Ep 49: Common Pregnancy Discomforts + Remedies

Let’s face it, sometimes pregnancy brings about pain, discomfort.  In this episode, we discuss some common discomforts experienced during pregnancy as well as the remedies that we have learned about that can help provide relief.  We talk about nausea, vomiting, bloating, cramping, exhaustion, fatigue, increased headaches, increased urination, incontinence, general pelvic pain and lightning crotch.  We are not obstetricians or midwives, the information shared in this episode is our opinion and based on our personal and professional experience as a chiropractor and a birth doula/childbirth educator.  Always consult your care provider if you have questions or concerns and before taking any supplements or medications.  Just because these are common pregnancy discomforts, it doesn’t mean you have to suffer through them or that there’s nothing to do about it.  Hopefully this episode gives you some tips to try, thoughts and conversations to have with your care provider, and hope that you’re not alone in what you’re feeling.  

Resources mentioned:

• Role of vagal neurocircuits in the regulation of nausea and vomit
• The effect of spinal manipulative therapy on heart rate variability and pain in patients with chronic neck pain: a randomized controlled trial
• Sustained improvement of heart rate variability in patients undergoing a program of chiropractic care: A retrospective case series
• The effect of relaxin on the musculoskeletal system 
• Serum relaxin and pelvic pain 
• What is relaxin

Follow us on Instagram:

Aligned Birth - www.instagram.com/aligned_birth

Dr. Shannon - www.instagram.com/sunrise_chiropractic_wellness

Doula Rachael - www

Transcript

0:03

Hello Hello, welcome to the Align first podcast Dr. Shannon Hello, Rachel here today and we're having one of our fantastic birdie conversations. And today's is remedies for common pregnancy discomforts. We've got to go with this. We want to share some of those common discomforts during pregnancy and some remedies that we have learned. Both personally clinically, you know, in our world and birth worker world to help provide relief. It's obviously not going to be an exhaustive list because there's lots of different things. And again, to my disclaimer, we're not obstetricians, midwives. You know, we think this is important information to talk about, but it's also important for you to consult your care provider with some of these questions. So what we want is words to be triggers for you to say, Hey, maybe I should talk to my care provider, my OB my midwife about this, I heard this word, what does this mean? And those types of things. So what exactly are we talking about today? Nausea and vomiting, bloating, cramping, exhaustion and fatigue, insomnia, increased headaches, increased urination and or incontinence, general pelvic pain and lightning crash. So again, not an exhaustive list, but with Rachel i being in this birth worker world, we hear these words quite a bit. And so that's why we felt it was important to come on today and kind of share some thoughts with you guys. So welcome. Welcome. doula Rachel.

1:43

Hi there. Dr. Shannon, so excited to be talking about this today and it's funny I am so excited to be talking about it. Because when you read that list of things we're going to talk about all I can think of is oh,

1:54

gosh, no pregnancy sounds great.

1:59

This sounds very rough. And but the reality is, this is very things we see we tend to see they are quote unquote, kind of common symptoms during pregnancy. Pregnancy does not have to be a miserable time when we have some, some tools and resources and things we can do to help find comfort or relief from these things that can just make the whole pregnancy experience better. And I think that is the goal and then the better we feel during pregnancy, the longer we can feel like we can be pregnant, and the better just overall for everyone, you and baby. So this is definitely we're going to be going over these unpleasant experiences that maybe you are having as a pregnant person or you have while you know when you heard that previously and we will be sharing some things that we think might help you so if you are pregnant, or if you hope to be pregnant one day, then definitely listen to this episode. I think it can be helpful for you. The first thing we're going to begin by talking about is the nausea and vomiting, which is I mean, I hear about it all the time. As a doula and childbirth educator. It is. Feels like it happens in one degree or another or at one point or another for expecting people. So nausea and vomiting, specifically nausea, so I think more people probably experience degrees of nausea and then there's a group of people who experience vomiting. This is due to surging hormones and for again, most people this occurs in that first trimester, so usually resolves by 14 ish weeks, or lessons. For some people it does persist for the duration of the pregnancy but two thirds of women do experience nausea or vomiting during pregnancy. And so there are some things to know about it right. So your body when you become pregnant, you have an increase in all kinds of hormones. That can just make you feel achy. If you're gonna feel like seasick or carsick, kind of like motion. If you've ever had motion sickness. If you've been on a boat, or if you have drink too much one night and you feel hungover the next day. I feel like that's how I always equated it to as well as being I

4:27

remember feeling like yeah, like, motion sickness.

4:30

Yeah. Just for me. I had persistent and this whole morning sickness. verbiage. Yeah, that's, that's a lie. I can't tell you how many people I talked to. They're like, yeah, it does. I mean, again, for some people it does like morning is the worst. That's usually because your stomach is empty. And that increases that feeling of not just by like, midday can subside but for some it's like all day all night. Like yeah, and that's how it was for me but I never got sick.

5:00

I never vomited either. Yeah, which I'm thankful but just that overall and I think mine and I guess, you know, one of our our things in our outline, too, was I had it was like food aversion. I think kind of did it for me, so it was like the smell of something would trigger it.

5:18

And so that's super, though. What's cool about that, is that that serves as a protective mechanism for mom and baby against foodborne illnesses.

5:28

And you know what it was, so you know, that Amy's brand of soup. Like, I loved it, and it was but I could identify if someone brought that into work and cook that in the microwave. I was like, That is Amy's brand of lentil soup, and you need to get that out of here now. vividly remember that? Yeah,

5:49

yeah. It's like and then you don't forget it. And it like stays out. Because it's so so real.

5:54

And if that smell goes to that limbic part of the brain and yeah, so well, and you

5:59

have a heightened sense of smell that contributes to this. So when we, I mean, it would be crazy. I'd be like, Do you smell that and jays, like, my j is my husband. He's like, smell what? Like I'd have and I'd be like, it's you know, I could like pinpoint and identify far away and it would make me nauseous everything. So a heightened sense of smell and increased surge of hormones can contribute to this nausea, and also vomiting which is so not fun and on top of being exhausted, it can be really, really challenging. And so, you know, the same people think about like food cravings during pregnancy, and most people don't actually have many food cravings during the first trimester. You tend to have more food aversions and so like, a lot of people might gravitate towards, like, more carbee type stuff, things that settled the stomach versus like, very fibrous or rich foods. And so I always say, don't stress too much about that. If that's what your body's craving, then listen to it. Because that tends to be what's going to settle our stomach and make us feel best and just what our what our body needs during that time. And then you can also try so something that's helpful for nausea and vomiting is taking a B six vitamin in combination with UNISOM. So those are known together to help reduce nausea during the first trimester, but like we said before, that is a supplement and an over the counter drugs so you definitely want to consult your care provider and make sure that's a good fit for you.

7:41

Yep, most definitely. Because I hear that's those are some of the common ones that I hear to as far as and I have a couple moms that are doing that now be six weeks on. So

7:53

yeah, and then there's other things like little things that might help improve nausea as well. So separating your liquids from your foods. So like if you drink a bunch of water and then eat that's actually going to make you feel more nauseous. So if you drink some water, wait 30 minutes for that to kind of digest and then eat that can help with your how your bellies filling. You can try motion sickness bands, you can find them at your local drugstore. I've heard I've heard people say they work did it work for you?

8:28

I I feel like if it did really work, I would remember it. Right. I don't know Oh, maybe not all the things we'll see. And we're also going to talk like the ginger twos. So we know we talked about those bands. Ginger can be very calming you know for the digestive tract and everything but ginger, I actually don't like it like and it's actually kind of spicy. It just depends on how my mom would chew on raw ginger is really really bad lotion too. So anytime she wants to do that. I was like that makes me nauseous just thinking of you chewing raw ginger, this kind of stuff but I think that's why I tried to dance because like gender was not my jam is

9:06

so good like you could do gender tea ginger choose you can do raw ginger. So you could take like a even candies. Yeah, yeah, Ginger candies. You could take a picture of water and chop up some fresh ginger and dump that in there and let it steep. And then you have some ginger water and you can kind of sip on that during the day warm or cold. Just anyway to kind of get it into your system. Yeah, peppermint essential oil can also help reduce nausea. And all you got to do is usually smell it. And so you don't need to put it on you anywhere but just smell it and I just say like, take off the lid and just take a big whiff of the lid. And that's that's all you're gonna need, um, or you can have it diffusing in the room but I don't know if that's as effective as like a quick sniff lemon in your water. So for me I had that persistent nausea for like 16 weeks and water plain water was horrific.

10:07

Like it's like what why

10:09

why? I would take a sip of plain water and you know my stomach would turn like nope, not today. And so is a lemon just makes it like way more palatable or even a splash of grape juice or like a juice to kind of cut it not Yeah, don't drink a ton. of juice, the sugar would have a counter effect. So just like a splash of juice to kind of make it palatable so you can get your water in because you still gotta keep drinking and when we're nauseous especially for like getting water and it's just, it's the bottom of the list and we want you to stay hydrated. You can add electrolytes to your water to help if you especially if you're getting if you're like vomiting a lot, and that can help kind of boost your energy. Also eating small meals close together, so like not over eating and then also not getting overly hungry.

11:05

So that was the big one for me. Yeah, yes small meals because then to with you when you are drinking your water. It's not like it's just sitting on that empty stomach. I feel like to feel nauseous. Yeah.

11:15

Yeah. And then I learned I learned and I share this with my clients and I think it's helpful is to put a couple of like crackers or small teams on your side table, like where you sleep. And before you wake up like literally before you even sit up, eat a couple crackers and get it on your stomach because that morning is the worst. And that's usually because it date where it's an empty stomach so you can start the day with just a couple little crackers that can that can also help improve the the nausea feeling,

11:48

ya know, and yeah, like I said, I really liked the small, those small meals. You know one thing I want to touch on now is the actual beauty process of vomit.

12:06

Are you gonna go all sciency on us and make us appreciate vomiting.

12:11

It is so freakin cool when you think about all the systems that play a part in it vomiting or emesis as we say, in the medical world, but yeah, maybe if you appreciate it a little bit I know we were chatting before the show notes like many people will be like, as you're vomiting like oh, this is so cool. Like my body is functioning well.

12:33

That is you please send us an email. I need to know if that's you.

12:38

Where are my physiology nerds? No, but there's like so and I've talked about the show too. And I want to do this real briefly but I just think it's really really cool how because I want to touch on chiropractics role in potentially helping with some of that nausea, vomiting feelings. And so to do that, we've got to kind of take it back just a bit. So, um, but I've talked about the vagus nerve before, and it is my favorite nerve. And not because it's related to vomit but it's a really, really cool nerve and it's a cranial nerve. So you've got both cranial nerves at the 10th one, and it exits the skull and comes around in front of like that top bone and the neck travels with like the internal carotid artery in this little pretty little sheath and comes around and it goes if the wander nerve it's the longest nerve that we have and it actually goes all the way to the stomach aspects. So like digestion area, so it impacts digestion, heart rate reading cardiovascular activity. And so what's cool is that the vomit process like actually, you all of those organ systems play a part because you've got to increase like people pressure and abdominal pressure. You gotta control breathing and you can't be breathing if you're vomiting and like so see, it's so cool. The Body Works to function to expel whatever it is that you know it wants to expel. And so that one I have a bunch of research articles that I want to put in here if anybody else wants to geek out on it, but you know, it is commonly experienced during pregnancy and could affect up to 80% of pregnant women. Again, in pregnancy the etiology on that is not 100% known as far as like we just talked about, there's so many it could be hormones, and that's a big one they talked about but it is unknown. There's metabolic, metabolic, metabolic and hormonal factors that can play a part but also the the motion of the stomach and the motion of the intestinal like motility patterns all of that plays a part too because if we've got you know decreased or increased motility there that can also give that sensation and feeling of nausea and so the vagus nerve is how that gut feeling that nauseous feeling is communicated to the brain. It's mainly a sensory nerve. So like I said, it goes all the way down to the gut and it kind of tells the brain what's going on with the gut. And so with that impact and thinking of where the nerve is, and if we are doing chiropractic adjustments, and adjusting the cervical spine and we know that that nerve again is exiting the skull and traveling along the path of the cervical spine and those adjustments can impact it. And one to two fun studies talking about heart rate variability so remember I said vagus nerve really impacts heart rate and heart rate variability is a good way to look at your body's ability to adapt and to be adaptable to stressors. And so research in the chiropractic world has found that chiropractic adjustments can impact that heart rate variability so if we're impacting heart rate variability, we're impacting vagus nerve so we can also impact vagus nerve and other sensory functions. So see vomits really

16:05

I think vagus nerve is very cool. I know a little bit No, I love it. That's I know, very helpful. Well, it's helpful because sometimes, if we're just sitting there referring to ashes, why is it happening and what's it connected to in the fact that you have a nerve running from the base of your skull down to your belly and based on like how your belly is moving or are doing then that's going to trigger something to the brain that makes you feel nauseous or maybe even get sick? So that's, I mean, when you know what's going on, okay, this is what happening, this is what's happening. And it's

16:35

a normal, right, it's normal physiological response. Okay, what are the things I can do? Maybe I can try some ginger and that can affect, you know, motility of the stomach, like all of those things. But yeah, yeah, it's cool to kind of understand it's not just this you know, crazy thing that's why why is it happening

16:50

to me, ya know, and just to you know, get adjusted. And I do think there are just I wonder what the variation is for people who like some people are prone to motion sickness or or boat or airplane. And so like, is that like, is something disrupted in that nerve? Or is that just how they're mates? And I think some people during pregnancy, don't have any nausea and some have only nausea, and then some have nausea and vomiting. So just like

17:21

multifactorial, right? Yeah. That's what's so cool. I know is you know, there are that the hyper emphasis grabbing and where you can that is just excessive vomiting and can be a very dangerous situation. So some obviously some aspects are do need that medical management of it is it can be managed that way.

17:47

You will need to talk to your care provider and it's evident when it's severe, like you can't keep anything down. It's just you can't function like it interferes with your health and your function like how you function day to day So yeah, if it's severe then you'll be in touch with your care provider and you might need to go on certain medications to help ensure you can keep your food in your body and get the nutrients you need. Exactly. Well thank you for enlightening us with that incredible science lesson that honestly I knew pieces of that but I did not know all of that. So you're teaching me today, sister.

18:23

Yay. Raise your vagus nerve.

18:28

The title of the show. I know I know. I love it. So that was nausea and vomiting. Now we're gonna talk about a little bit on bloating and cramping. Again, this is multifactorial as well can be a lot of different things. But when I talk to people who are early in pregnancy, there's a lot of worry sometimes around bloating and cramping they're kind of like what is happening and it can be you know, quote unquote common a lot of people experience at varying levels. Very early very, very early in pregnancy. You might have implantation cramping, which is like when the embryo is implanting into the uterine wall. Some people actually feel that back in great cramping. And then later on, and it's more of a combination of hormones surging, as well as your uterus stretching to make room for your baby and your placenta. That's all growing. So in those early days, I think as like the hormones are picking up, blood volume is increasing. We're you know, there's not like a painting water, but we're retaining a lot of water. And it's not like the size of the baby that's causing bloating, it's this it's all those things we just said that make you feel like if you experience any sort of bloating, outside of pregnancy like during maybe PMS or something it's that kind of bloating, it's just like blah. It is no fun and then you might have some cramping and cramping can make people worry because they might worry that they might be having a miscarriage. So it's very hard to say like, oh, no, you're fine. Like I would never say that. I was trying to assure people that there is some cramping can be normal, severe cramping, cramping, that doesn't go away cramping associated with bleeding, anything like that. You definitely want to talk to your your care provider, but also we want to just kind of normalize some of these symptoms, too so that you don't feel too much fear and just trust yourself and trust your body and understand kind of what's happening inside of your body that creates these sensations. And, you know, some things that might help the bloating would be like frequent small meals. So back to that that also helps with bloating as well as the nausea and vomiting avoiding foods that cause gas on beans, lagoons, broccoli, cabbage, brussel sprouts, anything like that, which funny enough is typically not what you're craving in your first trimester.

20:52

Yeah, I like I read all of that. And I was like, I know

20:55

the vegetables and I love that schools. Yeah. Love vegetables, but like during my first trimester, no think so. And I don't know. I think it's sort of like this innate. Knowing that like that might probably upset your belly so you don't need if you are experiencing severe bloating or gas then think about what you're eating and see if any of that might be contributing to it. Also avoiding high fat foods, and generally a well balanced diet with whole grains fruits and veggies protein and fiber rich foods are going to leave you feeling your best and keeping you feeling like you have energy and helping you sleep better and all of that is connected to how we're feeling. However, like I said earlier, your body may not want all of those things. So you know, don't beat yourself up. If you're not eating the quote unquote well balanced diet. Just eat what sounds good to you what nourishes you, sipping on like bone broth or soup broth that has you can get protein in that way and get nutrients in that way. And that's kind of like you know, when you feel sick, that usually is very comforting. So that's a good way to feel comforted feel better. Not really upset your stomach and get nourished, like you get really good nutrients through like a good boat, a good bone broth or a good veggie broth. So that's an alternative like if you're not able to, to eat all those other foods I just said also, and I'll remember to put this in the Episode Notes is you could do like a sipping smoothie. And I think Dr. Sears might have coined that. That term. He's a pediatrician and he gets he has like books on pregnancy and newborn and childcare and stuff. But make a smoothie with all like with your veggies and your fiber and your protein and like mix that up and then kind of sip on it throughout the day. Don't drink the whole glass first thing in the morning that's probably going to cause some bloating. But if you can drink it throughout the day, then that is gonna help you get in those nutrients. You can add in like Greek yogurt or protein powder to help kind of boost that protein because you need a lot of protein during this time too. So, chia seeds, I'm thinking of like omegas and get some good chia seeds in there too. I can put the recipe in the notes. So if you want to try that, do that. Oh, yeah, that sounds good. Yeah, and if you're having, you know, other ways you can comfort yourself during bloating and cramping is using like a warm compress. You can do just a warm rag like water heated up in the microwave. Or if you have a rice sock, heat that up and lay that across your abdomen, resting, just taking it easy and a warm bath and Epsom salts can help reduce the bloating as well.

23:38

And you got to think to you know, my digestion and bloating aspects changes with my monthly cycle. So like, Well, I'm not pregnant, you know. So it's going to be you know, those hormones can play a role too. So it's kind of knowing that about yourself and then maybe say, Okay, well, you know, now we've got these surge of these hormones or these hormones are staying a little bit longer than they would have gone down if I hadn't been pregnant. So it's you know, there's that. I just remember bloating was like the first thing I felt and I was like, Oh, wow, I just found out I'm pregnant and I was already 12 weeks pregnant because the second time around that was super frustrating. So like lots of water, but then understanding maybe some of those, you know, really paying attention to those foods that you eat, and

24:22

that can really, because you might still you might maintain bloating, but it won't exasperate it if you're staying hydrated, resting and, and trying to eat or avoid the gaseous foods and eating just a well balanced diet. So like, but that might not remove the bloating altogether, just not going to exasperate it. Like I know when I'm on my period, I I am very easily bloated and then foods that don't normally upset my stomach, upset my stomach and make me feel like extra bloated. So it's like I'm gonna be bloated, like that is happening because I'm having a surge of hormones. I'm on my you know, best armor period or whatever. But then certain foods make it worse. So that's kind of adding on to what you said it so if you're noticing things are just really causing it to be more bloated and try to reduce those but it might it might not go away altogether. I felt bloated for the first. Again probably 14 or 16 weeks, you know felt like I had a little burrito in there.

25:20

Yeah, yeah, I felt like I looked like I in gorgeous and food. Well, yeah, kind of food baby.

25:27

All I wanted was like to look pregnant and I didn't look pregnant until I was like 25 weeks pregnant. Like I just looked like I had some weight, which is fine. That's like I know, I bet it's like, you know, you're like I just don't want people to wonder if I let myself go. Yes, No. Good. That's all the baby doesn't come out of the pelvis until like 16 weeks and that's when people tend to quote unquote pop and look more like a belly. So anyways, anyway.

25:58

I love it. Another fun, fun list. Oh gosh. Dad, I just trying to make it but I know sorry. i And I don't know that I have a way to make these often. fun either. But yeah, that is and you know, I feel like the typical thing with the exhaustion fatigue is you know, that first trimester it can be utterly exhausting. And you can and it's so weird because you don't you're like I feel like I'm not showing that a lot going on baby's not that big. Like why? You know, I know it's easy. To feel like what is going on, but, uh, hormones definitely can play a big part in that exhaustion and fatigue, but that whole implantation process is energetically taxing.

26:57

So the moment that happens, your body starts I mean as duplicating cells at a furious rate. I mean, the rate of duplication of the cells from the time of implantation to that first trimester is significant, and so that's going to be draining on your body. Also, though, blood blood your blood volume increases so much during the early part of pregnancy and throughout the rest of your pregnancy. And so your body is producing more blood to carry nutrients to your growing body and your blood sugar levels and blood pressure are also lower which make you feel tired

27:33

okay and your immune system in yes is depressed a little bit because we've got to have this, you know, this foreign, this foreign embryo needs to be implanted and kept safe. We don't need the immune system. So even with the immune system down, it's also going to be very taxing and your body's going to want to be a little bit protected and say, hey, you know,

27:52

well, that's why I like to remind them is that as your body's signal to go slower to go in more than to rest. It's a finite amount of time and it's temporary but it's the body communicating with you about what it means and also talking about hormones. So the your body in spikes progesterone and that early part of pregnancy to help the the embryo stay attached to the uterine wall, and progesterone makes you sleepy. And so that is also that's the main hormone that contributes to that feeling of just tired no matter how much you sleep no matter if you nap or no matter what do you just feel constant tired like you've never felt before? It's you can't even comprehend it. It's like curl up under your desk at work tired?

28:42

It's yeah, and it's it can be very it can be difficult to deal with especially if you are in a Go Go Go typesetting or you're still working you know and all of those things and it's like you got to kind of combat that. I still feel that I need to go go go but yet my body is is you know, I'm feeling this kind of way. It can be a very it can be it can be a little

29:09

overwhelming as well. And I do think there's this interesting like societal factor with early pregnancy one being it's not commonly talked about you know, people are like, Oh, wait till I get through the first trimester to tell my my boss at work or my friends or my family, you might tell your close people, but with that in mind, then it feels like you can't act pregnant. Or use that as a reason to be take a day off of work or not go to the family event or not go to the party, or whatever it is school event, whatever it is like because you're like well, I haven't told them so I can't be like, Oh, I'm I'm pregnant. I need to rest. So I think people try to maintain this. Like, pre pregnancy lifestyle when it's like the complete opposite. It's like you need to be able to express that that it's time to. That's very important to take care of yourself. And Torres but I think yeah, what your body is saying and the outside world is like well, I don't visibly see you pregnant so you're fine. Or you know, like, you know, when you're when you're 38 weeks pregnant, everyone's like, Oh, you know, take it easy rest do all this because it's like but why can't we say that to people in the first trimester.

0:00

to kind of see their, their little legs and arms and head and heart and everything start to develop and then they grow into a full size baby. And soon it starts from like two tiny cells. It's so cool

0:11

and so beautiful. I know I love it. I have to say the B vitamins were

0:17

can be very helpful. Yeah, yeah, it can be something else too. No, that's good. We want to share the things that can help and so we've kind of already said like, trying to go inward slowing down honoring your yourself and resting, but also adding in some B complex vitamins. are great because

0:36

for us to caffeine, you know if you're used to that morning coffee and those types of things, and maybe during practicing, we look at avoiding those or limiting those. Then that can also lead to some of that fatigue or feeling it a little bit more to so those B vitamins, you know, electrolytes in your water. Those can also potentially help too.

1:02

That's awesome. That's super helpful. And just trying to add in that rest so like going to bed early. It's easier said than done, but like Okay, I can't nap during the day. Maybe But can I go to bed early and maybe stay in bed a little bit longer. If you have a regimented routine just where can you add in some more sleep just to help help ease it again. It just doesn't go away. There's no cure. So and then as pregnancy goes on, so like what's interesting is like an early pregnancy fatigue is not because you are like overly pregnant or like you have this big baby. It's what we it's everything we just said that's contributing to exhaustion but then as as you do grow, and in the pregnancy baby's growing placenta is growing. I mean, the same things continue more blood volume is wearing your body down so you're going to experience it at different levels throughout your entire pregnancy. But other things later on can also contribute to exhaustion and fatigue. So your might be waking more in the middle of the night to go the bathroom just disrupted sleep in general due to comfort. Increased levels of stress can contribute to not being able to sleep as good and all of that can contribute to fatigue kind of later in pregnancy. So trying to see where you can, you know, try to limit those things and improve those things can be can maybe helping you sleep a little bit more.

2:24

Exactly. And as we talk about exhaustion and fatigue. There's also the aspect of insomnia. It's the flip side of that being able to well,

2:35

and some people experience extreme fatigue and insomnia. It's like extreme fatigue does not equate good sleep. Like it doesn't mean you're sleeping like so you could have both.

2:49

And there's again, same thing with insomnia, those hormones, you know, you don't want to paint that picture that you know hormones are so bad and oh no these things hormones are making that happen. I know like i The humans are amazing and beautiful. But I think too, we can honor like looking at that physiological aspect. Yeah, like the purpose that they serve but also understanding okay, it's it doesn't last forever, you know, these surges in the hormones and those types of things. So and it's, it serves a purpose, but it can lead to some of these things. So I know I'm like I don't I don't want to be a bully.

3:25

No, no hormones are necessary. The baby you're growing needs every single hormone that your body is producing and it's a symphony or an orchestra of hormones that work intricately and beautifully together to help your body sustain a pregnancy and to help your baby grow and to help labor star and like on and on into breastfeeding if you're doing that and so it's no hormones are amazing. This is not a knock on hormones. This is an I don't take it like that at

3:58

all feel like every one of our things were like two hormones and who can do this. Do that. So we just have to say we're not bullying.

4:06

It is an important it's just it is the driver is the driver and but hormones when we're not pregnant are the driver of exactly how we feel and our what's happening inside of our body and our everything. So, no, it's just disclaimer hormones affect everything.

4:25

Yes, yes, yes, but hormones can play a part in some of those the insomnia aspect or that lack of good quality sleep, you know, and that restful sleep because maybe you are getting a lot of light sleep or maybe you are falling asleep and then waking up or not being able to fall asleep or you know, whatever. That might be, but it can definitely be performance there can be stress. So how you know the body is perceiving that stress. And you know, whether it be anxiety or depression and as well too can impact it. And headaches can and we'll talk about headaches in just a minute as far as some of those some of those causes but even the hunger and nausea like trying to lay down at night you know, it depends on your stomach is full stomach is empty. What have you had today How's motility

5:22

Astra as about say acid reflux can creep up at night when they go to lay down. And so that can just make it really hard and uncomfortable to fall asleep.

5:31

Yes, I know I had really crazy dreams during my pregnancy and I usually don't remember my dreams too much but I still remember Yeah, my dream so I don't think I necessarily had insomnia. But like sometimes those dreams is like would wake you up. It can wake you up, like what is going on? Well, if

5:48

they're very vivid, sometimes you have a hard time going back to sleep. Because it's like whoa, I mean I'm in it.

5:55

Yes, exactly. And then too if you know we are napping during the day, sometimes it can impact that nighttime rest too. And again, you know, we want so there's that delicate balance of finding rest and being restful in this first trimester but also still getting movement and motion and your body maybe not to an exhaustive point. But then that delicate balance can play a role into any sort of insomnia as well, too.

6:27

Yeah, I mean, I would kind of say that if you're struggling if you're in that first trimester especially fatigued and having exhaustion try and rest where you can like take those naps, go to bed early sleep and I can't until if it feels like you're been dealing with insomnia. Try to maybe eliminate the nap and see if that improves the nighttime sleep. See if there's a correlation there and there may not be you might still need that night nap and still have insomnia. You might remove the nap and still have insomnia. So but that would be something to consider like how much am I sleeping during the day that would impact my nighttime sleep and just play around with it and see if you can get some improvement there. But sometimes insomnia just exists purely because there's the hormonal changes and just your how your body's processing the pregnancy and that just is like sometimes there's not anything you can do but there are some things you can do to help and that's why I share

7:25

the nighttime I know the nighttime so some of the remedies. The nighttime routine can be really helpful. I know. I

7:31

think that's so helpful. But I think that's so helpful,

7:35

man. That's huge. And it's really hard. I feel like the morning routine is to me a lot easier than a nighttime routine just because

7:42

we tend to kind of go go go until we're out of time and

7:47

yeah, exactly. So you know, a warm bath and you sort of stretching yoga like light reading, even if you want to like a journal or just jot down the thoughts from the day like I call them a word vomit or a brain dump. You know and just kind of because if your mind is go go go at night sometimes it can be good to just blurt everything out and maybe get an on paper or something and then that way you feel like it's out of your head.

8:13

Yeah, I love that. And I think to the journal is helpful if you wake and I still do this. And so I do it now and I did it when I was pregnant to keep a journal to keep that same journal right so you journal before bed and so you wake up in the middle of the night and your mind is spinning, which is a we all do it right? But if you could just sit up and write out whatever's on your mind so it can kind of get out of your mind. And it's okay that'll be there for me in the morning to review so I'm not gonna forget anything, and then tends to maybe help you fall back asleep. So having that journal for the middle of the night can be good too.

8:47

Yeah, I have like a visual in my head. I don't know if you've seen like Harry Potter. Yeah, and they have like that. What is it the pin save or whatever when they like put the pin to the head and then like all the little like, bubble comes on like math. The memory comes out. That's literally what I envisioned. Like I'm putting it on paper. Get out of my head. Yes.

9:07

It's so helpful.

9:09

Maybe visual so yeah, I

9:11

love it. And also I did want to after that nighttime routine for your warm bath is if you want to add Epsom salts that can help relax the muscles and help provide a morning some essential oils in there with it. Yeah, sure. Yeah, some lavender is great. And magnesium, again, to supplement with your care provider, but you can drink magnesium or do a magnesium like to or like getting magnesium into your body before bed is the Epsom salt helps with that too. That's magnesium. But also like you could drink more of it yeah or a cup of magnesium with the water cup of water with magnesium mixed into it. But I also know they make like magnesium choose like tablets, so

9:57

yes, and little capsules. Yeah, no, that's perfect. Most definitely. Yeah. Yeah. So then and we touched on it a little bit in insomnia but there can be an increase in headaches as well to during pregnancy.

10:16

Yeah, and this is less hormonal which it can be hormonal. But this has a lot to do with the amount of blood your body is producing. Your blood volume increases on average by 45%. Some are higher than that. Some are lower. That's

10:34

a lot of the big stress to the body when you think about that.

10:38

Yeah. And so that can be a cause for headaches. That isn't like necessarily fixable Right? Like you can't change the fact that your body is pumping all of this blood through it to help bring the nutrients to your baby. But that is definitely a contributing factor. So again, when we know that it doesn't make it really any easier, but maybe it's like, okay, my body's doing what it needs to do. I've tried X, Y and Z remedies which we'll share. I still have the headache, you know, be in touch with the care provider, but also just understanding kind of the normalcy of what your body is doing.

11:14

Right. So you know, some of those reasons to for the increased headaches. We've talked about that increased blood volume. If we're limiting and reducing caffeine intake, then caffeine withdrawal can definitely do it again, hormones, dehydration can be a huge one. I out you know in a minute I'll share some of my go twos in the office for non pregnant people, but that's dehydration is a big one, nausea and vomiting if you're vomiting a lot, you know Yeah, that's remember this beautiful, there's a logical process and it involves it's all these systems gi cardio and respiratory and so like if you're thinking of cardiovascular stuff, you're thinking blood supply, so it's also impacting that. You're gonna love vomiting, but it's gonna get to the end of the end of this episode. increased stress and that perceived stress can definitely cause headaches and that's kind of where we're, you've got different headaches, you get attention style headache, and that's what some of this can be. You've got that migraine, which can have that you know, Aura sensitivity to food and light and all of those type of things. Those are some of the two main ones with in dealing with pregnancy and then there's cluster headaches. It's I think it's a little bit rare in pregnancy, but even food, food aversion can give that sometimes I feel like too, it's that nauseous feeling that can then translate into that dull. Yes. Yeah, you know, I just let those go together go together. Yeah, and nerve is affecting all of that. Even those heightened sensitivity just smells because again to the olfactory system that goes directly straight to the brain, like it's another

12:56

process, and you can know so much more than you did before. So if you find something that triggers a headache, super sensitive to it, then that's going to happen more frequently or more easily during pregnancy.

13:07

Low blood sugar is a big one as well. And that you know, that's even you know, outside of pregnancy going caught like hangry because sometimes you get hangry and then I'll even be like, you know, at my blood sugar's low, I'm getting the brains angry. I'm hangry you know, gotta get some food and we type things but it can. It can also be present during

13:29

the low blood pressure. The low blood sugar. So in that early pregnancy when when we're having the food aversions, we're having more nausea, we're having more headaches. We don't really want to eat that good, well balanced, like diet that can help keep our blood sugar stable because that's just how it is. You can have, you're eating more carbs, like you're eating more like, not fiber rich, not not the good healthy fats, not the proteins and the veggies and all that to help keep our blood sugar balance. So you might be any more pastas or breads or things like that, again, that's fine, but that those tend to cause the blood sugar crashes, which can lead to headaches. And so being aware of that and trying to try as best you can, that there's no judgement zone here. I know it's easier said than done. But think about like with each meal, can I have those carbs but also have a little bit of healthy fat, some fiber protein, a little bit of veggie, try and round it out best you can and that's gonna help keep your blood sugar stable, which can lead to fewer headaches.

14:39

Yeah, no, I think it's all connected, all connected and then lack of sleep too. can lead to this lead to those headaches.

14:49

Headaches, headaches can lead to insomnia, which can lead to lack of sleep, which can lead to headaches to headaches. What is it Shannon, which goes first?

14:59

Oh my god. Right. I know. Oh, it

15:01

feels like each one causes the other or something. It's just like this. It's a hard cycle to be in is a

15:07

hard cycle. Well, and it's it that's why it's hard to to kind of like specifically pinpoint, you know, yeah,

15:14

it is not even we're not saying like I just I've been there too. I've struggled with many of these during both of my pregnancy

15:22

I had Yeah, I remember my first it was it was not good. I had some pretty bad had some really bad headaches. Now some of the remedies and some of these I go over in the office to outside of pregnancy. So if someone comes in with headaches, yes, I'm asking about like you know, spinal trauma and all those types of things I want to know like spinal alignment. Because chiropractic can can play a big role in alleviating headaches as well too and decreasing nervous system irritation, but how much water are we drinking water is huge. Shutting everything out. You're damaging your body. So that's a big one I go to and then I always go to the food to like, is it that low blood sugar? I go to that that's another one I go to even outside of pregnancy. So that's a that's a big one. You know, making sure when was the last time you ate or food triggers? That's a big one. I tried to have people do like a headache diary, especially if they have migraines, because it can be hormonal changes too. But it can also be are there certain foods that are triggering it? You know, everybody's a little bit different there. So really looking at and keeping maybe a headache diary. So you can say oh, it's maybe it's at a certain time of day maybe it's after a certain activity maybe it's a certain food, you know, looking at those tendencies there.

16:35

Yeah, I was really helping eyes check.

16:38

Yeah, that's those are my go twos. Yeah,

16:40

so your eye vision changes during pregnancy. And then it may never go back. It might improve after pregnancy, but it's one of those things that actually becomes weaker during pregnancy. So like get on check, see if that's a factor for your headaches. So you've maybe you need glasses for that time period. But that's one of the things people don't even realize that they're your vision actually changes during pregnancy and that can absolutely contribute to to headaches. I'm a big fan of the cold compress. So I mean pregnancy, not pregnancy for my kids for myself, like that's usually where we start in our house in our home is with a cold compress. So we keep these little gel things in our freezer these little gel packs and if someone gets a headache, they lay down and put it on the front or the back wherever they're filling at most and it doesn't always make it go away but it definitely can help especially if it's more of a mild headaches. So and sipping on a little bit of caffeine. And if you are wondering about caffeine during pregnancy, it is perfectly fine to have some caffeine during pregnancy. No aiming for less than 16 ounces, which is about two cups of coffee a day is considered safe. And so sometimes caffeine helps open up those blood vessels to the brain. So you know if they're feeling constricted, a little bit of caffeine can help open them up. And that might give you the relief you need. Now

18:04

peppermint oil that's a no Yeah, no, no go crazy on the caffeine.

18:08

I was gonna say I was gonna say and don't do that like before bed, because then yeah, yeah.

18:16

I know. It's I mean, there's that delicate balance of let's, of just treating the symptoms or looking at root cause but, you know, Pregnancy is a little bit different because we can know okay, well these symptoms are coming because we have all of these changes in the body that we talked about and treating the root cause would be having the baby. So we've got to get, we have to wait. We have to go through that. So maybe there's those things that we can do to manage it and that I guess like that holistic kind of realm and world. So on our household we do I do peppermint oil if someone has a headache my my oldest I guess his you know he's got all of his hormone stuff now because he's 12 And so he you know, every once in a while it's pretty rare but it will get a headache obviously to go to like I make sure I've adjusted them, you know, recently or whatnot, but then peppermint oil and I just want to like breathe it in a kind of massage on the temples.

19:15

You know, Yeah, that happens that those

19:17

real investigators Well, I'm gonna like, cure it, but there are, you know, red flag things and we've talked about this too and some of the other sections here as far as some red flag signs of when you really I mean, I think communicating to your care provider about any sort of headache is important. So letting them know that hey, I've had more headaches, but if we've got like, changes in vision, you know, numbness, tingling on one side. of the body, you know, one side of the head hurting those type of things. This dizziness, all of that like that real severe headache like worst headache I've ever had. Those definitely need to be communicated to compare it. To the care provider. Or even potentially, you know, like emergency room visits. So this is not, you know, just keep those things in mind.

20:12

Okay, you don't want to just shoulder shrug it off and changes in vision. It's important to know if the headache is causing changes in vision, and that headache won't go away, no matter what you've tried. It's those are all warning signs and you definitely want to talk to your care provider for sure.

20:29

Yes. All right. Next up we have increased urination AND and OR incontinence which is fun up all the time or you can't really control the pee. Yay, pregnancy. I know. I know. And you know that increase urination can occur because, you know, maybe we are drinking a lot more water. It can happen in first trimester too, because we do have obviously that increased blood flow and changes in hormones. So love your hormones. Yeah, I always think of 40 Oh, no. What is it knocked up when with anyway? Oh, yeah. Like hormones. Good. Just think that's funny. But so yes, hormones again. But, you know, as we progress in pregnancy, it becomes that we've just kind of lost some of the space that the bladder used to

21:21

rack up the bladder and naturalist space. Yes. And it can feel

21:25

like you know, baby's doing like a handstand on on top of your on top of

21:31

your bladder. So yeah, and I think I think it's new expecting moms who haven't been pregnant before always surprised by the increase in urination in that first trimester. They're like, Wait a second. I thought this came later in pregnancy when baby's pressing on my bladder. And it's like, well, it's actually ended up being the whole pregnancy because in that first trimester, it's more due to blood volume, and your your your body's retaining more fluids. And so you pay more and that is and then maybe you get a break in the second trimester. But then as baby grows, then like you said, it becomes more of that spatial thing. And that's where you might experience kind of incontinence because you have like, a lot of pressure on the bladder and then if it's somewhat full, and then you like sneeze or laugh or cough or something that's gonna cause you to maybe leak and that's the incontinence side of it.

22:19

Exactly.

22:21

Now, there are,

22:24

you know, things to think about with this and some of the remedies and even looking at pelvic floor physical therapy. Because we can look at Do we have pelvic floor dysfunction. So is that one of the reasons why we cannot seem to control the p stream or something along those lines. You know, there are things to think about there too and looking at okay, well let's make sure pelvic floor is good and even prepping and making sure pelvic floor is good to prepare for you know, labor and birth as well as a good idea and not just because you know if we have some incontinence aspects of things but definitely something to consider and reach out and ask about.

23:10

Yeah, some people don't even aren't even aware about that about the pelvic floor PT and some people think that it's only associated with like a weak or like not a strong pelvic floor, and that that comes like after you've had a baby, but the reality is, is you can have a too tight, too. Tight pelvic floor or you could have a weak pelvic floor before you've ever had a baby and then pregnancy just exasperates it so getting with the pelvic floor PT if you're a female is like at any point in your journey is beneficial and especially if you can get in touch with one before you're even pregnant. So you can have the tools to help help either either loosen or strengthen your pelvic floor based on where you are at because some people actually have too tight of a pelvic floor and that can create issues too, when some people have to lose. And so yeah, 100% pelvic floor PT is great to help with incontinence as well as a multitude of other things. During pregnancy,

24:04

and after name postpartum. Yeah, yeah, exactly.

24:09

If you are peeing a lot in the middle of the night, and it's like you've gotten past that first trimester. Try to maybe get all your fluids in between like when you wake up and a few hours before you go to bed. Try to like dial back the fluid intake before bed and that might help the middle of the night. Pee breaks.

24:31

Exactly. Yeah, kind of front load that day a little bit with trying to get the water in.

24:36

Thank you were just like a dress the stigma around paying yourself like as a female like people assume it's like just part of being pregnant or after you've given birth. It's just like, yeah, that's just how it is. I can't tell you how many people I've talked to and I don't know if you see this in your office a lot but yeah, but I thought that was just normal like I thought that was just part of having a baby or being pregnant. And it's like, okay, sure. It can be what happens. However, there it's a signal that there's something about functioning how it should, so you don't have to just live with it. So take these steps and see your chiropractor see your pelvic floor therapist, like be like, try to be proactive in those things and you can probably have fewer symptoms. Exactly.

25:19

I love it. Yes, I agree. Um, now there can be just generalized pelvic pain. And, you know, for a variety of reasons. We do have the uterus is growing womb is expanding. Ligaments are definitely stretching. And you have that increased bloating, constipation, gas, like there's just a lot going on in the pelvic area. We're seeing the opposite like there's a lot going on in this area. And as the body is shifting and changing, it can, it can create and present with some of that discomfort. So and you'll notice too, that the discomforts what I noticed in the office is a lot is how it changes throughout pregnancy. So sometimes I hear at the beginning that hips are really, really sore. So like the actual hip joints like that. lateral side of the body, and then as we as the as the uterus grows, and the fetus grows, we get and the belly grows, then we kind of shift that center of gravity a bit. We get that sway back a little bit more than that. Sometimes it comes into that. Well, now I've got that SI pain and we're now in second trimester, and then maybe it starts to go down the back of the leg and your bet sciatic pain so it's, it can kind of present as it progresses like that.

26:51

Yeah. And there it has to

26:53

be in pain, you know?

26:54

No, you don't know and seeing your chiropractor, massage therapy. There's so many things that can help pelvic floor PT can help with the pelvic pain, but there again, there's a degree of normal and how can what can we do to get comfort and and feel our best even despite having kind of these ongoing discomforts. But there's a main culprit for and guess what? It's a hormone

27:18

hormone. I don't know this might be my favorite hormone. It's so cool.

27:22

Yes. So relaxing, is increases significantly during pregnancy. So share with us a little bit Shannon about what you know about relaxing.

27:35

Um, so yeah, it's this beautiful hormone. And what's really cool is that it is produced by the ovaries, but then in pregnancy, it's produced by the ovaries and the placenta, so it's originally produced by the corporate twidium So you actually have relaxin in your body. I mean, I guess you could say at all times, it's going to vary but in it changes with your cycle. So it increases like the levels increase a few days around ovulation, and then it dips back down if we don't have a pregnancy. So you have you know, we have the relaxer body and even males have relaxing too. But then with if we do have a pregnancy then those levels remain and it relaxes ligaments and can soften the cervix as well but as you know, you take Tylenol and you want to like reduce a headache, but Tylenol goes everywhere in the body, right? So it's not like it's the same thing with relaxing like it's it affects lots of parts of the body. So it's going to properties of like cartilage and tendons. It's going to skeletal muscle and it's a part of bone remodeling. And that inflammatory response is when healing from an injury like an internal injury, so it's it's so cool that it does all of those things but it is very much something that helps. Literally what it says I love the name though too. I think that's what I would like it's relaxing.

29:09

Yeah, and so it helps in pregnancy. The thing is, it's gonna increase and it's going to affect your whole body even though it's really benefiting those the uterine muscles and the as they're expanding because your uterus is has a muscle and it has like muscles going in all directions. And you want those to be able to lengthen and smooth and have like room to grow. And so that's where we're relaxing can help there as well as having in your pelvis so that as you're giving birth and your pelvis is needing to expand to make way for your baby. It's able to expand and that way and same thing with the vaginal canal. Like that's all tissue and that needs to stretch and relax and can help in all of those ways. However, when you have a lot of relaxing flowing, it's going to create more movement and room in your joints. And so that's where we have that's where we have some pain and that low like so you end up feeling like a lot of movement also in like your sacrum which is that like triangular bone at the bottom of your spine, top of your butt like people kind of have pain there. There's a lot of movement there. The front of your pelvis is held by a ligament as well. pubic symphysis so when you have more movement there that can create a lot of pain. This is helpful this relaxing hormone is helpful in the whole process of giving birth, but it affects the whole body so it can make it can increase some of that hip and pelvis pain. But it serves a really important role. So that's why we like

0:02

But it serves a really important role. So that's why Yeah, exactly it does it definitely serve that role in it. The highest levels in that first trimester. So, you know, it's thought to help implantation of the fetus there and then it can also inhibit contractions in the wall of the uterus to prevent, you know, in aiding to prevent premature childbirth as well but it also impacts Cardiovascular and Renal systems too, because we're again adapting to the increased demand of oxygen, right? So that's where we're getting that increased blood flow to because this, you know, this growing fetus needs that oxygen as well and the nutrients are there. So that's where, you know, relaxing can come in and helps relax the blood vessels. And it helps to increase that blood flow to the placenta and to the kidneys. So again, you know, it's going everywhere and affecting everything as well too. And there's, you know, even been studies to with like I said, you're gonna have relax in your body outside of pregnancy, but we all have varying levels of it. And so sometimes, it they've done some research looking at an increase in serum relax and values and tying that to women athletes and, you know, ACL injuries and a tendency for that and they did find correlations there. So that's where to everybody's gonna have different levels of the, the serum levels of relaxes. So you know, that's why some people like I'm having hip pain or something, you know, who knows, because it varies their serum relaxing, exactly. So you also can't compare your pregnancy aches pains in those type of things to anyone else as well. So just kind of keeping that a little bit in mind is that yeah, relaxing can play a part in that and another cool thing about relax or I don't know if it's cool at this point, but like, after you give birth, relax and maintain that pretty higher high levels in the postpartum period for up to a year or two. So like, for me personally, I struggled with a ton of hip pain. After giving birth.

2:19

I still felt like I had a ton of movement in my sacrum and my hips just ached, especially on the right side, and go into the chiropractor very soon after giving birth helped and then maintaining that and then learning that, oh, my body's still producing this relaxing and my body's still going getting put back together and kind of settling back in. And so having some of those discomforts even linger after giving birth, knowing that that might relax that could be contributing to that and that it stays in the body for a much longer time than I had originally thought. Exactly. And that's I feel like that's kind of cool too, because it but then we think of it, you know, let's get everything lined up properly. Yes. Get into so yeah, so definitely looking at you know, when with those Webster certified chiropractic adjustments and looking at that prenatal chiropractic care and really looking at that pelvic and sacral, you know, balance imbalance because if it's affecting muscles, that's where, you know, we work on pelvis and sacral alignment on the posterior side of the patient and as well as piriformis muscle and then we work on so as muscle in the front and pubic bone on the front. And so all of those things are impacted by relaxing.

3:31

Yeah, and, and something that I think some women experience that is really, really unpleasant is the last thing we're gonna talk about, which is lightning crotch. And that is a very specific pelvic pain. And so just to kind of add on to that general, pelvic pain we're talking about, but like I said earlier, where the where the pelvis comes together and the front and what what gives us mobility in our in our, like, able to kind of walk is the pubic symphysis and that's where the pelvis is joined together. And that's like a, like a ligament and muscle and it's like a very fascinating piece of the body.

4:07

But the relaxin hormone, affects it greatly. And so if you have a lot of rocks and when we get a lot of movement there, then those bones can kind of grind on each other a little bit more and create shooting pain from the front of the pelvis, like down a leg or just like just into your vagina like just like you've been struck with lightning into your crotch. I know that's a terrible visual, but it is so bad. How people describe it. Yes, yes. And, and so chiropractic care can help Webster specific technique can help gentle stretches, and also how you move your body when you're pregnant. And so being aware of that increased relaxing and how it can impact your entire body. So keeping your knees together as much as possible. And this isn't about like being proper or anything like that. It's just like to give support to your body and so when we spread our legs or sit crisscross applesauce, or twist our body or move our hips in like these, these ways that that create more instability and that pubic symphysis error, you're going to have increased pain. So when you're getting up like out of bed, like in your maybe you might think to roll to your back and then sit up. That's gonna put a lot of pressure onto your pubic bone. So think about like rolling to your side, and then setting up with your knees together and then hanging your knees over the bed and then kind of like slide out of the bed keeping everything together like not not spreading your knees and picking one knee up to get out. Or like if you're getting out of the car to get when I talk about twist the whole don't twist but sent like the whole body turns together. Yeah. Me out of the car at the same time. Yeah, your hips moving like with your pelvis versus like, your shoulders moving first and then maybe you do like one leg out, and then the other leg and that's like how I might get out of the car now, but pregnant. Do it all together, like move everything together and then both both feet on the ground and then stand up. So just being aware of how you're moving your body especially if you're experiencing increased pubic symphysis pain, right and it you know, it's a it's a joint so in it, it does move very minimally, but it does move because it allows it allows for childbirth. So and relaxing. Like to be affecting everything around the joint as well. But the you know, adjustments there are specific adjustments that we can do to with the pubic bone because it's it's not you know, if one side of the pelvis has rotated or moved a little bit, the other side has it. That's sometimes where we get that sharp shooting pain from right at the front and so, yes, you know, adjustments can help to but then there's some things called some like pregnancy belts that fit really, really low on the hip that can help kind of apply some pressure there and help to facilitate that normal motion of the pelvis and kind of keep things in line. So there's one I guess, like, one that's known as like the sural belt or something like that. So sometimes in those severe cases, those can be used, as well. Yeah, I think people like it. Feels like they're more stable, like they feel like they have and you have to wear it much lower than you think.

7:37

Make sure you like, follow the instructions, but yeah, way low because you're almost like squeezing the hips and it's almost like a hip squeeze.

7:44

To help take that pressure off the pubic symphysis and then so we talked about all you know, keeping knees together, I sometimes have my mom's like sweep that medicine ball between the knees. And that can help as well to just getting some of that exercise there in those motion and the muscles nice yeah, yeah. Good exercising and stretching. All that stuff. Well, this has been fun. Ish. Fun. I know. Right? I always love talking to you. So it's fun, but like, it's also like these are all we also talked about all the challenges that a pregnant person might deal with. And then that's not even all of them. So but we want to make it easier for you. And so that's why we've maybe shared some hopefully one of these remedies can help you. Hopefully, we've explained something that helps you understand more about what's happening inside of your body.

8:34

And we definitely are all about you know encouraging that self exploration and self understanding of of your body and the physiological process. of growing a baby and given birth.

8:43

Yeah, yes, I know so hopefully you learned something today taking your those questions you have to care providers. And I know it was good talk today, even though it was all all the wraps up.

8:55

Alright guys, if you liked what you heard today, please, please, please, we would love and appreciate so much if you left us a review maybe even dropped a sentence or two. In that review your reviews will help other people find us and and help us get to keep doing what we love doing which is sharing information and and conversations about all things pregnancy, birth postpartum and Mama hood. So we would really appreciate if you wouldn't mind doing that. And if you also want to, you can screenshot this episode and share it on social media and give us a tag. It's aligned underscore birth, and we will have a new episode for you next week. Take care