Haven't been drinking enough water....now worried for my baby

[cazzabazz]

I've always been bad at drinking anywhere near enough water as I'm supposed to (even when it's on my desk - I just don't get thirsty and forget to drink it). I'm 7 weeks pregnant and have known about it for 2 weeks, and I know I haven't been drinking enough, but today I read a scary article which basically said that my baby will die unless I drink at least 2 litres a day....I'm going to drink way more from now on, even if I have to resort to drastic measures to remind myself, but might the damage have been done already? Won't be having my first scan for another 5 weeks so I have no idea whether everything's OK in there or not :-(

I came across the post on another community forum where someone had posted a link to the article and had pasted the text from it - I've just clicked on the link and it no longer exists (should have noticed the post was from 2011!) Here's the paragraph which worried me (it didn't actually say the baby would die but my worrying nature interpreted it as that!)
"Good hydration is extremely important for a healthy pregnancy and postpartum period. Water flushes waste products from the cells and aids in liver and kidney function for both mom and the baby. During pregnancy, water is also needed for the body's expansion as mom's blood volume increases significantly. Insufficient water intake can cause constipation, preterm labor, and miscarriage."
I'll just stick to the Mumsnet forum from now on, at least I know there's no scaremongering here!

There is plenty of scaremongering on here as well, thankfully not quite as stupid as that though. Ignore pretty much everything and you'll do fine.

As everyone above has said, cazzabazz don't worry at all! In my first few weeks I couldn't keep a sip of water down for huge periods of time, I am now 20+4 and baby is super healthy. Just drink when you need too - and congratulations!

I can be useless at remembering to drink water. I'm 22+3 and have about 1l of it a day and everything is fine. Your baby is going to be fine! There's stuff across the net that claims anything and everything you do is harmful but most of it is rubbish and for companies to make £££

I'm terrible at drinking enough water, had morning sickness throughout the first trimester and DD is 14 months and perfect.

If you want to drink more you could set alarms on your phone throughout the day and drink a glass each time one goes off?

cazzabazz I'm very sorry as an American that you think medical advice and Jerry Springer come from the same place

Your mistake was taking advice from some link on a forum. I can assure you that US OB/GYNs are not going around telling women they will kill their babies if they don't drink enough water.

There's lots of good advice on American websites, if you want some legitimate ones:

The Mayo Clinic
www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-living/pregnancy-week-by-week/in-depth/hlv-20049471

National Institutes of Health www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/pregnancy.html

American Pregnancy Association
americanpregnancy.org/

Please don't stress, your baby will take all of the nutrients it needs (and you will be left with whats left). Try and remind yourself to drink more often though for your own health, I can sympathise as my DH is always telling me off for not drinking enough as I rarely feel thirsty.

Thanks newbian, and sorry for generalising / tarring everyone with the same brush! I obviously just stumbled across the wrong site, as someone had posted a similar thread to me there, saying "will it harm my baby if I don't drink enough water" and the person who posted a link to that article said "YES, you will do a lot of harm to your baby." Having looked back, I think that person was actually a man!

I'm hyper paranoid about water consumption and have militantly drunk at least 2 litres a day during pregnancies. But all 3 ended in miscarriage. So it's a big load of bollocks. Remember women in third world countries and women who smoke and take heroine during pregnancy still have babies, I'm pretty sure you'll be grand!
Please Yeh not to worry and enjoy your pregnancy.

i need help from someone who has had a child i am 15 years old misssed my period and i found out i was going to have a baby but idont be hungry or anything and its hard for me to drank water what should i do and i be having a lil pain ig

@khiateen15 - head to your gp for advice. Urgently. Oh can bring someone for support, but you don't have to. In this situation, you will be given a lot of information about your health (and your options).

Good luck.

I wouldn’t worry that article sounds like rubbish. But I would say drinking water in pregnancy has so many benefits (from my own experience) - it has really helped my skin, my bowels (sorry tmi), my frequent headaches and lots more. There are apps you can get that just keep reminding you... if it isn’t making you sick might be worth having more? I’ve been the opposite during the pregnancy I’ve been craving ice cold water non stop!

Whoops just noticed this article is 3 years old 🙈

There is no way I drank 2L of water (even including liquid in food) because I spent the first 18 weeks throwing up everyday! I'm now 31 weeks and baby is happy and healthy! I wouldn't stress!