Heartburn

I was hoping once again, to escape a pregnancy curse as I hoped with morning sickness. But low and behold, I am beginning to get frequent heartburn. The most annoying part is that there doesn't seem to be a clear rhyme or reason to it...it just comes and goes and sometimes I even wake up with it in the middle of the night! Currently Tums are still working, but Emily gave me some Pepcid with I, of course, left at her house yesterday.

"During pregnancy, the placenta produces the hormone progesterone, which relaxes the smooth muscles of the uterus. This hormone also relaxes the valve that separates the esophagus from the stomach, allowing gastric acids to seep back up, which causes that unpleasant burning sensation.

Progesterone also slows down the wavelike contractions of your esophagus and intestines, making digestion sluggish. Later in pregnancy, your growing baby crowds your abdominal cavity, pushing the stomach acids back up into the esophagus.

Many women start experiencing heartburn and other gastrointestinal discomforts in the second half of pregnancy. Unfortunately, it usually comes and goes until your baby is born."