Why is frequent urination a sign of early pregnancy

Also avoid coffee, tea, cola, and any other caffeinated beverages. Caffeine can increase urination. Keep a soft night light in the bathroom so you don't have to blind yourself in the middle of the night with bright overheads—and for safety's sake, light your path from bed to toilet with nightlights as well.

During pregnancy, especially in the last trimester, you may also leak urine whenever you laugh, cough, sneeze, lift something, or exercise. You may be able to prevent leakage by doing Kegel exercises that strengthen the pelvic floor muscles surrounding the urethra the tube that carries urine from your bladder out of your body.

To do a Kegel, tighten and then relax those muscles as if you're trying to stop your urine stream. Try keeping the muscles contracted for about 10 seconds, 10 to 20 times in a row, at least three times a day.

If you're leaking urine, panty liners may keep you a little happier until the problem goes away. Report any persistent leakage to your practitioner, just in case it's amniotic fluid instead of urine. Although the never-ending urge to pee is annoying, you should never ignore it.

Holding your urine can lead to a urinary tract infection UTI. Pools of urine in the bladder are breeding grounds for bacteria that normally inhabit the intestines, such as E.

It requires oral antibiotics during pregnancy and intravenous antibiotics during labor and delivery to keep your baby safe. Well, when you gotta go, you gotta go — and these days and nights , you gotta go all the time. Frequent urination is a symptom no pregnant woman enjoys especially when it breaks up the sleep you really need right now Frequent urination is one of the most common early symptoms of pregnancy that starts in the first trimester, around week 4 or the time you'd be getting your period.

Most women find they have to pee with even more frequency late in pregnancy, from about week 35 on. Nighttime bathroom trips tend to increase throughout the third trimester too.

Blame excessive urination on the pregnancy hormone hCG, which increases the blood flow to your pelvic area. While that blood flow can be good for increased sexual pleasure during pregnancy if you're in the mood for it , it's not so good for long car rides: hCG also increases blood flow to your kidneys, which become more efficient during pregnancy. As your kidneys get better at their job, your body gets rid of waste more quickly including baby's, since you'll be peeing for two.

Your growing uterus also bears some responsibility for your bathroom runs, since it puts pressure on your bladder, giving it less room to store urine. For nighttime urination in particular, those swollen feet and ankles can also play a part. Try to empty your bladder completely by leaning forward as you urinate, so that you'll hopefully need fewer trips to the toilet.

Also, don't cut back on liquids thinking it'll keep you out of the bathroom. A person might take an over-the-counter test at home, or they might visit a clinic and provide a urine or blood sample for testing.

The body produces hCG after implantation. Some rare conditions and diseases can also raise levels of this hormone. It is a good idea for anyone who has received a positive test result to have this confirmed by a healthcare professional. Various pregnancy tests are available for purchase online. Doctors typically use these scans to check the progress of a known pregnancy, but they can also confirm whether a person is pregnant and help detect multiple pregnancies.

If a person has any pregnancy symptoms, they should contact a healthcare professional. Once the pregnancy is confirmed, having consistent prenatal care improves outcomes for the pregnant person and the fetus.

Among the many early signs of pregnancy are missed periods, breast changes, fatigue, sudden shifts in mood, and frequent urination. If a person has any pregnancy symptoms, they might take an at-home pregnancy test or visit a healthcare professional.

Anyone who receives a positive result at home should have it confirmed by a doctor, who will then draw up a plan for prenatal care. Morning sickness can happen at any time of day, and it is more common in the first trimester. Learn about the symptoms and what can help here. It can sometimes be difficult for someone to determine whether they are having menstrual pain or implantation cramps.

Not everyone will get…. A person can miss a period while taking birth control pills for many reasons. The pills contain several hormones that affect the menstrual cycle, and…. Over-the-counter and clinical pregnancy tests give accurate results. Here, learn when to test, what testing involves, and what the results mean. A late menstrual period can be worrisome, especially when periods are usually regular and unexpected pregnancy is a concern.

However, other factors…. What are the early signs of pregnancy? Van Brummen HJ et al. How do the prevalences of urogenital symptoms change during pregnancy? Neurourology Urodynamics 25 2 : Join now to personalize. Photo credit: Nathan Haniger for BabyCenter. What is frequent urination? When does frequent urination during pregnancy start? Is frequent urination normal during pregnancy? What causes frequent urination during pregnancy? What is urinary incontinence? Is frequent urination in pregnancy ever a sign of a problem?

How can I avoid having to urinate so frequently during pregnancy? When will frequent urination during pregnancy ease up? A lot of changes contribute to your need to urinate often during pregnancy, such as: The amount of blood in your body nearly doubles during pregnancy.

This means there's more fluid for your kidneys to process. Your kidneys get more efficient at getting rid of waste, which means your bladder will fill up more often — and you'll need to empty it more often. Hormonal changes cause your ligaments to soften and loosen, including the ligaments of the urethra, which means you'll be less able to hold your urine. Later in pregnancy, you growing uterus will put pressure on your bladder, leaving less room for urine and more frequent urges to pee.

At the end of pregnancy, when the baby drops into your pelvis, they'll press on your bladder, increasing the urge to go even more. When you sleep, your body absorbs fluid in your legs, increasing your urine output.

This may be especially significant if you have swelling in your lower legs and feet. That's in part because when you lie down, your legs are level with your upper body. This makes it easier for your blood to carry some of the fluid you retained during the day to your bladder — now that it doesn't have to work against gravity. There are three types of urinary incontinence: Stress urinary incontinence. Both the pressure of your uterus on your bladder and weak — or overactive — pelvic floor muscles may cause you to leak urine when you cough, laugh, sneeze, lift heavy objects, or do certain types of exercise, like jogging.

This is called stress urinary incontinence SUI , and it's most likely to happen in your third trimester or in the postpartum period. Urgency urinary incontinence. If you have a sudden, strong urge to urinate — and sometimes leak on the way to the bathroom — it's called urgency urinary incontinence. Mixed incontinence means that you have symptoms of both types of incontinence, SUI and urgency urinary incontinence. Some tips if you're experiencing urinary incontinence: You may be able to prevent incontinence somewhat by not letting your bladder get too full, so don't ignore the urge to pee.

And remember to empty your bladder before exercising.