Pregnancy Symptoms for Each Trimester and All Natural Remedies

This trimester is often categorized as the one with the MOST amount of changes.  That’s because your body is getting ready to support another life! And that life is your beautiful baby. If you're wondering "When does morning sickness start?" Sorry to say, but it's during this trimester, oh the notorious morning sickness. (Spoiler alert:  I totally have the BEST morning sickness remedy, stay tuned.) Other women will get cravings. Sometimes these cravings can really show us how much work our body is putting into growing your beautiful child. For instance, if you’re craving salty foods, like Dr. Darna (our very own CEO) was, it’s probably a sign that you need more electrolytes. Electrolytes are incredibly important to keep our water and salt balance at the perfect numbers for our body to function. An imbalance can lead to muscle cramps, which is also a common symptom pregnant women experience. Since muscle cramps are caused by an imbalance of electrolytes and water, you can get cramps from not having enough water too. So, it’s super important to drink lots of water to avoid dehydration.

Aversions to foods are very prevalent because of the heightened sense of smell. Also, your brain has a heightened sense of disgust because your brain is being cautious of everything you eat. It is super careful at this stage because it does not want you to eat something that could hurt your baby. If you want to learn more about this unique pregnant phenomenon check out the psychological study done by Fessler in 2005: “Elevated disgust sensitivity…”. Even if it is food you used to love, sometimes our brain is just ultra-cautious.

Likewise, your body is producing extra fluid, usually 500mL to 1L, to compensate for the potential blood loss during delivery and this extra fluid tends to follow the law of gravity. So, you that’s where the swollen feet pregnancy sign comes in. If your feet are becoming significantly swollen, you may want to check your blood pressure.  If you have VERY swollen ankles and feet, vernacularly called CANKLES (extended calves and no ankles are visible) and medically called edema (or swelling) it’s time to go to your OB. Although it just may be from standing too long, it’s better to be safe than sorry. This trimester your breasts and nipples will become engorged with milk and could potentially start leaking. But then something miraculous happens…your baby is born!! But to make sure your pregnancy is as comfortable as possible, check out the pregnancy FAQs and tips below!

1. Buy a good prenatal vitamin that has high concentrations of magnesium and calcium. Listen to Episode 3 Why Take a Prenatal Vitamin to see all the benefits of getting proper nutrition.
2. Walk or exercise daily. Make sure you stretch your muscles when they are nice and hot.
3. Don’t be so ladylike. Stop crossing your legs. It will help with blood flow.
4. Drink plenty of water and have foods with electrolytes (bananas, mustard, pretzels, etc) 

Yes!  During your second trimester, you will likely need to eat about 340 more calories a day. During your third trimester, you will likely need to eat about 450 more calories a day. After all, you will be gaining about one pound per week during your second and third trimesters due to your beautiful growing baby.   

1. Before you cough or sneeze bend at the hips to avoid pulling on the ligaments with rapid movements
2. YOGA! Keeps your core muscles strong and helps to stretch all your muscles in a controlled fashion. 
3. Use a heating pad or Tylenol if you have to. Try sitting in a hot bath or heat up some washcloths and putting them at the crease of your hips. Notice I said Tylenol as a last resort and not Advil or Ibuprofen because those are NSAIDs. NSAIDs are nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs that can cause miscarriage during early pregnancy and health issues during late pregnancy and labor.

Dr. Darna’s Peruvian aunt gave her great advice.  While you’re in the shower take a washcloth and scrub your nipples.  They are likely sensitive, but eventually, you’re going to have a small human’s mouth sucking, biting, and playing with it, so think of it as building tolerance. Squeezing your boobs in a hot shower is great for getting the colostrum (or super yellowish thick “stuff” leaking from your boobs, which is full of nutrients) to come out. This techniques also works really well if you get mastitis (breast inflammation). This usually happens when a milk duct gets clogged and your breast becomes red and painful, but luckily antibiotic and this technique can help! 

Bladder training includes lots of kegel muscle workouts.  In order to do these exercises, squeeze your vagina together.  In other words, pretend like you’re trying to stop peeing when in full stream.  You have two sphincters that control your pee. The one you can control is your outer sphincter and the one you cannot control is your inner sphincter. If you have a strong pelvic floor (which you can get through these kegel exercises), it will decrease the chance of you being peeing on yourself all the time. Also, try to avoid drinking liquids before bed and stop drinking caffeine (you only get one cup a day anyway).  Caffeine is a natural diuretic, so you’ll naturally have to pee more. You should make sure you get a balanced amount of fiber in your diet too because too much or too little can cause constipation.  But, avoiding constipation will help decrease the weight and stress on your pelvic floor.

1. Avoid standing or sitting for long periods
2. Try to get your feet above your heart to help the flow of fluid the other way.
3. Wear comfortable shoes that allow your feet to swell
4. Wear compression socks or support hose. They will help to pump the blood back up to the brain.  Think of it as a helpful device for your feet (which in your 3rd trimester you will not have seen in months). 

Now you know what symptoms you may experience at each of the three pregnancy stages. But no matter how inconvenient or uncomfortable these pregnancy signs may be, it'll all be worth it in the end. Remember, NoMo Nausea is here to help! Morning sickness? NoMo Nausea Band. Headache remedy? NoMo Migraine band. More information on pregnancy? NoMo Blog and Pregnancy Pukeology Podcast. Click below for the Podcast version of this blog post for even more info and funny pregnancy stories! 

Listen to "Pregnancy Symptoms by Pregnancy Trimester Episode 20 - Pregnant Pukeology Podcast" on Spreaker.