Acid Reflux And Pregnancy Can Make You Feel Like Puking
Your dream of starting a family has come true and you are pregnant. You know that you will experience many physical changes in your body as your child continues to develop and grow. Reading the many different books about pregnancy you figure that you ready for the challenge. Even though you have read about the changes that your body will experience and you are religiously visiting your doctor, you begin to experience discomfort in your chest and a burning sensation. At first you just think that it is morning sickness (which can occur at any time of the day or night) and you try to ignore it. Casually mentioning the problem at your next checkup the doctor tells you that what you are experiencing is acid reflux brought on by your pregnancy.
He explains to you that your body is now producing more estrogen and progesterone. These two natural hormones help your muscles relax so that your uterus can expand to accept the growing baby. Unfortunately, these two hormones are also causing problems in the muscles of your esophagus and your stomach's walls. The hormones are also relaxing these and this makes it more difficult for the muscles to push food through your body. You have read so much about what might happen to your body, but you never considered that pregnancy would cause acid reflux. Your doctor tells you that acid reflux during pregnancy naturally occurs and that with proper attention and due diligence, you can manage your symptoms-to a point. Now that is where you begin to be concerned, when he said 'to a point'. There has been so much information in the media about pregnant women and drugs affect them that you would like to avoid taking any unnecessary medication. This is where your doctor can help. He can work with you to come up with diet plan that should help alleviate your symptoms. You might be told to eat several smaller meals each day-up to five. This provides you with all of the vitamins and nutrients you and the baby need while not overfilling your stomach and giving it time to properly digest the food. Talk to your family and tell them about your problem. They will understand-especially the women and they will want to help you manage your acid reflux during your pregnancy. You will, of course, get dozens of stories and suggested home remedies. Remember that they want to be helpful and that they care about you. Being pregnant also brings about other problems when it comes to acid reflux. You need to remember that your body is changing and your internal organs are being gradually moved to make room for the baby. This is natural and pregnant women have been dealing with these issues for generations. |