Never-ending trips to the toilet: Why you constantly need to pee!
You’re pregnant, congratulations! Let us officially welcome you to the frequent pee-ers club. If the sudden and frequent urge to wee hasn’t hit you yet, we’re sorry to say its arrival is all but guaranteed and likely imminent. While some say it strikes hard in the first trimester, eases off in the second before coming back with a vengeance in the third, this isn’t always the case… Some lucky ladies get it all the way through.
Why the frequent urge during pregnancy?
The sudden urge to pee in the first trimester is often one of the first signs of pregnancy thanks to the changes in hormones in your body. Then as your pregnancy progresses, your body will produce more urine to not only eliminate your waste but your baby’s waste too.
In the second trimester, your bladder should increase to accommodate this and the constant urge *might* ease off a little if you’re lucky.
Then in the third trimester, as baby official takes up all the space and places pressure on the bladder, it can restrict urine from passing between the kidney and bladder.
This can make you feel the need to go more often and is why you can then only pass a little tiny amount. This combined with the increased hormones, increased urine from both you and baby mean you and the loo are a package deal day and night.
Does pregnancy affect your number twos, too?
Yep. But exactly how your number twos will be when you’re pregnant will differ for everyone. Most commonly, women will find themselves suffering from constipation during pregnancy, and so their bowel movements might be less than usual. If this is the case make sure you are eating a balanced diet with plenty of fibre and drinking plenty of water – but if it is really bad your doctor might recommend you take something to help get things moving down there.
Some women also report the opposite during pregnancy and suffer from more frequent bowel movements or even diarrhoea. If this is an ongoing concern, speak with your doctor and make sure you are eating a healthy balanced diet and drinking plenty of water to make up for the extra fluid you’re losing.
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What can you do about the constant need to wee?
Sad to say that there isn’t a whole lot you can do but grin and bear it. Make sure you don’t cut back on drinking fluids, as you need plenty of good-old-fashioned H2O to help you and your baby thrive (approximately 8 cups a day!)
Try and drink most of this during the day and avoid drinking too much for an hour or two before bed, this will help to reduce the number of times you have to go during the night.
Also skipping diuretics (like coffee – sorry!) can also help as they increase your need to go to the toilet.
Is there anything to worry about or look out for?
Frequent urination is for the most part one of those #joysofpregnancy that we just have to put up with, but there are a few things to look out for:
- You have pain or burning when you urinate
- You don’t lose the urge to go once you have gone
- You are unable to hold urine
- Your urine has a strange odour
- Your urine contains blood or is cloudy
- Fever
- Low abdominal pain or discomfort
If you are experiencing any or all of these contact your doctor immediately, as you may have a UTI (urinary tract infection) that will need to be treated. While not serious if treated (usually with a course of antibiotics), if left untreated a UTI can lead to kidney infection and in some cases, an increased risk of fetal growth restriction, preeclampsia and preterm birth.
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