Pregnancy is a time of great expectations which however can be plagued with various health problems. Who has not heard of morning sickness, mood swings, dizziness and feeling tired all the time? Normally, pregnant women will get a lot of advice and tips on how to cope and get through the difficult period. What you seldom hear are the reasons or explanations for the various conditions. Below are the answers to why the conditions happen.
Morning sickness
Morning sickness can happen anytime of the day and normally during the first trimester. The culprit is your body’s rapidly changing hormones. It worsens when you also have a heightened and sensitive sense of smell and increased acid in the stomach.
Mood swings
Feeling emotional during your pregnancy is normal and again blame it on your hormones. Your emotions are affected by the level of neurotransmitters in your brain which in turn is actually affected by the hormones estrogen and progesterone. The neurotransmitter levels will be constantly fluctuating and hence your mood swings from happy to sad and vice-versa.
Dizziness
There is an explanation for having the feelings of dizziness, faintness or light-headedness. Since you are carrying a baby, there is a constant blood flow to your baby. Hence, your blood vessels relax and widen causing blood pressure to drop. This will cause you to feel dizzy. Another reason is if you have a low blood sugar level caused by changes in your metabolism. Other explanations are when you are stressed, feeling fatigue or hungry.
Unusual tiredness
A usual complaint during pregnancy is having the feeling of being unusually tired and having lack of energy. Hormonal changes can cause extreme feelings of tiredness. In addition, your body is doing extra work of nurturing a baby.
Frequent urination
I had this problem with all three of my pregnancies. Hormone changes are again to blame causing the kidneys to produce more urine. As the uterus grows bigger, it can also cause increase pressure on the bladder. In addition, there will be an increased of blood supply to the pelvis also making you want to urinate often.
What problems did you face during your pregnancy? What would you advice other pregnant women?