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.
When to Call Your Doctor
Talk to your doctor if:
- You have severe nausea and vomiting, dehydration, a persistent rapid heartbeat, or pale, dry skin; you may have hyperemesis gravidarum, a severe form of morning sickness.
- You have vaginal spotting or bleeding; you may be having a miscarriage or serious placental complication.
- You have sudden weight gain over a few days, severe headache, or blurred vision; you may have preeclampsia, a form of high blood pressure that can endanger your health and the health of your baby.
- You have a fever over 100 F and chills, backache, or blood in your urine; you may have a kidney infection or other infection.
- After the baby begins to move, you feel less or no movement for more than 2 hours; your baby may be in fetal distress.
- You feel wetness or a leaking of fluid, unlike normal vaginal secretions or urinary leakage; you may have ruptured membranes or leaking of amniotic fluid.
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:Pregnancy Bloating
- Do gentle exercise, such as walking or swimming, which helps keep the digestive system moving.
- Drink water throughout the day to help digestion.
- Eat smaller meals more often. It's easier on the digestive system.
- Eat foods high in fiber, such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
Pregnancy Frequent Urination
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:
- Don't wear tight-fitting underwear, pants, or pantyhose.
- Drink plenty of fluids to avoid dehydration. Try to get them mostly during the day. Drink less in the evening and at night. This should help you cut back on nighttime bathroom visits.
- Avoid coffee, tea, colas, and other caffeinated drinks. These can make you urinate more often.
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: Dizziness can occur anytime during middle to late pregnancy. Here's why it happens: Recommendations: 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:Pregnancy Dizziness (Feeling Faint)
Trouble Sleeping During Pregnancy
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.Pregnancy Heartburn or Indigestion
Recommendations:
- Eat several small meals each day instead of three large meals.
- Eat slowly.
- Drink warm liquids.
- Avoid fried, spicy, or rich foods, or any foods that seem to give you indigestion.
- Don't lie down right after eating.
- Keep the head of your bed higher than the foot of your bed. Or place pillows under your shoulders to prevent stomach acids from rising into your throat.
- Don't mix fatty foods with sweets in one meal, and try to separate liquids and solids at meals.
- Try heartburn relievers such as Gaviscon, Maalox, Mylanta, Riopan, Titralac, or Tums.
Pregnancy Hemorrhoids
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:
- Try to avoid constipation. Constipation can cause hemorrhoids and will make them more painful.
- Avoid sitting or standing for long periods of time; change your position frequently.
- Don't strain during a bowel movement.
- Apply ice packs or cold compresses to the area or take a warm bath a few times a day to provide relief.
- Avoid tight-fitting underwear, pants, or pantyhose.
- If you still need more help, consult your health care provider.
Pregnancy Varicose Veins
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.
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
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.Vaginal Discharge During Pregnancy
Recommendations:
- Choose cotton underwear or brands made from natural fibers.
- Avoid tight-fitting jeans or pants.
- Do not douche. Douching can introduce air into your circulatory system or break your bag of waters in later pregnancy.
- Clean the vaginal area often with soap and water.
- Wipe yourself from front to back.
- Contact your health care provider if you have burning, itching, irritation or swelling, bad odor, bloody discharge, or bright yellow or green discharge (these symptoms could be a sign of infection).
Pregnancy Backaches
Backaches are usually caused by the strain put on the back muscles, changing hormone levels, and changes in your posture.
Recommendations:
- Wear low-heeled (but not flat) shoes.
- Avoid lifting heavy objects.
- Squat down with your knees bent when picking things up instead of bending down at the waist.
- Don't stand on your feet for long periods. If you need to stand for long periods, place one foot on a stool or box for support.
- Sit in a chair with good back support, or place a small pillow behind your lower back. Also, place your feet on a footrest or stool.
- Check that your bed is firm. If needed, put a board between the mattress and box spring.
- Sleep on your left side with a pillow between your legs for support.
- Apply a hot water bottle or heating pad on low setting to your back, take a warm bath or shower, or try massage.
- Perform exercises, as advised by your health care provider, to make your back muscles stronger and help relieve the soreness.
- Maintain good posture. Standing up straight will ease the strain on your back.
- Contact your health care provider if you have a low backache that goes around your stomach and does not go away within one hour after you change position or rest. This might be a sign of premature labor.
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
SOURCES: The American Pregnancy Association. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists: Your Pregnancy and Childbirth, Month to Month, 5th edition, 2010. National Digestive Diseases Information Clearinghouse: "Diarrhea." American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists: "Exercise During Pregnancy." National Library of Medicine: "Foot, Leg, and Ankle swelling." National Health Service Choices: "Carpal Tunnel Syndrome." American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons: "Carpal Tunnel Syndrome." Ablove, R. Wisconsin Medical Journal, July 2009. Viera, A. American Family Physician, July 15, 2003. UpToDate. Department of Health and Human Services Office on Women's Health: "Pregnancy: Body Changes and Discomforts." March of Dimes: "Your Pregnant Body." Cleveland Clinic: "Coping With the Physical Changes and Discomforts of Pregnancy,” "Sleep During Pregnancy."Show Sources
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