Pregnancy Hacks that Actually Work!

I've read sooo many articles, posts, etc. about how to manage common pregnancy woes. I have spent some time on Google, like any pregnant woman, but many of the recommendations I've read simply don't work, or don't work effectively enough for me to get relief. This blog article covers a few really simple "hacks" for some common pregnancy symptoms such as nausea, restless legs, heartburn, constipation, and aches and pains.

Photo by Ashton Mullins on unsplash.com

Nausea/Morning Sickness

I wasn't sure what to expect with morning sickness, because both my mother and sister didn't have terrible nausea during their two pregnancies. For me, it came around week 5, but was more intense from weeks 6-8. It was nearly gone by week 10. It was always in the morning, and often in the evenings too. I'd feel somewhat okay during the day.

Morning sickness is, I think, caused by your body's drop in blood sugar, as well as the fact that your stomach is empty, yet your body is pumping out copious amounts of hormones to support the pregnancy. My nausea was the worst when I was hungriest, so my best protection against it was eating even when I didn't want to.

Nighttime snacks, midnight snacks, and eating immediately when I woke up were what got me through - as well as heavy meals like pizza (yup, not even ashamed!), and carb-rich meals. I also made big batches of stews and soups to eat during the day when I felt a bit better and could handle more vegetables.

So, here are my three nausea hacks:

Kombucha was a small little surprising hack that helped in the morning - I'd have about a cup of this on my drive to work and it seemed to settle my stomach. I drank ginger flavoured kombucha most days.

I also found that taking ginger tablets at night helped with the next morning as well. I took about 250mg tablets before bed and definitely noticed a difference when I started these. I couldn't consume these when I was actually nauseous.

Getting the best possible sleep also helped. The nights that were restless automatically resulted in worse mornings and nausea almost all day, with nothing helping - even naps made me groggy and more nauseated.

Restless Legs

I've struggled with restless legs since before pregnancy, especially around and during my period. The most important nutrient that has helped manage this is, of course, iron supplementation. I've never had critically low iron levels in my bloodwork, but it's often on the low side of normal. Iron alone is really helpful for restless legs, but I've also had a few things help late at night when I don't want to take an iron capsule.

You should always get bloodwork done before supplementing with iron, as well as speaking to your midwife or OB/naturopathic doctor. Bloodwork will tell you how much iron is stored in your body through a ferritin test. As I mentioned, my ferritin test has never shown critically low levels of iron or anything, but it's often on the low side of normal - hence the unpleasant symptoms of restless legs. You want to make sure you are supplementing with the right amount of iron, and they'll often have specific forms or brands that they'll recommend.

In terms of iron, I take iron bisglycinate, which I find my body best absorbs. When eating an iron-rich diet (basically, meat!), I try to consume some kind of vitamin C with it, as vitamin C helps your body to absorb iron. Examples of this could be broccoli with my dinner, citrus, strawberries, etc. I find the more vitamin C I consumer (no supplements needed, just fruits and veggies), the better my restless legs are - hinting to the fact that vitamin C helps with iron absorption!

Magnesium glycinate is my night-time and overnight go-to for dealing with restless legs. I try to remember to take this at night, but if I have heartburn, I won't take it. I take this supplement (200mg) if I wake in the night with restless legs. I do think it prevents against leg cramps as well, which I haven't experienced yet at 30 weeks pregnant.

Lastly, leg massage has helped soooo much with my restless legs. I spend about 20 minutes in bed massaging my legs before I go to sleep while I watch a show and unwind. Sometimes, my husband does this for me, but I often do it myself and notice if I have any sore muscles in my legs and if so, I'll spend more time there. Again, this may help prevent against leg cramps, but who knows!

Heartburn/Acid Reflux

Every blog article I've read says the same thing: avoid triggering foods like fatty foods, tomatoes, caffeine; don't lie down after eating; eat smaller meals. Yup - check, check, and check. But in speaking to a Holistic Nutritionist buddy, she gave me this game-changing hack: lemon water! I'm not kidding - this works almost instantly.

The reason I think this works is that lemons are alkalizing, so they tone down the extra acidity in the esophagus and at the top of the stomach. I didn't need much of this to help.

Squeeze a 1/4 lemon into a glass of water and drink. Have this throughout the day to manage heartburn! Make sure to protect your teeth though by brushing 30 minutes after or even just rinsing your mouth with regular water after drinking the lemon water. Lemons do break down tooth enamel so if you're consuming a lot of this, keep that in mind.

Digestive Issues

I know a lot of women complain about constipation during pregnancy, and at 30 weeks pregnant, I honestly have had almost no constipation. My digestion has been eerily consistent and calm, which is something I didn't expect, considering I have autoimmunity and very dysregulated digestion most of the time. Here are the things I do that I think are helping most:

A daily probiotic that is high quality. I take this every single day without fail, on an empty stomach. I spend the money on a good quality probiotic. Before pregnancy, I found that probiotics didn't really agree with me - they can actually make autoimmunity worse, so I didn't take them regularly. But I know the benefits of probiotics in pregnancy for the fetus, so I started taking it immediately - and I believe it helps my digestion the most.

Nighttime ginger tablets. I still actually take these, even beyond first trimester - ginger is amazing for the digestive tract, is anti-inflammatory, and helps to regulate bowel movements. I've kept these going, although I do skip them if I have any acid reflux in the evening or I want to prioritize taking my magnesium.

Fibre. This one is obvious and you've read it elsewhere already, but I eat tons of fibre in the forms of veggies, fruit, grains, and seeds (I don't eat many nuts or legumes), and have tried to add more raw foods into my diet. They help regulate bowel movements a tonne.

Aches and Pains

I've mentioned this a few times already, but I haven't had many aches or pains so far - although I know I have a long 10 weeks to go, ha!

Here are a few hacks that I believe have helped:

Daily yoga with gentle twists. I was speaking to my physiotherapist (who is also a yoga teacher), and she mentioned 3 dimensional movements as being necessary in pregnancy (and always, let's be honest). So instead of simply stretching my body in things like bends, I've been using twists to help open up my back muscles. There are certain twists that are not safe (or easy) in pregnancy, but gentle seated twists are my daily hack.

Magnesium glycinate. I try to take about 200mg of this daily, although I admittedly often forget. I take it at night, or if I wake in the middle of the night with restless legs, and I think it's helping to prevent aches and pains.

Bone broth is also helpful because it contains lots of collagen, so can protect against joint pain. I've been consuming a lot of bone broth in the form of soups and stews - I will make a chicken stew or soup and eat it over a few days, and notice my whole body feels lighter and more mobile.

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I hope some of these hacks can be helpful for you in your pregnancy journey. Give me a shout on IG @jennycostellcoach if so, or contact me at jennycostellocoach@gmail.com if you'd like to work with me!

Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor or a midwife. You should always speak to your healthcare practitioner about your pregnancy symptoms to determine what is best for you, especially when it comes to supplementation. The information here is not meant as diagnosis or treatment of any disease.