It’s 4 a.m. and you wake up in a cold sweat. You had the pregnancy dream again. But you’re also a boy. What does it mean? What is your unconsciousness trying to communicate?

Sigmund Freud, known as the father of psychoanalysis, was very preoccupied in the meaning behind dreams and famously said, “dreams are the royal road to the unconscious.”

Psychoanalysis is a technique of “mind investigation,” particularly of the unconscious mind, according to freudfile.org.

Freud believed dreams were the brain’s way of pushing repressed or unconscious thoughts up to the surface, something he called “wish fulfillment.”

He theorized that even seemingly simple symbols and ideas presented within a dream could have multiple meanings, according to Freud’s book “The Interpretation of Dreams”.

Here’s a brief overview of some things that might surface within a dream and what each may mean, according to The Huffington Post:

Being chased

In a dream, perhaps it’s not the chase that you fear, but rather what you’re being chased by.

What in your life are you putting on the backburner? Whatever it is that you aren’t addressing may be looking for your attention.

Water

Water could potentially show how you’re handling your emotions at that time by presenting itself as clear versus murky or calm versus choppy. We often ignore or avoid our emotions to stressful situations.

Classroom

This dream or nightmare often comes from how prepared you’re feeling about something. It could also represent learning a new life lesson or personal growth.

Death

This one doesn’t have to be negative. It could simply mean the death of an old way or routine that’s making space for the new.

Falling

This one is all too common, and is also known to wake people up in a panic. Falling uncontrollably may be interpreted as not having a good handle on your life.

Nudity

Emotional exposure often shows itself in dreams as nudity. Nudity could be your unconscious way of expressing vulnerability.

Pregnancy

A baby can often mean a longing for a change in your life. Pregnancy in a dream, however, can mean you’re beginning to transition from childhood to adulthood, mentally.

You are finally seeing yourself as someone who is independent and makes real life choices.

Being pregnant in a dream is shockingly common amongst men as well, often meaning they are putting their manhood or fertility in question, according to astrology.com.

Dreams can be beautiful, terrifying, and telling. But mostly they’re just great conversation starters. Let’s be honest with ourselves.

“I had this dream the other night that I woke up from my dream, only to still be in a dream,” first-year Emily Deporto said.

Of course, there’s always the possibility that the people you see or the things you experience in your dreams are just a coincidence.

How much weight do we really want to place on Freud, the man that handed out cocaine as medicine and invented the concept of penis envy?