During pregnancy, hormones relax the muscles in your digestive tract, including the valve in the esophagus. This allows stomach acids to more easily seep back up the esophagus, especially when you're lying down. Heartburn can be worse in the second and third trimesters, when your growing uterus presses on your stomach. This sometimes pushes food back up into the esophagus.
Pregnancy hormones also slow down:
* The muscles that push food from your esophagus into your stomach
* The muscles that contract to digest food in your stomach, which slows down your digestion
These changes can also lead to indigestion, which can make you feel very full, bloated or gassy.
Follow these tips to prevent heartburn:
* Eat smaller meals. Eat five or six small meals a day instead of eating a few large meals.
* Drink less while eating. Avoid drinking large amounts of fluids with your meals. Drink your fluids between meals instead.
* Avoid foods that trigger heartburn. Avoid spicy, greasy or fatty foods, chocolate, caffeine, and other foods that can cause heartburn.
* Avoid bending or lying down right after eating. Sit up, do light housework, or take a walk until your body has had a chance to digest. Be sure to eat your last meal of the day several hours before bedtime. If you need to lie down, prop your upper body up with a few pillows.
* Don't gain too much weight. Gain a sensible amount of weight. Stay within the guidelines your health care provider sets. Excess pounds put extra pressure on your abdomen, increasing your chances of getting heartburn.
* Wear loose clothing. Tight clothing can increase the pressure on your stomach and abdomen.
* Raise your head when you lie down. Prop your head up a few inches with pillows. Or raise the head of your bed with two bricks or blocks.
It is absolutely ok to take Tums antacid tablets during pregnancy.
When to Talk to Your Health Care Provider
For most people, heartburn is temporary and mild. But severe heartburn can be the sign of a more serious problem. Talk to your health care provider if you have any of the following:
* Heartburn that returns as soon as your antacid wears off
* Heartburn that wakes you up at night
* Difficulty swallowing
* Spitting up blood
* Black stools
* Weight loss
Pregnancy and Heartburn
Getting A "Period" While Pregnant.
Many women report getting what seem like regular periods during early pregnancy. How can this be? First of all, it helps to realize that since the hormones of pregnancy totally prevent ovulation, the bleeding is not truly a menstrual period, but rather early pregnancy bleeding. That said, the perception of having a menstrual period (or more than one) in early pregnancy can confuse the due date and delay some pregnant women from seeking appropriate and timely medical care.
Implantation bleeding
Many mothers-to-be get a few days of bleeding right around the time that the early embryo is burrowing into the wall of the uterus. On average, this occurs five days after conception and may be confused with an early period, especially if the woman is not keeping close track of her cycles.
This implantation bleeding is normal and is not a sign of any problem with the pregnancy. The biggest problem with implantation bleeding is that it can lead to a mistakenly later due date if it is counted as a menstrual period. The real last period from which the due date should be calculated would be the prior one.
Conceiving while using birth control pills
Women who get pregnant while on the Pill might have intermittent bleeding before it is obvious that they are pregnant and they stop taking their pills. The calculation of the due date based on these episodes will most likely be inaccurate, so Ultrasound is almost always needed to date a pregnancy in this situation.
Early pregnancy bleeding
Bleeding in early pregnancy is a common occurrence, but this does not signal a true menstrual cycle, as pregnancy hormones prevent the ovary's release of an egg as well as the buildup and subsequent shedding of the uterine lining. If these episodes are intermittent, they can be perceived as periods, and the mother-to-be may not recognize that she is pregnant. In instances where a couple is unaware that they are expecting, it can be particularly emotionally challenging to find out about the pregnancy at the same time they are told that the bleeding might signal a problem.
Figuring out the due date
It can be hard to calculate when the baby's due when you aren't sure which period was the true last menses. A number of timing issues can help provide a ballpark estimate of when conception took place: when you had unprotected intercourse, when the pregnancy test turned positive (especially if there were some negative results before the positive one), and when you first noticed symptoms of pregnancy (such as breast tenderness or nausea). Usually an ultrasound is needed to narrow down the dates.
Identifying the due date is quite important in prenatal care, since some tests, like the triple check, are standardized by the exact number of weeks gestation. In addition, most couples (as well as their practitioner) want to have some idea of when to expect the baby!
POLL RESULT: Two
Do you want to know the sex of your baby?
Yes = 12 votes
No = 2 votes
We want to be surprised. = 2 votes
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Which pregnant celeb said,? I'm holding so much water and I have a backside that
looks like a cauliflower?
Selma Hayek 7 votes
Kate Winslet 5 votes
Britney Spears 4 votes
Marcia Cross 3 votes
* The right answer is Kate Winslet.
************************************************************************************* Who do you think is the cutest celebrity baby?
Shiloh 41 votes
Suri 33 votes
Dannielynn 15 votes
Apple 4 votes
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Which actress suffered with infertility?
Kate Hudson no votes
Halle Berry 3 votes
Julia Roberts 5 votes
Tori Spelling 1 vote
The answer is Julia Roberts.
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How many babies are born every minute?
388 - 2 votes
469 - 2 votes
544 - 1 vote
247 - 3 votes * 247 is the right answer.
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The water (amniotic fluid) surrounding the baby?
Is made by the placenta - 6 votes
Is made by the bag of water - no votes
Appears by magic - 2 votes
Comes from the abdomen - 2 votes
Is mostly baby urine - 3 votes (this is the right answer)
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Champagne Wishes And Caviar Dreams!!!
It's funny how every bodies opinion of this expression differ. For some
people it would be loads of money and never having to work again. For me it would be dirty diapers and Four O'Clock feedings. To have my very own baby, that I have wanted since, as far back as I can remember. I have watched other people's children for so long, that sometimes having a child of my own seems so surreal. When I found out I was pregnant for the first time in my life, I thought I was dreaming. I kept pinching myself, I was so happy. When I miscarried my world shattered. I was beyond devastated. Words can not express what a blow this was to my heart, let alone deep down in my soul. Wow, too have a long life dream come true, to just have it taken, just like that. I felt like someone ripped my heart out. Having children someday has always been a dream of mine. Problem is, now I am thirty- three. When I miscarried my doctor informed me my eggs are old and that in your thirty's your odds off conceiving go down considerably. "Are you kidding me"? "Is this some kind of joke"? I was stunned! I mean I know that as you get older, your chances of conceiving go down, but for heaven sakes, that is the last thing I wanted to hear.... I am now more determined then ever to stay positive and keep trying to have my own little angel. For anyone out there that has suffered a miscarriage, or are having trouble conceiving, please don't give up hope. Keep trying for your sweet baby! Anything worth achieving, is worth fighting for. It will happen, but you have to manifest it. Want it, see it, believe it! Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it! For me, those words are music to my ears! A dream is a wish your heart makes, a dream you keep alive, no matter, how much sometimes you want to give up. The Cinderella song rings true- In your dreams, when your fast asleep, if you keep believing, even when your grieving. The dreams that you dream really do come true!
