The Pregnancy Glow, a load of rubbish?

I remember when I first told my friends and family I was pregnant, I kept hearing the words pregnancy glow thrown all over the place (as well as "oh I knew it!"). And there was me left feeling a bit confused as to what this pregnancy glow was, and did it really exist? I mean, I didn't feel glowing at all.

For the first two trimesters, my face was full of spots and considering I usually have an almost clear complexion, this got me down a lot. So I was eagerly waiting for this glow to arrive.

I spent hours on end searching online 'how to get the pregnancy glow' and I tried EVERYTHING. But honestly, nothing works. There were a few times I thought I had a breakthrough, like when I bought some coconut oil. But it didn't last more than a few days and the spots and and dry skin were back.

I continued to persevere. I'd moisturise and cleanse daily, exfoliate once a week, try not to touch my face often etc. but was still left with misery every time I looked in the mirror. Not only that, but my dry skin turned OILY in places. I honestly felt like I'd just hit a brick wall.

Spots, combination skin, no glow. So I gave up. Instead of using my usual expensive moisturiser (that I never ever have steered away from using for years), I just used anything. I bought a cheap Nivea moisturiser for combination skin. And sometimes, I didn't even bother moisturising. I just took my make up off every night, washed my face with soap and got into bed. Mornings, I'd wash my face, moisturise and put on my make up for the day. I'd use my usual expensive cleanser once a week, if that. I'd simply accepted that my skin was to be terrible during pregnancy (and like the weight gain worries), I just got in with it and didn't look in the mirror too much!

Then the Third Trimester hit. And everyone began commenting on how glowing and healthy I looked. My dad even commented that my skin had really cleared up and looked glowing. My dad noticed?! So I actually started to believe it. I looked in the mirror and was actually kind of happy for once. My skin had actually cleared up. And I did kind of feel a bit more glowing. Was this the pregnancy glow?

I mean, I honestly don't know. Fast forward to today and there's a pretty ugly monster sitting on my chin. But it's okay. Because I still feel glowing. I've got zero make up, because I finally feel partially comfortable to go make-up free. But most importantly, I feel glowing in myself, not just my skin.

The question is: Is it because I'm excited (and no longer as stressed) that there's only a few weeks until we meet our beautiful boy? Or is it really the "pregnancy glow"?

What do you think? Does the pregnancy glow exist? Is it psychological? To do with hormones? Or is it just because I stopped using so many products on my face and busting a gut to get that glow? Let me know your thoughts over on Twitter, Facebook or Bloglovin'.