Solutions to 4 Common Pregnancy Problems
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Pregnancy Problems
Pregnancy problems and weird symptoms are another level to an already pretty wild experience. Some people have smooth, easy pregnancies and for others it can be pretty horrible. I had heard of morning sickness related to pregnancy and food cravings but that was about it, so when I became pregnant with my first baby I was pretty shocked by all the weird things my body did.
New here? Check out some of my other blog posts to help you sail through pregnancy and delivery for a smooth transition into motherhood:
Every pregnancy is different so what you experience may be different from me, but these are 4 of the pregnancy problems that bothered me most (PLUS all the solutions that helped me cope!):
Constipation
Yep we’re talking about constipation…so glamorous I know! Pregnancy has a way of just completely stopping you up. The hormone relaxin is loosening up your body all over and that includes relaxing your intestinal muscles.
There’s all sorts of wives tales about things you can try like prunes, juice, lots of water, fiber, etc. Laxatives are not recommended in pregnancy in case they cause contractions or dehydration so what should you do?
I found what helped me best was something called Green Magma. It’s a barley grass supplement (so kind of smells like horse food lol). It’s a powder that you can mix into water or juice. It’s pretty bland just mixed in with water but my husband likes it better like that (I prefer it in juice or a smoothie).
Green Magma has no added sugar, salt, colorings or fillers and is free of animal products, soy, wheat, yeast, corn and is non GMO but it’s still always a good idea to run any supplements by your doctor or midwife before taking something new while pregnant. It’s not specifically for constipation but worked like a charm for me so give it a try! A little goes a long way so this $35 tub will last you quite awhile.
Trouble Sleeping
When I got toward the end of my pregnancy, if one more person told me to “sleep while you still can!” I thought I was going to lose it. Yes newborns wake up a lot and obviously you aren’t going to get tons of sleep but no one warned me about pregnancy sleep!!!
With my third trimester, between waking up to pee a million times or reposition myself to try to get comfortable, it was really hard to sleep. Two things that helped a lot were a pregnancy pillow and a supplement called CALM.
I actually borrowed the pregnancy pillow from a friend but it was a lot like this one you can get for only $39.99 on Amazon. Don’t waste your money on some $100 pillow! It helped keep me sleeping on my left side (which is generally the best position for baby) and allowed my knees and ankles to stay evenly apart. That also helped minimize my hip pain.
My other secret weapon CALM is actually a magnesium supplement. They also make a version with calcium in it too. If you are deficient in magnesium, it could increase your risk of hypertension or preterm labor so magnesium is a really important mineral that has the added benefit of helping you sleep!
The tag line on the bottle is “the anti-stress drink” and I think we could all use a little less stress am I right? I took it every night before bed while pregnant and just had some tonight too actually. It’s a powder you mix into water and tastes like raspberry lemonade…yum! You can get a 16oz bottle here for $20.
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Pelvic Pain
This was my biggest issue while pregnant. I have fairly easy pregnancies and don’t get morning sickness (don’t hate me!) but my hip pain is horrendous. With both of my pregnancies I had something called Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction (SPD). Basically the joint at the front of the pelvis separates too much causing movement and instability in the pelvis…and it hurts a lot!
Mine was pretty mild but was still super painful. Severe cases may even require crutches or a wheelchair to help you get around.
Going to Good Vibrations Family Chiropractic here in San Diego was super helpful with minimizing my pelvic pain during pregnancy. I got adjusted postpartum too to help transition my body back to normal and found this amazing postpartum hip belt to bring everything back together.
If you like the hip squeeze from your partner or doula during labor, you’ll love this belt. UpSpring Baby makes the Shrinkx Hips Ultra. It’s a compression hip belt that narrows hips back to pre pregnancy position over the first 8 weeks postpartum when the relaxin hormone is highest. It felt so good to have that belt on and was well worth the $40 price tag (honestly I would have paid well over $100 for this thing, that’s how much I loved it). You can get it here.
Sciatic Pain
Sciatic nerve pain feels like a sharp shooting pain, tingling or numbness. It usually starts in your low back or butt and radiates down the back of your legs. Mine was intermittent but when it’d strike was definitely no fun. The chiropractor helped a bit but what worked even better was Chinese Acupuncture.
If you’ve never tried it, it felt amazing. You can’t feel the needles and it was actually super relaxing. Acupuncture doubles as a way to get labor going (so make sure they know which spots to avoid if you aren’t ready for that). If you’re in the San Diego area, PUSH is a great place to start to find a pregnancy specialty acupuncturist.
Every Problem Has A Solution, Including In Pregnancy
Hopefully you can try these tips to see if they help you through these common pregnancy problems. Sometimes the only solution is wait until you have the baby. Thankfully I can promise that you will not be pregnant forever and that baby is coming out one way or another!
If you need to distract yourself in the meantime, why not read some birth stories!!! Below are a few recent birth stories I’ve shared for you to check out:
Pregnancy is a wild ride that isn’t always smooth sailing. Common pregnancy problems can have solutions you’ve never heard of! Don’t grit your teeth through pregnancy. Here are solutions to 4 common pregnancy problems so you don’t have to keep dealing with those annoying symptoms. #pregnancyproblems #pregnancyhack #childbirth
