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Nasty Pregnancy Symptoms
Yay, you are pregnant. Remember when you saw that second line on your pregnancy test and how happy you were. You felt over the moon for about a week or two maybe… and then the pregnancy symptoms started hitting you. Some of us mums to be are lucky enough to not experience any symptoms except for the obvious bigger belly of course, but others are feeling quite sick for the first three months of their pregnancy or if you are really unlucky, for the nine months until birth. Truth be told, if you are not experiencing any symptoms that is great, but it might actually make you worry that something is wrong. So rest assured ladies, the ladies without symptoms might actually envy you… What to do when you experience pregnancy symptoms? Our mums shared what helped them to relieve those pesky symptoms and ease their days.
Our Mum’s Tips
Forgetfulness, Pains and Morning Sickness
- Forgetfulness seems to be an annoying pregnancy symptom. Our mums seem to forget what they are doing and what they are talking about. Not much you can really do about these, except making sure that you get enough rest and pay attention to what you are doing.
- Night time leg cramps is a very nasty, painful pregnancy symptom. Luckily not all mums do suffer these and our mums found that Gatorade – Electrolyte Sports Drink and Nature’s Way Magnesium Oil spray helped a lot with the cramps.
- Sciatica – Sciatica is a term used to describe nerve pain in the leg that is caused by irritation and/or compression of the sciatic nerve. Some of our mums experienced excruciating pain from this and they found that not walking too much and some exercises do help.
- Hip pains are a result of your muscles and ligaments relaxing and bone structure widening. Especially in the morning our mums experience this. There are several services that can help for this type of pain, like your physio, pilates, swimming and pregnancy specialised chiropractor. Our mums found that a hip support belt would help a lot. Side clam shell stretches (youtube video) and rolling a spiky physio ball is good too. Instead of heating the area with a warm water bottle, our mums found that icing with an ice pack for 10 minutes at a time is great too.
- Another symptom caused due to ligament relaxation is a sore tail bone. Besides the before mentioned solutions our mums reckon that walking and swimming is good. It also helps to sit on an exercise ball or a special orthopedic cushion.
- Restless legs/tired legs is one of those nasty pregnancy symptoms our mums are dealing with. Magnesium (either in tablet form, powder drink or roll on), seems to be a good solution. Peppermint foot spray or Karma Rub works well too. A Epsom Salts warm bath did wonders for some of our mums. A pregnancy pillow, Shakti Mat Original or the Livemor Foot Massager relieved the symptoms too.
- Morning sickness, probably the most well know pregnancy symptom. Regularly eating tiny bits and pieces helps. Our mums nibbled on the following foods: dry crackers, icy poles, toast, Fisherman’s Friend Mints and Polo Mints. Taking your pregnancy vitamin, like Elevit, at night seems to help and there is an Elevit Morning Sickness Relief as well. Drinking dry ginger ale or camomile tea helped some of our mums. Essential oils can do wonders too.
Our Mum’s Tips
Sleeping Issues, Heartburn and Stretch Marks
- Trouble sleeping, especially when your belly is growing and it is harder to get comfortable, is a pregnancy symptom our mums experienced. A pregnancy pillow will make you a lot more comfortable. It is also worth checking on your iron and B12 levels as these sometimes can cause sleeplessness. Another option our mums tried was to sleep in a recliner with a big pillow under your legs.
- Pubic Symphasis pain is a secondary cartilaginous joint between the left and right superior rami of the pubis of the hip bones. It is located in front of and below the urinary bladder. The pain is usually caused by pregnancy during which hormonal changes cause the ligaments holding the pelvis together to loosen/stretch. The pain is felt at the front of the pelvis on the pubic bone. Walking and particularly standing on 1 leg worsen the symptoms. In mild/moderate cases the pain settles within a few weeks of childbirth. Our mums found that swimming helps and wearing a belly belt is good too.
- Heartburn made our mums suffer as well. Various tablets/powders seem to relief the symptoms: Rennie chewable tables, Gaviscon liquid, ranitidine tablets, Nexium tablets, Eno powder and Quick-eze tablets. More regular foods/drinks that our mums found helped are warm milk with honey, plain foods, apple cider vinegar, fruit tingles and bi carb soda with water. It is good to avoid coffee and tea, eat small meals and sometimes the best relief is to just throw up.
- Stretch marks – also known as Striae or Striae distensae, are a form of scarring on the skin with an off-color hue. Over time they may diminish, but will not disappear completely. Stretch marks are caused by tearing of the dermis during periods of rapid growth of the body, such as during puberty or pregnancy. Our mums used several products to prevent stretch marks or to dimmish their appearance: Bio Oil, Vitamin E cream, Coconut Oil, Cocoa Butter Lotion, Weleda Stretch Mark Oil, Grapeseed Oil, Sukin Body Scrub, Hemp Oil, Derma Mum Stretch Mark Oil, evening primrose, borage and wheat germ vitamin E and Olive Oil.
Our Mum’s Tips
Toileting Issues, Itching and Headaches
- Haemorrhoids are swollen veins in the lowest part of your rectum and anus. Sometimes, the walls of these blood vessels stretch so thin that the veins bulge and get irritated. To treat haemorrhoids our mums use the follow products: bi carb soda in a warm bath, haemorrhoids cream and panadol osteo for pain reflief. They use frozen disposable gloves filled with water and inserted a finger of ice, used Witch Hazel on cotton make up remover pad and numbing gel to ease the discomfort of haemorrhoids. To prevent haemorrhoids from occurring, our mums drink prune juice and lots of water and eat lots of fibre, watermelon and pear. Our mums reckon you should not wait too long to see a doctor as they can get infected. Unfortunately sometimes surgery is the only solution.
- Itching is common in pregnancy. Usually it’s thought to be caused by raised levels of certain chemicals in the blood, such as hormones. Later, as your bump grows, the skin of your tummy is stretched and this may also feel itchy. Our mums that suffered from itching. Products that our mums use to ease the itching: calamine lotion, Aveeno Dermexa Balm and Thars Ointment. Our mums also tried cold baths, oat baths, icing the itchy areas, rubbing with an oats filled sock during a bath and cold water blasts. If nothing else helps, there is some medication that can help: antihistamine tablets, milk thistle tablets, Piriton Tablets, Ursofalk Capsules and Polaramine Tablets.
- Constipation – An increase in the progesterone hormone during pregnancy causes the relaxation of your body’s muscles. That includes your intestines. And slower moving intestines means slower digestion. This can lead to constipation. Our mums eat grated green apple on porridge for breakfast, kiwi, oranges, prunes and dates and grain bread. Warmed pear juice seems to be a great help too. Walking can help ease this symptom and an enema can help remove the constipation. If nothing else helped our mums used medication: Coloxyl, Movicol, Metamucil, Nu-Lax, Actilax, Magnesium (oil, tablets, powder, Bioglan Oil or Karma Rub), Fybogel, Dulcolax tablets.
- Headaches are very common during pregnancy, particularly in the first trimester. Your hormone levels are skyrocketing and this can lead to daily headaches. Other common causes include dehydration, abruptly stopping your caffeine intake, increased stress, and poor sleep. Our mums found relief in a cold pack or face washer on back or neck, massage, rest, stretching, feet in a bucket of cool water and drinking lots of water. Some of our mums saw a chiropractor for structural alignment and if necessary our mums took some Panadol for relief.
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It is not always easy being pregnant, but know that all our mums found that it was worth it when they finally held their little bundle of joy in their arms. This is not going to last forever, so stay strong and hang in there. Your little baby is coming!
