remember there is now a little person you are responsible for.

There are dinosaurs in your yard

Decoded: Modern medicine has made delivering a baby all sunshine and rainbows, right? Well, maybe, but Tonay points out that many women have flashbacks to pregnancy during more primitive times, when it was much more dangerous to give birth. But don’t worry, a Pterodactyl won’t be delivering your infant.

You give birth to a toddler, fully dressed

Decoded: Ground control to Major baby — are you in there? Nine months is a long time to wait to meet a person you created. The long stretch of time makes mothers anxious to communicate with their baby in a meaningful way (and dress him or her obviously), so delivering an older child makes conversation
seem possible.