Early pregnancy concerns

[DS77]

Hi,

My wife is 7 weeks gone with our second child; the first pregnancy was pretty good without any major problems. However, she had a miscarriage earlier this year and is struggling again at the moment.

She's actually lost 3lbs from her pre-pregnancy weight because she is finding it too painful to eat. Rather than it being a heart burn/acidity type pain she's having pains lower down in her stomach every time she eats which is obviously making it very difficult to maintain a healthy diet. She is also completely washed out as well as a result.

She's been to the doctors today and has been signed off for the week and will be reviewed again in a few days.

I guess I'm wondering if this type of discomfort is normal? And is it ok to lose weight in the early stages rather than gain it?

Thanks

An overly protective and worrying husband!

Hello.

I'm not sure about the discomfort when eating. However, I'm 7 weeks too and I have discomfort not that unlike period pains sometimes, I also get pains where I assume my ovaries are.

My midwife and GP have both told me not to worry. They said that it could be round ligament pain, which is where everything stretches to make space for the growing baby. It's more common in slimmer people I believe.

Some women do lose weight at first because of sickness and things. As long as she is managing to eat some food and isn't losing too much weight she can always catch up on her nutrition when she starts to feel a little better.

She is very lucky to have a husband like you to look after her, and I'm sure some rest will do her the world of good.

Don't worry too much about weightloss either. As long as she is eating (little an often would be my suggestion rather than facing 'meals') and she's resting then she should be ok. I had negative gain (lost about 4-5lb) on pre-pg in the first few weeks, and then the morning sickness really bit and made very little progress from there. I'm now 25wks and haven't put on any weight at all, still hovvering around pre-pg weight. MW's not worried as growth is plodding along at just above 50th percentile, and I'm eating healthily. So, don't be worried about weight itself, be more worried about getting small amounts down at a time. It might also be worth trackign what it is she's eating. A lot of the usual foods I ate def. made my usually mild IBS worse, so it could be something like that causeing pain. I found grazing on fruit the most constructive thing, along with a small glass of prune juice a day, just to help things along.

If you're UK based then you can either self-refer to an early pregnancy unit, or at least ask for a referal to an EPU from GP/MW. They can at least scan and check everything's where it should be, and that LO's fine (this will be a huge relief that it's all "just" your DW and nothing to do with baby). The pains are most likely ligaments stretching, but could be somethign like IBS. If she had any history of IBS there may well be discomfort from the womb growing so rapidly out of it's usual place, triggering aching when eating (I had a bit of this, along with low-lying ovaries being rubbed too).

Hopefully the pain will ease soon for her.

I didnt have pain but for the first two months of my pregnancy when I ate about every third day I got freadful stomach pains and a terrible upset stomach, seems to have passed now but I lost about 5lb's Im just in the process of gaining it all back and more now :) The EPU was a good trip for me was very reassuring to see the baby wriggling away, I went at 9w so it had just started to move about as well so Oeisha is right it might be good for you to think about that

Thanks for all your replies, I'll have a look into an EPU visit if things don't improve. It could be the reassurance we need.

I'd be absolutely pathetic if I was pregnant by the way, I think you all do an amazing job!

Hi I hope your wife is ok.

I can't help with the pain, but I lost weight in the first 3 months and bar a little spotting I have no other negative symptoms so far!
Like Hotpotpie I had an early scan and it was the best thing for putting our minds at rest.

all the best to you both

Keep an eye on her but from what you have said I wouldn't worry too much.

One of the things I suffer with this pregnancy (which I didn't first time around) is constipation - the whole digestive system slows down and I would quickly feel full/uncomfortable/sick on eating, even though I was ravenous. Glamorous, eh?

Round ligament pain is also very common - mine is at the front, just below hip level. It happens more when I walk than during meals but can be very painful - I remember doubling over as I walked home from work one evening, when I was about 6 weeks with DS1. The doctor was unsurprised at the pain, given that my uterus had (as she put it) just "exploded" in size.

Good luck to you both, you sound as though you are doing a great job supporting her.

My wife went back to the doctor's today and has been signed off for another two weeks.

The doctor was concerned about:

• low calcium levels
• losing a kg of weight in a week
• continued stomach pain after eating

She's being referred to an obstetrician. I'd not heard of these before, can anyone fill me in on their role and why she might have to see one?

Thanks

An obstetrician is a consultant who specialises in pregnancy and childbirth. If her GP is worried about her symptoms this is the specialist who can carry out further investigation into them and who has more knowledge of pregnancy. They also have more experience in what symptoms are cause for real worry as opposed to just a bit unusual.

Hope everything is ok.

ok thanks