Common pregnancy symptoms and how I dealt with them.

  Here are some of the symptoms that I experienced during pregnancy and some methods of helping to cure them, tried and tested.

Nausea

I am pleased to say that I have not had to deal

with much nausea and vomiting through my pregnancies, despite one of them being a multiple, so I consider myself very lucky.  I found that eating crackers regularly through my first pregnancy helped to settle the stomach.  I had to avoid putting my toothbrush too far back into my mouth, as this made me feel ill.  My mum found me some ginger gummy bears, but they tended to be too spicey for my reflux.

Reflux

This was a major issue for me, as I had already been diagnosed with GORD and had been on medication, which I chose to stop taking when I found out I was pregnant.  The combination of hormones relaxing sphincter muscles and baby weight on the stomach make it worse.

I recommend:  

avoiding foods that make it worse.  For me this was anything with tomato, sausages and fatty meats, orange juice, to name a few- basically anything with high acid or saturated fat content.

Sleeping upright, either on pillows or in a recliner, slightly on your side as the weight of the baby on the stomach can make it worse.

Take Mylanta or your antacid of choice (check its safety in pregnancy)  as directed.

Drink a glass of milk before bed.  This helps to coat the stomach lining and settles acid.  Sometimes I would get up in the middle of the night just to get a drink of milk when reflux was bothering me.

Constipation and bloating

My very first pregnancy symptom was constipation.  I tried Metamucil, but this just made me gag.  It helps to keep your fluids up and eat plenty of vegies, but if this doesn’t work alone, then try a glass of prune juice everyday.  This worked in my first pregnancy.  In my 2nd, I discovered a wonderful product called ‘Benefiber’, a colourless and tasteless fibre supplement- so I ditched the prune juice.  I liked it in yoghurt.  I found it hard to get in enough veggies, so I drank a glass of V8 veg juice most days, which I think some varieties contain up to 3 serves of veg per glass.

Haemorrhoids

My haemorrhoids were debilitating at times during my second pregnancy.  Even lying on the couch, the slightest move caused me an immense amount of pain.  To prevent haemorrhoids, avoid long hours on your feet, practice your pelvic floor exercises to keep that area strong, avoid squatting for too long and keep the constipation under control.  To soothe haemorrhoids, I used either rectinol or proctosedyl cream (anusol was useless).  I showered after most bowel actions to make sure I was completely clean, as its difficult to properly clean around the folds.  I found toilet paper wet with cold water and a bit of shower gel was cooling, cleansing and soothing.  For the really bad episodes (and after the birth) I used a soft icepack from the chemist.  It cost me about $18 but was worth every cent.  Sit on a pillow.  I found a little bit of pressure helped to ease the pain when they weren’t so bad.  I had to lay on my side when they were at their worst.  Blow up rings aren’t recommended for sitting on, as they tend to put more vascular pressure on the haemorrhoids and inhibit healthy circulatory flow.

Itchy belly

Stretching skin is itchy skin.  Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize.  I have used a variety of products, depending on what I have at the time- including palmers cocoa lotions, body butters and bio oil.  Apply after the morning shower.

Back ache and sciatica

  Avoid standing, sitting or lying in the one position for too long.  If you have to stand in the one spot (ie. Doing the dishes) use a little step stool to put your foot up onto, and alternate the weight from leg to leg.  Ikea sells these for about $5. 

  I used my hot wheat bag all the time on my lower back and found it to be very helpful with backache.

 I also have a couple of pregnancy yoga DVDs that were also very good, when I had time to do it.  My first pregnancy I was able to go to yoga classes, designed by a physiotherapist at the maternity hospital I was booked into.  Fit balls are relatively cheap and great just to sit on.  Your posture seems to just fall into a natural and relaxed alignment. 

 Be wary of lifting and bending.  Ligaments and muscles are affected by pregnancy hormones and your back won’t be as safe, add to that the weight of your belly as well.     Use pillows when sleeping- one between your legs to keep your hips in alignment, one under your belly before it grows big enough to rest comfortably on the mattress, and one behind you back for extra support.  During my first pregnancy, I took a while to set myself up for bed, and hubby didn’t get much room, but it was worth the better night sleep.

I had to get out of bed very slowly in my first pregnancy (not good when its the middle of the night and you're busting for your 5th night time wee), as my sciatica would kick in and my legs would collapse out from under me.  It also meant walking very slowly down the hall, using the walls for stability.  This was not so bad during the day, when my muscles were warm and active.

Pubic bone pain

I struggled with this with my twins.  I found that getting on my hands and knees on the floor, or bending forward over a bench top, helped to relieve the pressure on the pubic bone.  It allows your belly to hang and the baby weight shifts out of the pelvis for a few minutes.  Doing this intermittently during the day may help.  Again, avoid too much time on your feet, and again- yoga.

Night time calf and foot cramps

Stretch your calf muscles frequently during the day.  Yoga will also help with this.  Also make sure you get enough calcium, potassium and magnesium in your diet.  Some say that too much phosphorus may contribute to cramping (found in meat and milk).  I also thought that, if my legs got cold they were more likely to cramp, so I took my hot wheat bag to bed with me and positioned it down by my legs.  Stay well hydrated, drink enough water during the day.  When night cramps rudely struck, I found it helpful to massage the muscles and gently stretch them at the same time.

 

Despite all of this, I consider myself to have had great pregnancies and thoroughly enjoyed being pregnant.  I hope you all can find solutions to your uncomfortable pregnancy symptoms, as it can create 9 months of pure misery if any of these are out of control.

Good luck to you all.