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Women go through many changes during pregnancy both physically and emotionally. Here are some common symptoms and how you can make yourself more comfortable during these nine months of pregnancy:
1. FATIGUE
Fatigue is common in early part and at the end of pregnancy. Your body is going through many changes, both physically and emotionally, to build this tiny human being growing inside you. You may feel extremely fatigued after doing things you are use to doing every day. Try to take naps. Also, starting an exercise program during pregnancy will also help to increase your energy levels.
MoonDragon's Pregnancy Information: Pregnancy Fatigue
2. MORNING SICKNESS
In the beginning months, some women experience morning sickness due to hormone changes that occur in your body during pregnancy. Symptoms include vomiting, nausea, or you may just feel like you have the flu. Unfortunately there is no cure for morning sickness, but eating small frequent meals may help.
Morning Sickness May Protect Embryos
By Charles Q. Choi,livescience.com
Posted AOL: 2008-05-19 15:05:05
Filed Under: Health News, Science News
(May 18) - As irritating as morning sickness may be for pregnant women, it may protect embryos. Doctors have long known that morning sickness — the nausea and vomiting usually experienced in early pregnancy — is actually a good sign of a healthy pregnancy, despite the discomfort it brings. Because of that, researchers say morning sickness protects mothers and embryos from things that could be dangerous. Not all pregnant women experience morning sickness, but for those who do, the symptoms peak during the time that the embryo's organ development is at the highest risk for chemical disruption. Source: www.livescience.com
However, scientists have debated whether morning sickness actually helps pregnancies succeed. It could just be an annoying byproduct of a healthy pregnancy, as pregnant women and their embryos carry out a tug of war over the body's resources.
When and why
To see which explanation might be right, scientists analyzed medical research to see when morning sickness does and does not occur. If morning sickness was just the byproduct of a healthy pregnancy, then it should accompany all healthy pregnancies. "But it doesn't," said researcher Samuel Flaxman, an evolutionary biologist at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Although two-thirds of pregnant women do experience morning sickness, the rest often carry their pregnancies to term.
Also, morning sickness does not seem to occur in other mammals, only humans, the researchers noted. If morning sickness was the byproduct of conflict between mother and embryo or fetus, one might expect other mammals to have it too. Instead, morning sickness is usually triggered in specific circumstances — in response to: the sight, smell, or taste of meats and strong-tasting vegetables, which were historically likely to contain foodborne microbes or birth-defect-inducing chemicals; alcohol and cigarette smoke. This all suggests morning sickness serves a useful function, evolving to protect mothers and embryos from things that may be dangerous, the researchers figure.
Also, in women who experience morning sickness, symptoms peak precisely when embryonic organ development is most susceptible to chemical disruption, between week six and week 18 of pregnancy. The reason that humans alone have morning sickness may be due to our extraordinarily broad diet in comparison to other mammals, including other primates, the scientists conjectured. Instead of evolving a range of molecules to defend against toxins, humans just evolved a way to keep away from dangerous chemicals. A better understanding of morning sickness could have important implications for how doctors handle pregnancy.
"To say that morning sickness is uncomfortable is a real understatement, and a lot of people are looking at ways to deal with it. But if nausea and vomiting truly serve a useful function, then one has to look more carefully at strategies for dealing with these symptoms," Flaxman told LiveScience. Despite decades of medical research and the widespread nature of morning sickness, little remains known about how it works, as it is of course unethical to experiment on pregnant women, and no other animals are known to experience it. "We're really interested in a more exhaustive analysis to see if morning sickness really does only occur in human beings, or whether there are other animals out there," Flaxman said.
Flaxman and his colleague Paul Sherman at Cornell University detailed their findings in the July issue of the journal American Naturalist.
2008-05-19 10:20:02
3. HEARTBURN
A burning feeling in your chest and stomach, is a common complaint during pregnancy. As your baby grows inside you, and organs get pushed around to make room for baby, there is less room in your body to digest foods. You stomach may produce more acids to digest the foods you eat. To ease heartburn during pregnancy, try eating small frequent meals throughout the day. This will make it easier for your body to digest the foods you eat. Try to avoid any foods that you know upset your stomach. Also be sure to check with your midwife or health care provider about taking an antacid to relieve any symptoms you may have.
4. BACK PAIN - BACKACHE
To carry the growing baby inside you, you will notice a change in your posture, and the way you walk. Towards the end of pregnancy, with the added weight of baby on your hips, you can expect to feel some back pain. This is common in pregnancy. Long back massages from your partner and warm baths may help. (Make sure the bath water is not hot) Check with your midwife or health care provider about taking acetaminophen (Tylenol) to help ease your backaches.
5. HEADACHES
Many women experience headaches throughout their pregnancy. Most likely it has to do with hormone levels and blood circulation, both of which increase throughout pregnancy. Stress may contribute to headaches as well. Discovering that you are pregnant is a life-changing occurrence, and will cause some stress and maybe some uncertainty. Exercise and cutting down of caffeine may help to reduce headaches. Check with your midwife or health care provider about taking an over the counter pain reliever as this will help ease your headaches and help other aches and pains of pregnancy as well.
6. SCIATICA
Beginning in the second trimester, some women experience a sharp shooting pain, which runs from their hip down the buttocks and the back of the leg. This pain is called Sciatica. It is caused from the weight of the uterus on the sciatica nerve. To relive the pain, try wearing a maternity belt. This will help lift the uterus off the nerve. Also, try lying on your left side to relive any pressure the uterus is putting on the nerve. Lying on your left side also helps with circulation and oxygen flow to the baby.
7. CONSTIPATION
Another common symptom of pregnancy, constipation can be very bothersome for pregnant women. Drink plenty of water, and eat whole grains fruits and vegetables to stay regular. Ask your midwife or health care provider about taking an over the counter medication to help with constipation.
OTHER RELATED PREGNANCY INFORMATION:
CAFFEINE & B-VITAMINS
By Joy Jones
Original Link: Topic of the Week: Aspartame, Caffeine, B-Vitamins, & Insomnia
Submitted: 8/20/2008
Printed With Permission.
In my opinion, one of the biggest problems with the consumption of caffeine during pregnancy is that caffeine destroys B-vitamins, which are essential vitamins in pregnancy. According to Adelle Davis, nutritionist and author of Let's Have Healthy Children, "Since the B vitamins dissolve in water, they are readily lost in urine. The stimulating effect of coffee and caffeine-containing soft drinks causes them to be washed through the body." (p. 98) She also says that a deficiency of Vitamin B6, one of the B-vitamins, can cause or exacerbate nausea and vomiting, bad breath, headaches, dry, scaly skin, intestinal cramps, aches and cramping in the legs (especially at night), nervousness, insomnia, dizziness, irritability, dandruff, difficulty concentrating, hemorrhoids, anemia, and lowered resistance to infections. She found that all of these symptoms disappeared within 2 weeks of the volunteers being given the level of B6 that they needed (p. 46).
It's very easy to have a B-vitamin deficiency in pregnancy, according to Ms. Davis, because the body's need for B-vitamins "increases immediately after conception" (p. 45). And most prescription prenatal vitamins have very low levels of B-vitamins. Most of them have less than 5 mg of most of the B-vitamins, while most pregnant women need 50-100 mg or more of the B-vitamins, varying from B vitamin to B vitamin, and varying from woman to woman. For example, in order to help alleviate the nausea and vomiting of pregnancy a pregnant woman needs to take "10-25 mg of B6 every hour or two for a day or longer" (p. 47). Taking extra B-vitamins can also help with insomnia, anemia, and hemorrhoids in pregnancy.
However, it should also be noted that it is important to not take either the multi-vitamin or the extra B-vitamins after 3 PM, because the B-vitamins in them may interfere with sleep if taken at that time of day, while they can help alleviate nighttime insomnia, if they are taken before 3 PM. If you are working on alleviating nausea and vomiting with extra B6 supplements, you can try continuing to take them every hour or two after 3 pm, and see if your sleep is affected when you do that.
If you do decide to switch from your prescription prenatal vitamins to a health-food-store brand, the "Whole Foods" brand of prenatal vitamins is one brand that contains more adequate levels of B-vitamins than the prescription brands do, in my opinion. However, if you decide not to switch away from your prescription brand, you can still supplement your prescription prenatal vitamin by taking that prescription multi-vitamin with breakfast, and add your extra B-vitamins with lunch. If you do this, be sure to find a brand of B-complex vitamin which has all the B-vitamins in the proper balance. I suggest that you avoid the "B-25" or "B-50" or "B-100" vitamins, in which all the B-vitamins are at the same level, since that is not a safe way to take B-vitamins. The proper proportion of B-vitamins is as follows: "For every 3 mg of vitamin B-1, there should also be 3 mg of vitamins B-2 and B-6; 18 mg of pantothenic acid, niacin amide and PABA; 600 mg of cholin and inositol, and 9-15 micrograms (mcg) of vitamin B-12 and biotin respectively." (p. 191) One of the "Whole Foods" B-Complex preparations is apparently balanced in a fashion similar to Ms. Davis' description.
The bottom line is that one of the main dangers of consuming caffeine - in coffee, tea, sodas, or chocolate - is in the fact that caffeine destroys B-vitamins, which are important nutrients in pregnancy. So even if you have only 1 cup of coffee a day, it can be destroying some of the B-vitamins that you're paying good money to put into your body, at the same time that your body's need for more B's has increased because of the pregnancy.
I recommend that you get a copy of Adelle Davis's book, Let's Have Healthy Children, from your local library, or through inter-library loan, and find out more about B-vitamins in pregnancy. I also recommend that you consult with your midwife regarding your questions about caffeine and B-vitamins.
INSOMNIA & PREGNANCY
By Joy Jones
One of the big reasons that insomnia can be a problem in pregnancy is that one of the causes of insomnia can be a B-vitamin deficiency, and it's very easy to have a B-vitamin deficiency in pregnancy because the body's need for B-vitamins increases soon after conception. In addition, most prescription prenatal vitamins have very low levels of B-vitamins. Most of them have less than 5 mg of most of the Bs, while most pregnant women need 50-100 mg or more of the B-vitamins, varying from B vitamin to B vitamin, and from woman to woman.
Another contributor to insomnia is a lack of enough calcium (which can also cause leg cramps).
So here's my usual recipe for insomnia in pregnancy....
1) If your prenatal vitamin seems to be low in the B's, you can consider switching to the "Whole Foods" brand of prenatal vitamins, which has good levels of the B's and also keeps them in balance with each other. Or you can look for another health-food-store brand - one in which the B vitamins are at higher levels and are balanced with each other.*
2) If you'd rather stay on the prenatal multi-vitamin that you have, and it seems to be low in the B's, you can take your prenatal multi-vitamin with breakfast, and then add a B-complex vitamin with your lunch. Here again, I suggest a "Whole Foods" B-complex preparation. Look for a B-complex preparation that gives the B's in different levels, rather than a "B-50" or "B-75", etc, which give all the B's at the same level, which means that they aren't in balance with each other.
3) Be sure not to take any B-vitamins after 3 pm (unless you're working on alleviating nausea and vomiting). Taking them before 3 pm helps with sleep, but taking them later than 3 pm can inhibit sleep.
4) Try to cut out all sources of caffeine from your diet, including coffee, tea, sodas, chocolate, and some brands of aspirin (which you need to avoid during pregnancy anyway), because caffeine destroys B vitamins, and a B-vitamin deficiency can cause or contribute to insomnia.
5) Take 1000 mg of calcium at bedtime. Calcium helps with sleep, and it takes about 1-2 hours to take effect. So if you have trouble getting to sleep, take the calcium about 1-2 hours before you want to sleep. Look for a calcium supplement that does not have Vitamin D in it, because it is easy to get too much Vitamin D in pregnancy, and you're already getting Vitamin D in your prenatal multivitamin, and in your milk products, breads, and cereals.
6) Avoid using TUMS as your calcium supplement. TUMS is an antacid, and in order to be absorbed into your body properly, your calcium supplement needs to be accompanied by acid or fat in your stomach. So you probably get little if any calcium from an antacid preparation. To help your calcium supplement absorb better, you can take it with an acid, like orange juice, or something with some fat in it, like milk or a nut butter (almond butter, cashew butter, etc).
7) Avoid having anything with sugar in it at bedtime. Sometimes what wakes people up in the middle of the night is low blood sugar. Having sugar at bedtime gives you a blood sugar peak, and then when your insulin kicks in and does its job, you end up with a blood sugar valley in the middle of the night.
8) Do have an unsweetened protein snack at bedtime. Protein helps stabilize your blood sugar and keep it steady all night long.
9) You can also keep a protein snack, such as a glass of milk, some cheese cubes, or crackers with a nut butter (almond, cashew, etc) at your bedside. That way, if you wake up during the night you can have some protein to help stabilize your blood sugar levels again, so that you can continue sleeping.
*Another problem with many prescription prenatal multi-vitamin preparations is that their levels of iron are too high, in my opinion. If your midwife feels that you need an iron supplement, many midwives believe that the best source for that is Floradix, and it is available at many health food stores."
Meet Joy Jones
The Brewer Pregnancy Diet
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Prescription for Nutritional Healing: The A-To-Z Guide To Supplements
-- by Phyllis A. Balch, James F. Balch - 2nd Edition
Prescription for Nutritional Healing: The A-To-Z Guide To Supplements
-- by Phyllis A. Balch, James F. Balch - 4th Edition
Prescription for Herbal Healing: The A-To-Z Reference To Common Disorders
-- by Phyllis A. Balch
The Complete Guide to Natural Healing
This is only a small sample of educational materials and products available through Amazon.com. Use the search box provided below to search for a particular item.
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