Constipation during pregnancy

“Breathe in, breathe out. A glass of water. And off we go for a war.”

This is my mantra, almost everytime before I go the toilet.

I know, I know, this sounds like an icky and “ewww”-inducing post, because obviously no one likes to discuss, or even talk about what they do behind closed (toilet) doors. For that, my sincerest apologies, and you may proceed to the next post; but really, I think every new mother-to-be should be reading this, because constipation during pregnancy is NO JOKE. (I am not even laughing.)

Even before my pregnancy, I will be very honest with you, I have had my fair share of battles against this bowel discomfort/sembelit/constipation-whatever you call it, and it hurts and burns, and I ended up getting out of the loo face flushed, and dead tired. Like I told you, it’s a battle afterall.

Sometimes, it was so bad, I almost make “nazar” whilst at it.

“Dear Allah, let me go to the toilet in peace and comfort, and I’ll be a better person, holistically and spiritually,” I almost wanted to say that out loud, and perhaps, this time it will be different.

Now, with pregnancy belly protruding, and fat ass squashing the toilet bowl, I sure am hoping that constipation is the last thing I have to worry about. NOPE. Not an easy pregnancy for you, my love.

According to Babycentre.com, up to half of pregnant women get constipated at some point. One reason for constipation during pregnancy is an increase in the hormone progesterone, which relaxes smooth muscles throughout the body, including the digestive tract. This means that food passes through the intestines more slowly. And the problem may be compounded later in pregnancy by the pressure of your growing uterus on your rectum. Iron supplements, especially in high doses, can make constipation worse.

So yeap, there you have it.

Worse of all, if your constipation problem goes untreated, you may even develop hemorrhoids. I don’t want to be talking about hemorrhoids here, so you should probably just google it and UNSEE it, because nothing is more gruesome than pictures of the H-word.

No, I decided that, I am not going to be that 50% women who face constipation during their pregnancy, and I am going to poop so easy, all I need to do is plop myself on the toilet bowl, and it just happens. Like peeing.

Unfortunately, my bowel doesn’t seem to understand the tenacity of my will and the idea that pregnancy alone, is difficult, without having to deal with hard stool complications.

For almost 4 months, I felt as if the world was against me, and felt agitated everytime the urge comes.

Will I survive this time? Will God have mercy on me? What if I deliver the baby whilst pooping?

But, for the past one month, I can finally breathe easy because I am NO MORE that 50% of the population. Hooray! ( I need to throw a party to celebrate this.)

I am free!

Okay, this is where I need to tell you on how I successfully combat those icky stool issue I was telling you about.

I read online that pregnant women needs to drink plenty of water, eat plenty of fibres, walk and exercise plenty etc.etc. Sounds easy? Well, tell that to a fast food hardcore fan who enjoys lazing about in front of the TV 24/7 eating, well,  fast food. Not so easy now, right?

But I tried, nevertheless.

1.       Drink plenty of water. Checked.

Does it work? If you are not pregnant and don’t have the urge to pee every 5 minutes, perhaps this would work. Sometimes, due to the number of times I go to the toilet, I think I pretty much flushed out all the liquids in my body, and am left wondering, is something wrong with my bladder? But still, drinking water helps, rather than not.

2.       Fibres?

I switched from eating fries and chips during breaks to prunes and apples and oranges. No kidding. Whilst this helped somewhat, still I feel pain and on occasions I forgot to eat my fruits and vege, the pain just gets excruciating.

This is like my fifth tub

But I noticed that if I eat pappaya, I don’t feel as much pain.

So, perhaps you have to choose your fibres.

3.       Additionals

Before I was pregnant, I consumed Duphalac for when times calls for it. It’s a honey-flavoured syrup that you gulp in the morning and at night, to ease bowel movements. It helps, but still, if I forgot to take my dose, hell awaits, you know what I mean. I told my gynae about Duphalac, and she insisted that I stop relying on it, because it’s not made of natural fibre and I may get too dependent on it at some point.

She recommended Fybogel instead.

Fybogel is made with natural pulps and fibres, and tastes like orange zest. It comes in a box of 10 sachets, and best consumed with cold water (just mix them). It worked! Downside to it is that, it is too potent in fibre that you may end up messy before you even get to sprint to the toilet. But hey, if it helps, it helps!

4.       HOLY OATS!

I say holy oats, because this is like my holy grail for constipation solution at the moment. Now, I have them for breakfast every other day and surprisingly enough, I don’t feel pain at all when I am at it. Stool just glides smoothly and I feel healthier, that’s a plus. Yeah yeah, oats taste weird and almost inedible to some. Well, lucky you, there is one way that you can make oat taste good, pleasant even! The secret is… (drumroll)overnight oat. It’s pretty easy to assemble really:

Overnight Oats Recipe:

4 spoonfuls organic rolled oats

Half a glass of fresh milk

2 spoonfuls of Greek Yoghurt

1 spoon chiaseeds

And fruits of your choice

Just toss everything in a closed lid mason jar, and place in refrigerator overnight. Make extra servings as shelf life can be as long as 1 week, depending on fruits.

I usually use apples, mangoes and bananas.

Super easy to make and convenient too! 

If you are like me, and constipation is like a lifelong battle, just give these a try okay. And if all else fails, pray for God’s mercy when you are in there. That’s all I can say.