Home Remedies

Is it normal to be constipated while pregnant?

When you are pregnant, you are not eating for two, but you do need to drink for two.

I do drink a lot of water. At least, it seems that way from all the bathroom trips.

The bathroom trips are in part because the kid is putting pressure on the bladder.

More like playing soccer with it.

Your body has to filter waste for you and the baby, and the extra liter or two of blood that your body produces while pregnant to sustain the baby.

That’s why I’m bloated and anemic and peeing a lot. What does that have to do with the constipation?

If you are not drinking two to three times as much water, your body takes extra water out of your food. You end up more constipated because that’s the desiccated waste left over.

So I need to drink more water to cure the constipation.

That’s a standard treatment for it.

If I already felt bad about flushing the low flush toilet so often after pooping, now I might as well camp out in the bathroom.

So cut back on the caffeine, which dehydrates you and stimulates your kidneys.

I’m not cutting back on the chocolate, not when I’ve got an excuse to get all the chocolate dipped fruits and desserts I want.

I mean, cut back on the tea and coffee and soda. In fact, drinking Coke, which is similar chemically to stomach acid, can make you more likely to throw up, too.

I know that would cause more dehydration. And you said dehydration can cause constipation. Is it safe to take stool softeners?

Probably, but check with a nurse before you take a medication. It is a lot better to eat a bowl of oatmeal.

I hate oatmeal.

So try those Fiber One bars they make like chocolate brownies and lemon bars.

As long as it does not taste like I’m eating rabbit food.

Speaking of rabbit food, you could solve the problem by eating more carrots, apples and high fiber vegetables.

All that stuff about eating healthy, and now there’s another good reason in the end to do so. I’m worried I’m going to have this problem all throughout the pregnancy.

Do not worry, you tend to lose it all at the end. Super-pooping is a common consequence of labor.

I hope I do not poop on the nurse.

Given all the blood and bodily fluids she already deals with in labor, it is not a problem. And after childbirth, constipation is the least of your problems.

Yeah, then it’s sleep deprivation.