Pregnancy

Common Pregnancy Discomforts

Although pregnancy signs and symptoms of discomfort vary from woman to woman, there are several of them that most pregnant women experience at different levels throughout the nine months of gestation. If you are pregnant, you may feel great or begin to suffer from nausea and leg cramps.

Your body must change to make the necessary adjustments to accommodate your developing baby and a few or several common discomforts are inevitable:

• Nausea and vomiting, also known as morning sickness, is the most common discomfort, but once again not all women suffer from it, beginning 2 to 4 weeks after the first missed period and lasting all through the first trimester of pregnancy. This discomfort may occur at any hour of night or day, but most often after breakfast, so its name.
• Fatigue, caused by the energy needed to develop a baby, making your feel very exhausted for no apparent reason in the early months. Getting plenty of rest and frequent naps during the day will help you to feel less tired, and this discomfort will gradually disappear as the second trimester of pregnancy approaches.
• Breast tenderness in early pregnancy, causing your breasts to fill out and change shape as they prepare to produce milk, becoming sensitive and tender for some months. During this time stretch marks may appear, fading after birth. Supportive well-fitting bras help to relieve, in part, this discomfort.
• Frequent urination may occur, due to your growing uterus pressing directly on your bladder, urging you to urinate. Intestinal pressure and changes leading to constipation may happen at the same time. Your doctor may prescribe pre-natal vitamins or a mineral supplement with iron to provide relief.
• Leg Cramps during the second trimester of pregnancy, often hitting at night and improving if you quickly stand up and stretch the muscles out.
• Back ache and abdominal pain, as consequence of the uterus growing, causing sharp pains that fade alone after a minute or so.
• Heartburn causing a burning sensation in the middle of the chest, late during the second trimester.
• Swelling feet and ankles in the last months of pregnancy, particularly when the weather is hot.
• Development of varicose veins, particularly in the legs, but they may also appear in the vagina or vulva, becoming very uncomfortable.
• Hemorrhoids are varicose veins in the rectum, these may come as a result of constipation and straining
• Braxton Hicks contractions near to labor, causing cramps or strong feelings of pressure in the lower abdomen.
• Disrupted sleep when the baby begins kicking,

Late in pregnancy you need to get plenty of rest again so take frequent naps during the morning, afternoon and evening because your baby is more likely to kick at night.