I wanted to discuss a topic today that I have experienced myself and that most pregnant people probably don’t think about, dehydration.

As a health & fitness professional I constantly preach hydration and drinking tons of water throughout the day. I’m always carrying a water bottle and I’m always drinking.

For the second time this pregnancy I have experienced dehydration. The first time I had the stomach flu and to be honest dehydration is almost a given when you throw up 15 times and you can’t eat or drink for 2 days.

This time dehydration crept up on me and hit me hard. Last Saturday afternoon I spent the day playing outside with Ava, running errands and having fun with the sunny weather.

I drank water here and there but when I was looking for water on our errands my bottle was empty.

I didn’t think anything about it. We played and the day went on! At around 4pm I noticed I was dying of thirst and chugged a 16oz bottle. We ate dinner and then our night started to wrap up.

Around 7pm I was feeling tired & sluggish but thought nothing of it and laid on the couch while Marc played with Ava and gave me a break.

We went to bed around 10pm which is my normal bed time, but Ava kept us up all night coughing. Marc and I tossed and turned. I got up to pee a couple times and checked on her. Around 12pm we decided to give her some medicine and lay with her propped up so she would be more comfortable. We stayed up until 1am and I peed again. I thought it was weird that I was peeing so much considering I didn’t drink anything before bed.

Around 5:45am Ava woke up but Marc took her so I could sleep because I didn’t feel well (probably from lack of sleep). I woke up around 6:45am and headed downstairs to give Marc a break and let him sleep. I felt okay but was starving. I made myself 2 eggs & toast because I wasn’t feeling veggies or anything and ate it rather quickly. I had 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup of coffee and all of a sudden felt like I was going to throw up. From that point on my day went downhill.

I spent the entire day on the couch nauseous, tired, and sick to my stomach. I felt like i was getting the stomach flu again. I was on edge all day, unsure if I was going to throw up. My stomach turned and I couldn’t drink or eat much. I forced myself to eat some lunch and to drink some fluids but it was torture.

Around 4pm I decided to call the doctor. He told me I could go to the hospital for IV fluids or I can try to hydrate on my own. I chose to do it myself. I had a baby that I needed to take care of so I forced water in my mouth, I tried vitamin water but he said I don’t care what you drink just DRINK. So I tried and I thought I did a good job but then I sat down to eat dinner with Marc and Ava and I felt awful. I headed back to the couch and was frustrated.

I couldn’t believe I was experiencing this again. I was a little worried because I had lower abdominal cramps and that made this whole experience more nerveracking.

Marc told me to go to bed but I said I couldn’t because I was so uncomfortable and sick that I wouldn’t be able to close my eyes.

Around 8pm I gave in and took Nausea medicine. I knew if I couldn’t drink or eat everything would just get worse and I needed to sleep too.

At around 8:45pm I felt some relief so I drank 8oz of water and I had a piece of bread. I finally felt like I could go to bed.

I fell asleep around 9:30pm and slept pretty well considering. I only woke up once to pee.

When I got up at 6:45am I felt a little better but was still dying of thirst. I went pee and noticed my urine was super dark. It alarmed me because I usually have healthy looking pee haha.

I decided to call the doctor and he told me to go to the hospital for IV. I had a feeling that would be the case but I didn’t want to mess around.

Dehydration is a VICIOUS cycle. It makes you nauseous, it makes it difficult to eat or drink, but it won’t go away until you drink even though that’s the last thing you want to do!!

I knew I couldn’t get better fast without help so I headed to the hospital at 8am. They immediately gave me IV and I had to lay there for hours. After the first bag of IV finished the nurse came in and told me I was having contractions.

I panicked a bit because I’m only 30 weeks and it’s too early for any of that. She said the doctor is going to keep you and give you another bag of fluids and see how things go.

I was nervous. I know the contractions were probably from the dehydration but still the mild cramps meant something and I wanted to feel normal again.

When she started my second bag of IV she also gave me some nausea medicine and I slowly began feeling like myself. It felt great.

I was able to drink some juice and eat some saltine crackers. (not my favorite, but it worked!)

Around 11am the nurse came in and told me the doctor would check me since I was still having some scattered contractions. I prayed and prayed that nothing was wrong and that everything would be better soon.

At 11:45am I was released!! It felt amazing when she said you can go home!!!

It’s now Wednesday and I’m still on the mends. Talk about miserable right?? The last 2 nights were quite miserable but I will spare you the play by play details and just tell you I was running to the bathroom every couple hours in the middle of the night. I was so nervous about the baby the whole time because the cramping I was experiencing felt like labor contractions.

Luckily after speaking with the doctor she confirmed this was all because of the stomach bug and the baby was fine unless I was cramping all the time.

I saw the doctor this morning and all is well with the baby!! She confirmed it was a stomach bug and I was nearing the end. I believe I caught it from my husband who was sick this whole past week

I know this post was long but everything is that much harder and longer during pregnancy and I wanted you to get a feel for that. Pregnant women have a tough job.

I’m happy to say that I will be at home resting for the remainder of the week. That’s what the doctor ordered and my body had already told me to stay home and focus on me.

How I recovered from the stomach flu & dehydration:

1. Sip small amounts of water
2. Drink Electrolyte drinks
3. Eat Ice Pops or Ice Chips
4. Where comfortable clothing and try to stay at a comfortable temperature
5. Rest and lay down (Laying propped up helped me)
6. When I couldn’t keep fluids down or drink anything I called the doctor and went to get IV fluids

I literally had to force myself to drink water, it wasn’t easy but I knew that was the only road to recovery. I tried ice pops even when I was gagging and nauseous at the sight of them.  I felt better when I wasn’t lying flat on my side. For some reason sitting or being propped on my back felt the most comfortable. I stayed in sweatpants for days and I called my doctor when I didn’t feel I was making the progress I needed to.

Have any other pregnant ladies out there been dehydrated before or caught the stomach flu??

If so how long did it take you to recover?