Now that you are having a baby, you must be very excited. But, at the same time, you must be a little nervous too. The anxiousness comes as no surprise since constant queries and concerns may be running through your mind during this phase. And, whenever you present any of these concerns to your doctors, they always end up asking you the same question – “Have you been drinking enough water?”. This is, of course, because drinking plenty of water is crucial during pregnancy to ensure the well-being of both you and your little one.
The general advice is to drink around eight glasses of water in a day. But, even on the days that you can’t manage to drink that much water, you will still find that your bladder can release enough urine to fill an entire bathtub. As you can imagine, excessive peeing is one of the annoying side-effects of gestation.
With the increased pressure on the bladder and the surplus fluid you need to consume, you find yourself rushing to the loo quite often. But, is there any way that you can manage to bring down the bathroom visits without compromising on the fluid intake? Here is a piece of good news for you – the answer is “yes”. Here, have a look at some of these ways:
1. Go With Water
When it comes to fluids, try and stick with water. There might be citric acid present in certain fruit juices such as lime or orange juices, which might irritate the bladder a bit and worsen its control. In fact, even the caffeine present in coffee and tea may cause an increase in the bladder activity, thus, increasing the urge and frequency to urinate (1). Try to cut down on any such drinks that may contain these particular ingredients, especially if you are drinking them regularly. You can replace one of these drinks with a glass of water instead. And, gradually, try to replace more and more of such servings until the water becomes your only go-to drink.
2. Empty Your Bladder Entirely
It is usually the pressure created by urine in the bladder that gives us a signal to rush to the bathroom. And, when the little one within your womb is already building that pressure on the bladder, it does not take much time for you to feel the urge to go to the loo. Perhaps, that is why you feel the need to make those frequent bathroom trips, and at times, for something that seems practically nothing. One of the ways that may work is to get it out as much as possible each time you go to the loo. It might help if you slightly lean at the front to put a bit more pressure.
3. Strategize Your Fluid Intake
Apart from drinking the right fluids and optimizing your bathroom visit, another thing that may help you is to drink the fluids at the correct time. Try to drink more water early morning and even during the afternoon. But, as you move towards the evening, try to ease your water intake slightly. This is quite important because this can help bring down your loo visits during the night. Thus, it can help with the much-needed unperturbed sleep too. So, while you need to drink the same amount of water as you were doing earlier, just try and drink most of it early in the day.
Are you also tired of this constant urge to urinate frequently? Have you tried any of these suggestions mentioned above? Do you have any other tip or advice on your mind? If yes, do share with us in the comments section below. Good luck, moms-to-be!