Most pregnancies are medically uneventful and end happily in the birth of a healthy baby. Your first -- and most important -- step is to sign up for a comprehensive prenatal program with an obstetrician (a doctor who specializes in
pregnancy and childbirth) or a midwife. You and your developing baby will get routine monitoring to make sure everything is going well, and if it isn't, you will be referred for appropriate care. You and your partner will get confidence-building information about
each stage of your pregnancy, including labor, childbirth, and the care and feeding of a newborn. Yet you still have 40 weeks to wonder whether certain physical discomforts are serious enough for medical intervention or are minor problems you can deal with on your own. You'll have various
kinds of discomforts during pregnancy -- some fleeting, some more permanent. Some may happen in the early weeks, while others emerge closer to the time of delivery. Still others may start early and then go away, only to return later. Every person's pregnancy is unique, so you may not have all of the changes described below. Talk to your
doctor if:When to Call Your Doctor
Most pregnant women will feel some changes in their
breasts. Your breasts will get bigger as your milk glands enlarge and the fat tissue enlarges, causing breast firmness and tenderness, typically during pregnancy's first and last few months. Bluish veins may also appear as your blood supply increases.
Your breasts might leak a yellowish fluid called colostrum, usually during the third trimester. Colostrum is the “pre-milk” that will nourish your baby in the first days of life until your milk comes in. As you get closer to delivery, it changes to a thin, colorless liquid. Your nipples can
also darken. They may stick out more, and the areolas may get bigger. Small glands around the nipples become raised. They make oil to keep your nipples soft. These changes make it easier for your baby to find and latch onto your nipples for breastfeeding. The freckles and moles on your body may be darker, too. Talk to your doctor if you have a mole or freckle that is growing,
changing color and shape, itching or bleeding, or larger than a pencil eraser. These may be signs of skin cancer. Recommendations: Feeling tired? That might be because your growing baby requires extra energy. Sometimes, it's a sign of anemia (low iron in
the blood), which is common during pregnancy. Recommendations:Pregnancy Breast Changes
Pregnancy Fatigue
It's very common -- and normal -- to have an
upset stomach when you're pregnant. Chalk it up to pregnancy's hormonal changes. It usually happens early in pregnancy, while your body is adjusting to the higher hormone levels. Good news: Nausea usually disappears by the fourth month of pregnancy (although in some cases it can persist throughout the pregnancy). It can
happen at any time of the day but may be worse in the morning, when your stomach is empty (that's why it's called "morning sickness") or if you aren't eating enough. Recommendations: Diarrhea usually doesn't mean anything is wrong. But it can be distressing. It may be related to your prenatal vitamin or your attempts to eat better, or it could just be a bug you caught. In any case, when diarrhea strikes during pregnancy, it's even more important to take good care of yourself.Pregnancy Nausea or Vomiting
Pregnancy Diarrhea
Call your doctor if the diarrhea
is serious or lasts more than 24 hours, if you get dehydrated or dizzy, if the stool has blood or pus, if it's black and tarry, if you also have a fever or severe belly pain, or if you think medication might help ease your symptoms. Recommendations: Your pants may feel tight even if you're not that far along. Blame hormone changes. Early in pregnancy, rising progesterone can cause your digestive system to
slow and your smooth muscle tissue to relax. This can cause bloating. It's similar to what happens to many women right before their period starts. Recommendations: It's normal to have to pee a lot when you're pregnant. Early in your pregnancy, your body makes a hormone that may increase urination. Your growing
uterus and baby also press against your bladder. The pressure can wake you up several times a night to go to the bathroom. You may also have the urge to go even when your bladder is almost empty. This problem usually goes away a few days after your baby is born. Call your doctor if you have a fever or blood in your urine, or if you have the urge to go again just after you've emptied your bladder. If it hurts, burns, or stings when you pee, you could have a urinary tract infection. This needs treatment right away. Recommendations:Pregnancy Bloating
Pregnancy Frequent Urination
Headaches can happen anytime during pregnancy.
They can be caused by tension, congestion, constipation, or in some cases, preeclampsia (detected after 20 weeks). Recommendations: You may not have expected pregnancy to affect your mouth. But your blood circulation and hormone levels can make your gums tender and swollen, and you may notice
they bleed more easily. You may also develop nose bleeds. Recommendations: Your hormones, as well as vitamins and iron supplements, may cause
constipation (trouble pooping or incomplete or infrequent passage of hard stools). Pressure on your rectum from your uterus may also cause constipation. Call your doctor if you also have abdominal pain or
rectal bleeding. If iron supplements are causing constipation, they may recommend a different one. Recommendations: You might be surprised that carrying a baby could cause pain in
your wrist. But up to 35% of women get pain or weakness in their wrist during pregnancy, usually in the third trimester. Fluid retention puts more pressure on the carpal tunnel, which runs from your wrist to the bottom of your palm. Most likely, the pain will get better within a few months of your baby's birth.Pregnancy Headaches
Pregnancy Bleeding and Swollen Gums
Pregnancy Constipation
Pregnancy Wrist Pain (Carpal Tunnel)
Call your doctor if you have numbness, tingling, or pain in your hand or wrist or if you have pain or strange sensations traveling up your arm to your shoulder. Recommendations:
- Do range-of-motion exercises that stretch your wrist.
- Apply ice for pain.
- Avoid repetitive wrist and hand motions, or positions or activities that make pain or numbness worse. Wear a wrist splint if your job requires repetitive motions.
- If computer work is causing pain, adjust your chair or keyboard height to change the position of your wrists.
- Wear a wrist splint to bed if you have pain at night. It keeps your wrists from curling while you sleep, which contributes to pain.
Pregnancy Dizziness (Feeling Faint)
Dizziness can occur anytime during middle to late pregnancy. Here's why it happens:
- The hormone progesterone dilates blood vessels so blood tends to pool in the legs.
- More blood is also going to your growing uterus. This can cause a drop in blood pressure, especially when changing positions -- and that can make you dizzy. If your blood sugar levels get too low, you may feel faint.
Recommendations:
- Move around often when standing for long periods of time.
- Lie on your left side to rest. This helps circulation throughout your body.
- Avoid sudden movements. Move slowly when standing from a sitting position.
- Eat regular, small meals throughout the day to prevent low blood sugar.
- Drink plenty of water.
Trouble Sleeping During Pregnancy
Finding a comfortable resting position can become difficult later in pregnancy. And your ballooning belly and bathroom breaks aren't the only things keeping you up. From backaches to heartburn to anxiety, a wide range of concerns can affect slumber. Hormones can also disrupt your sleep patterns, leaving you exhausted by day and wide awake by night.
Even though you may not be sleeping well, now is when you need sleep the most. Your body needs to rest so it can feed and house your growing baby.
Recommendations:
- Don't take sleep medication.
- Try drinking warm milk at bedtime.
- Take a warm shower or bath before bedtime.
- Use extra pillows for support while sleeping. Lying on your side, place a pillow under your abdomen, behind your back, and between your knees to prevent muscle strain and help you get the rest you need.
- Use blocks to prop up the head of the bed a few inches. This can ease breathing and help prevent any backflow of stomach acid from reflux.
- You will probably feel better lying on your left side; this improves circulation of blood throughout your body. Sleep with bent knees to take pressure off your back.
- Exercise. Every day, try to take a 30-minute walk or a pregnancy exercise class. Staying active can help you sleep better. Just do it early in the day. Exercising within 4 hours of bedtime can be stimulating enough to keep you up.
- Relax before bed. Try a pregnancy yoga video or some deep-breathing exercises.
- Stretch. Do a few leg stretches to keep your legs from cramping during the night.
- Limit drinks. Stop drinking within 2 or 3 hours of bedtime so you won't have to get up and go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.
- Avoid late meals as well as spicy, greasy, or acidic foods close to bedtime.
- Pee before sleeping. Make one last trip to the bathroom before you turn out the light.
- Turn down the thermostat. You're going to feel warmer now because extra blood is rushing to your skin. Keeping your bedroom cool will make you more comfortable and prevent you from having to kick off the covers in the middle of the night.
Heartburn is a
burning feeling that starts in the stomach and seems to rise up to the throat. During pregnancy, changing hormone levels slow down your digestive system, weaken the stomach sphincter, and your uterus can crowd your stomach, pushing stomach acids upward. Recommendations: Hemorrhoids are swollen veins that appear as painful lumps on the anus. During pregnancy, they may form as a result of increased
circulation and pressure on the rectum and vagina from your growing baby. Recommendations: Pregnancy hormones may cause the walls of your veins to weaken and swell. Pressure on the veins behind your uterus also slows the circulation of blood to your heart, making the smaller veins in your pelvis
and legs swell. You're most likely to get these bluish, swollen veins in your legs. But in late pregnancy, they may appear in your vulva, the area outside your vagina. Varicose veins will probably get better after your baby is born, when pressure on your veins goes away. Call your doctor if the veins feel hard, warm, or painful, or if the skin over them looks red.Pregnancy Heartburn or Indigestion
Pregnancy Hemorrhoids
Pregnancy Varicose Veins
Recommendations: Although varicose veins usually run in families, these things might help: Pressure from your growing uterus
can cause leg cramps or sharp pains down your legs. Recommendations: You may have a stuffy nose or feel like you have a cold. Pregnancy hormones sometimes dry out the nose's lining, making it inflamed and swollen. Recommendations:Pregnancy Leg Cramps
Pregnancy Nasal Congestion
- Apply a warm, wet washcloth to your cheeks, eyes, and nose to reduce congestion.
- Avoid using nasal sprays unless prescribed by your doctor because they can aggravate your symptoms.
- Drink plenty of fluids (at least 6-8 glasses of fluids a day) to thin mucus.
- Elevate your head with an extra pillow while sleeping to prevent mucus from blocking your throat.
- Use a humidifier or vaporizer to add moisture to the air.
- Take a warm shower or bath.
Shortness
of breath can happen due to increased upward pressure from the uterus and changes in physiologic lung function. Recommendations: Stretch marks
are a type of scar tissue that forms when the skin's normal elasticity is not enough for the stretching that occurs during pregnancy. They usually appear on the abdomen and can also appear on the breasts, buttocks or thighs. Though they won't disappear completely, stretch marks will fade after delivery. Stretch marks affect the surface under the skin and are not
preventable. Recommendations: Pressure from your growing uterus on the blood vessels carrying blood from the lower body causes fluid buildup. The
result is swelling (edema) in the legs and feet. Additional weight during pregnancy can also make your feet bigger. Plus, pregnancy hormones loosen your ligaments and muscles so your pelvic joints open up to get ready for childbirth. This affects
your whole body, even your feet. Call your doctor if any swelling is more than mild or if it suddenly gets worse. Recommendations:Shortness of Breath During Pregnancy
Pregnancy Stretch Marks
Swelling in the Feet and Legs During Pregnancy
Normal vaginal
secretions increase during pregnancy due to greater blood supply and hormones. Normal vaginal discharge is white or clear, isn't irritating, is odorless, and may look yellow when dry on your underwear or panty liners. Recommendations: Backaches are usually caused by the strain put on the back muscles, changing hormone levels, and changes in your posture. Recommendations:Vaginal Discharge During Pregnancy
Pregnancy Backaches
Sharp, shooting pains on either side of your stomach may result from the stretching tissue supporting your growing uterus. These
pains may also travel down your thigh and into your leg. Recommendations: The
uterine muscles will contract (tighten) starting as early as the second trimester of pregnancy. Irregular, infrequent contractions are called
Braxton-Hickscontractions (also known as "false labor pains"). These are normal during pregnancy. Recommendations:Abdominal Pain or Discomfort
Braxton-Hicks Contractions