Anxiety can be increased by the changes in hormones that effect your emotions.  It can also be influenced by your social circumstances.  Women with less social and partner support, tend to be more anxious about the future.  About 5% of women report anxiety during the pregnancy. The best ways to cope are exercise, talking with friends and loved ones, making sure you get restful sleep every night. Healthy diet also keeps you on an even keel.  Make sure you take adequate Vitamin D; we recommend 2,000 units a day during pregnancy.  DHA, a fatty acid in fish oil will help you stay calm and nourish your baby’s developing brain. Most prenatal vitamins now contain DHA.  If yours does not, look for one that does or take a high quality fish oil pill that states it has been molecularly distilled to remove impurities.

Your hormones, estrogen and progesterone, increase greatly during pregnancy.  These hormones help the baby grow and help your body change in ways that will nourish the baby and prepare for delivery. Progesterone and estrogen are in effect, growth hormones.  Other things will grow, your breasts, your abdomen, your hair, but unfortunately if you have a small skin tag it will also then grow as well and become a medium size skin tag.  This is because of your skyrocketing levels of progesterone.  You can have skin tags surgically removed at a dermatology office if you like, but most of them will shrink in size after the delivery, so that is probably not necessary.  If they are getting caught underneath a bra strap and making you uncomfortable, consider having it removed.  Short of that, wait until delivery and let it shrink on its own.

During delivery, your body will lose a lot of fluid.  This fluid is represented by your amniotic fluid and the placenta.  In preparation for this, you naturally hold on to more fluids.  Some of this is stored in your legs and when you lay down at night that fluid leaves the legs and comes back to your blood where it is processed by your kidneys.  This causes frequent urination at night.  You will also have increased thirst during the day.  Again, this is a way for your body to prepare for delivery.  Since you are thirsty and drink more water, you will typically urinate more.   Lastly, during the last trimester, the pregnant uterus is pressing on your bladder making it smaller so it holds less urine.  Fortunately, frequent urination resolves quickly, usually within a week after delivery.