Peeing In the Night: A Pregnant Potty Problem
You get up two, three times a night to pee, even when you sit forever on the toilet before you go to bed, right?
What’s worse than the nightly bladder attacks is the thought of getting out of your pillow fort that’s supporting your newly burgeoning bump to creep to the toilet again.
So, why can’t you fully find relief in that bladder? Did you grow two? Is baby to blame for all that peeing? And is there anything you can do to make it stop??
Here’s what’s going on:
Around six weeks, hormonal changes send more blood flow to your urinary system. One of the side effects of this is a hyper fast increase in how quickly your bladder fills. While pregnancy continues, the size of the uterus expands and the baby and weight of the uterus presses down on the bladder and decreases the amount it can hold.
Additionally, the increase of weight above the pelvic floor muscles makes it increasingly sensitive to points where the muscles are weaker. Since the bladder is a bag, like a water balloon, pockets can slip into the weak points and make it harder to completely void when going to the bathroom.
What can you do about it?
The obvious solution is to cut back on fluids in the evening hours, but with hydration goals in mind this can be hard. Instead, here’s an exercise to help lift the pelvic floor and put more support to empty the bladder fully for the evening:
-Start by voiding your bladder
-Get into a hands and knees position and alternate performing cat and cow (rounding out of the spine, caving of the spine)
-Perform cat and cows rapidly for a few seconds
-Take a break, and resume once or twice more
-Go to the bathroom and void again
The rapid release and tightening assists the pelvic floor in moving the bladder’s contents closer to the urethra to void. Utilize this technique and voila! Less trips to the potty overnight.
Bathroom visits are just one of the many unique facets of pregnancy that need help navigating. Check out our other posts on assisting yourself in not just surviving pregnancy symptoms, but thriving.
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