~Water~

[lotus.blossom]

There is one thing I feel guity about in this pregnancy, and its not the Ben 'n Jerry's cravings. Its the lack of desire to drink water. I have to choke it down and have tried several things to down it.

I make really weak juice and cut it with seltzer
I try to drink just seltzer
I try to drink a few glasses of milk a day
And I drink a cup of tea at night.

But I manage to only get maybe 2 servings of plain water a day. I'm a bit concerned because I have had so many Braxton Hicks and I know fluid is important in warding off pre term labor as well as making adequate amniotic fluid.

Honestly, how are you ladies doing with the water intake?
Right now I've chugged about half my big Nalgene bottle, and I figure that if I fill it up every morning and drink it while I browse these forums then I will have jumpstarted myself. Its so easy to fall into the dehydration trap.

[PancakeGoddess]

are you just not getting thirsty at all, or can't drink water specifically? if you could drink whatever, what would it be?

maybe when the weather heats up, you'll get thirsty. where do you live again?

I'm really curious about this and wondering why you aren't *wanting* to drink.

eta, april, whatcha knitting these days?

[Still_Snarky]

Have you tried drinking with a straw? It sounds stupid but I drink my water much more quickly and mindlessly when I have a bendy straw. :p

[lotus.blossom]

Amy, I find myself going all day without a sip of anything and then by afternoon I remember and think, Oh sh!t I must be thirsty and I drink a glass of water. I guess I just get too wrapped up in what I'm doing to remember to drink. But bringing out the water bottle helps. I used to drink (water) heavily because I worked out everyday and now that I'm not working out its just not on my mind.

Straws are a good idea. I've never liked to drink water out of a glass. It doesn't interest me.

As for knitting......I made a pair of longies a few weeks ago and have a whole skein of the same color left so I'm gonna do a matching hat and I'm thinking of taking on a cardigan. I've saved a few links to patterns and I'm just trying to get up the guts to dive in. :wink

Oh and I'm in michigan. Very cold so tea is more favorable than water anyway!

[beautyful]

I find that I'm not as interested in water unless it is ice-ice cold. Would that help?

Seltzer with some fresh-squeezed lime is what I try to get down on days when I want nothing to do with water.

[Jish]

I drink a lot also, but it isn't water. I do drink a couple of glasses of milk a day and a couple of glasses of OJ a day and that is primarily water so that counts. My big guilty thing is that I'm totally addicted to soda. Diet 7up is my drug of choice. I figure if I get 6, 8oz glasses of water, juice, milk, I'm doing pretty good and I try not to feel guilty about the soda that I drink. I've tried all the other carbonated things, but it's just not the same. I also eat a bunch of watery fruit so I'm really not worried about my h2o intake. I've been like this for every pregnancy and my first three boys are wonderful. I must be doing something right.:love

[bfoster2000]

I'm not much help. Before I got pregnant with DJ, I drank water constantly but when I got pregnant with him, one sip made me nauseous. I just tried to drink plenty of other things and didn't really worry about it. I actually had too much amniotic fluid which led to my water breaking early with him so go figure! This time, I can't seem to stomach plain water either so I'm drinking lots of lemonade, juice, and iced tea (I've always drank decaf tea). I don't know if that's necessarily good, but I know I'm not dehydrated and I'm not puking so I figure it must be ok! Good luck...I'll be watching for other ideas as well!

Barb

[PancakeGoddess]

Well, not to be bossy, but you better get going on the water, woman! :Hug

Maybe head to Target or wherever and buy yourself some kind of nifty water bottle that will be more amusing to drink from? Ice some herbal tea. Oh man, Harvest Chamomile is so yummy on ice (celestial seasonings)

There is a Debbie Bliss book - Baby Knits for Beginners - it has a really nice easy cardigan that I made and had a blast doing it. IT's been my only successful sweater.

Amy, I find myself going all day without a sip of anything and then by afternoon I remember and think, Oh sh!t I must be thirsty and I drink a glass of water. I guess I just get too wrapped up in what I'm doing to remember to drink. But bringing out the water bottle helps. I used to drink (water) heavily because I worked out everyday and now that I'm not working out its just not on my mind.

Straws are a good idea. I've never liked to drink water out of a glass. It doesn't interest me.

As for knitting......I made a pair of longies a few weeks ago and have a whole skein of the same color left so I'm gonna do a matching hat and I'm thinking of taking on a cardigan. I've saved a few links to patterns and I'm just trying to get up the guts to dive in. :wink

Oh and I'm in michigan. Very cold so tea is more favorable than water anyway!

[Jade2561]

I had the same problem when I was pg with Cady - I was appalled by drinking water. I also suggest it ice ice cold, it helped me gulp down at least 4 glasses a day.

With this pg all I can really drink is water. I have 2 cups of milk a day and 2 cups of herbal pregnancy tea but I cannot get enough water. Yummm!

[ma_Donna]

It was very hard for me until recently. First trimester forget about water! I had tea, Sierra Mist & gatorade (from powder). I had fairly bad m/s and was pretty dehydrated.

Herbal tea is great and I wouldn't feel the least bit guilty that it isn't plain water. I find it easier to drink when lukewarm and a little sugar or honey doesn't hurt :D Good Earth tea is nice because it doesn't need any sweetener at all. I don't drink that kind too often since DS gets a little rash around his mouth from it and since he needs to have whatever I'm having I usually skip it.

These days the water consumption is back up.
I never used to like cold, cold water, but after my first pg that is how I prefer it.

Good luck!

[lotus.blossom]

Glad to see that I'm not totally alone in my aversion to water! I remember reading (at the very beginning) how some ladies were drinking a gallon a day and I got really worried! But I think they were also breastfeeding.

Anyhow I've managed to drink about 48 oz of plain water and one glass of milk so far. I feel pretty good. The secret is the water bottles. And the ice cold does work out better during the day, and RRl tea at night.

In the first trimester I drank a lot of water with lemon but with all the citrus I started getting cankers in my mouth so I had to cut back. :irked:

[momsmyjob]

Oh man, Harvest Chamomile is so yummy on ice (celestial seasonings)

I'd love to try that, thanks!!

I used to drink water all the time, but since being pregnant. I just can't drink much of anything and I know that's bad. I'm pregnant and still bf'ing ds. I just starting drinking more in the last few day and I've started feeling much better. I don't have much trouble drinking water usually, so this is strange for me. I also love Hansen's natural cola. The Vanilla cola helped with MS so much.

[eco_mama]

The only thing I drink is water. Try drinking it @ room temperature. It's actually better to drink it like that because it doesn't shock your system like ice water does. Perhaps not drinking anything BUT water would help? What kind of water do you drink?

[Quagmire]

Oooh yeah I second the vote on Celestial Seasons cold. THey have some really yummy flavors.

I take a sport bottle and fill it with ice cold water and lemons. I am sick to death of water but I can stand it that way. Every time the bottle is empty I go fill it. When I'm hungry I drink. Since I'm hungry most of the time now this seems to help :lol

[ksjhwkr]

I drink at least 32 ounces a day and really try for 64. It's hard though, I agree. Today, I didn't do so good, had a 32 ounce Dr. Pepper and oreos and some milk...um, I think I only had 2 small cups of water today. YIKES! :duh

[~pi]

When I need to up my water intake, I pull out my hiking equipment.

Seriously, my everyday bag has a hydration pack. It holds 3 L and I can easily drain that in an afternoon of walking around if I'm not paying attention. I just love the bite valve. I have a horrible habit of going without drinking way too often otherwise, so it really keeps me going.

I got mine from this place (http://www.mec.ca/Products/product_listing.jsp;jsessionid=GGSSqtnfKQVdJ81BdcZ vp4gDzZjyJcnqjSzpGvDzdBQ3Py4yJpPC!1092655502?FOLDE R%3C%3Efolder_id=2534374302699815&bmUID=1141281362439). If you're interested, I know they ship to the states, but you might want to try REI or a local outdoors/climbing/cycling shop before ordering from Canada. If you're not going to use it every day, look for one with antimicrobial properties. The ones without are a huge pain to clean, and you need to clean them if you don't keep a daily flow going.

[~pi]

Oh, and I just wanted to add that all studies that look at fluid intake count other non-caffeinated, non-alcoholic, non-carbonated beverages, too. The only reason I focus so hard specifically on water is that it's free. :lol

[Mama2ABCD]

water drinking is really a habit. and your starting a great habit by filling a big bottle and drinking it while online. a good time to drink water (and do kegels):thumb

i second the room temp water.:D
i keep a large glass at my sink and fill it up everytime i'm in the kitchen. i guzzle it. i also keep a 64oz jug filled in the van for days when i'm not home and drink that while on the road. if i don't, i don't feel too good when i get home.
at times when water made me throw up in pregnancy's i would find heat up the water and drink it like tea. that helped.

the formula to figure how much water you should drink is to take half your body weight and then drink that in oz not pounds. So if your 100 lbs, you need 50 oz of water (what Maria pointed out is probably more realisitc..fluid intake can be more then just water); 150 lbs and its 75 oz of water.
of course, if your nursing, pregnant and nursing, working outside on a hot day, etc then you increase from there.

and i'm a fanatic about noticing if my pee is yellow. if it is, i know i'm dehydrated. sorry if that's TMI

off to drink a tall glass of not so cold water:love

[lotus.blossom]

Thanks for all the wonderful tips and tricks! I think I'll try some celestial teas cold. We've always been a strictly water household (tap water in the Brita....although my parents distill their own water and that tastes really good!). In fact my friends always get irritated because theres never anything but water or milk to drink here. But since a few weeks ago I've bene dying for juice and I know its terrible with the sugar so I only add a drop of juice to water to make it last longer and give my water some zing.

Oh and Coke. I've NEVER in my life drank coke but sometimes I'm just dying for it! I've only splurged a few times. Even though "they" say you can drink 100mg of caffeine a day I just don't trust it!

[~pi]

Even though "they" say you can drink 100mg of caffeine a day I just don't trust it!
What don't you trust? The scientific research community? Statistical methods? Caffeine? Coke? :lol

[bfoster2000]

the formula to figure how much water you should drink is to take half your body weight and then drink that in oz not pounds. So if your 100 lbs, you need 50 oz of water (what Maria pointed out is probably more realisitc..fluid intake can be more then just water); 150 lbs and its 75 oz of water.
of course, if your nursing, pregnant and nursing, working outside on a hot day, etc then you increase from there.



YIKES!!! But I'm 205 pounds! (I'm also almost 6 feet tall so it's not quite as bad as it sounds) I KNOW I don't drink 100 oz. of water in a day (like I said, one sip makes me puke...cold, room temp, warm, doesn't matter!) but I doubt I even drink that much of all liquids combined. How do you do that? I have a drink with me all the time but that's an awful lot of liquid! I'd be floating! I guess I'm going to have to get one of those hats with the straws attached so I can have a constant stream going into my mouth!

I'm glad I'm not the only one who's fanatical about the color of my pee...I've been that way since my military days when I was usually dehydrated. :lol

These days, lemonade is my guilty pleasure...in my first trimester that was the ONLY thing I could keep down. Now I try to dilute it as much as possible and I drink 100% fruit juices (not from concentrate) and occasionally Sprite or tea. I guess now I have one more thing to feel guilty about. I've given up on saving for college, I'm saving for my kids' counselling! :D

[Jish]

I'm a pee checker too. I've had a kidney stone once and I hope to never repeat it.:irked: My urine is typically pale unless I'm peeing too close to when I take my vitamin. That neon yellow is simply shocking.:lol

My guess is that if you add up all you drink in a day, and all that you eat that has water (I love oranges, pineapple, berries, apples, whatever) you are probably getting more than enough fluid to make it to your goal. Like someone else said, you have to take out drinks with caffine (which actually dehydrates you so you need to make up with more fluid for any you drink) and soda (which I was told my my urologist does NOT count toward your water intake like juice and milk does.)

The other thing that I had to learn to take into account is that none of our glasses are 8oz glasses. Here I was trying to guzzle 8 cups of what I later figured out to be 16 oz glasses. Talk about peeing all the time.

As for the caffine, not that I'm saying it's a bad thing to give it up, but I have consumed caffine with each one of my pregnancies (always less than 100mg) It has nothing to do with really wanting the caffine, but when we are out to dinner, you can't get a diet soda without caffine. In all honesty, I've been glad I did because non of them were sensitive to it in my breastmilk when they were born. My sil gave it up through her pregnancy, and when her mellow dd was 2 weeks had a soda and the baby didn't sleep at all that night and screamed for hours. Perhaps that's just my twisted reasoning.:lol

Here's my hint, If you are going to go with water bottles, try buying the little 8 oz size. I can down one of those in one gulp and then I feel like I've got one more down and it's no big deal. Then I just refill them and go again. I drink much more water that way than if I put it in a big 32 oz bottle and the level drops so slowly.

Okay, I have a sinus headache that is driving me nuts and I'm just rambling now...

[lotus.blossom]

Maria, I don't trust "them."
Who are they anyway? :lol

No, I get heart palpitations now when I drink caffeine.....plus it gives me the runs.....and I don't trust THAT! HEE!

[sewaneecook]

Oh and Coke. I've NEVER in my life drank coke but sometimes I'm just dying for it! I've only splurged a few times.

I'm not much of a coke drinker either, but sometimes it's the only thing that settles the heart burn.

I'm normally a water drinker, but lately I've had lots of Gatorade too (another thing I HATE when non-PG). My biggest problem is that my thirst kicks in about 45 min b/f bed and then I'm up peeing all night! The things we do for kids!

[fenwickmama]

i struggle with my water intake too. but i try to just drink any caffeine free stuff i can tolerate and not beat myself up about the water-it's totally leftover from the morning sickness and puking from water. and the water at our house smells so i can only tolerate it if its icy cold (it's fine water-we had it rechecked this summer during all the adoption stuff but it smells irony or something and never really bothered me til preggo). i may try the straws or a groovy water bottle from target or something...

[Quagmire]

Ok, so question for all you pee-checkers. Do you take any sort of vitamin? My pee is constantly yellow... all day, even though I take my vitamin at night. Not super dark urine per se, but definitely not the clear well-hydrated color pee.

It's also kinda stinky :bag:

I noticed after my first pregnancy that when I skipped the vitamins for a few days I had clear pee again. Just wondering if you can rely on that when you're taking supplements.

[bfoster2000]

I think the vitamins make it bright (neon?) yellow. It's one of the B's that does it I think. I haven't noticed it with mine that much but then I haven't been quite as religious about taking my vitamins this time either.

[Fanny1460]

I find that I'm not as interested in water unless it is ice-ice cold. Would that help?

Seltzer with some fresh-squeezed lime is what I try to get down on days when I want nothing to do with water.

I've read in Natural Pregnancy by Aviva Jill Romm that it was not healthy to drink ice-cold water.
Just my 2 cents :p

Personally, I am working in front of a computer all day and I have 4 glasses of water in front of me that I refill once a day. They are just below the screen so I can't forget :)

[1stTimeMummytoLore]

in Barbara Luke's book for moms expecting multiples, she says 8-16oz. glasses of water- just water- a day in addition to milk and juice. when i first read that, i was like NO WAY! but i actually took a suggestion from the book and i fill up a little igloo cooler made for beverages (with the little spout at the bottom) with the amount i need to drink for the day the night before and then carry a quart sized mason jar around with me all day to drink out of. it's become a personal challenge for me to see if i can get to the bottom of the cooler before the end of the day. i am also a pee-monitor and goodness only knows how much i pee these days keeping two babes supplied with plenty of fresh amniotic fluid!!!

i think the rational behind room temp water is that your body has to burn extra calories to heat up the ice water you put in your stomach so you lose calories your body needs to function and the baby needs to grow-- don't have anything scientific to back that up with, but i think i remember reading that somewhere.

[~pi]

Maria, I don't trust "them."
Who are they anyway? :lol

No, I get heart palpitations now when I drink caffeine.....plus it gives me the runs.....and I don't trust THAT! HEE!
Hey, I'm one of "them". :lol

I get you now, though. Heart palpitations and runs would have me avoiding the cause of them, too!