Constant toliet use during pregnancy

June 13, 2007 7:48 AM

My SO is 30 weeks pregnant and all is going well apart from one constant annoyance of she continually feels that need to wee.

The pregnancy so far has been pretty much text book but she has always had a weak bladder but recently its got stupid where she is needing to go to the toilet every 10-15 minutes just to get some relief. We've seen the doctor and she has a urinary tract infection and was put on some antibiotics to sort that out. Blood tests came back as "acceptable". The constant internal pressure is driving her a bit stir crazy as she is up every hour on the hour during the night and its not doing anyone any good.

Has anyone got tips of how to make life easier for her or something else we can take to the doctor and ask them to test for.

posted by rus to health & fitness (19 comments total)

Adult diapers?

Seriously there is a baby playing soccer with her bladder, I think its an acceptable solution.
posted by BobbyDigital at 8:06 AM on June 13, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Isn't it likely that the UTI is what's causing this and when the antibiotics clear it up, she won't feel like she has to pee every 15 minutes?

Pregnant or not, everyone with a UTI feels like they have to pee every 15 minutes. It goes away when the infection is treated.
posted by infinityjinx at 8:13 AM on June 13, 2007

if she has a UTI, cranberry juice often helps. Get the "pure" stuff - not cranberry cocktail which is 90% sugar water. Get the awful, bitter, ungodly sour undiluted stuff and dilute it with water.
posted by GuyZero at 8:24 AM on June 13, 2007

IANAD The baby puts pressure on the bladder, making it effectively smaller, and the pressure creates the "must pee" sensation, as well. There may also be pressure on the urethra, the tube that connects the bladder to the outside, and she may not be completely emptying the bladder.

She should learn to do Kegel exercises to strengthen the muscles that support the urinary tract, even after the baby arrives. She should really consciously empty the bladder as much as possible every time she pees. This helps avoid urinary tract infections. Daily cranberry juice really does help, as well as lots of water. Don't avoid drinking because of having to pee often.

Depends, or some other pads, will help her not worry so much about wetting her panties if she sneezes.
posted by theora55 at 8:24 AM on June 13, 2007

Seconding GuyZero: drink crap loads of cranberry juice.
posted by chunking express at 8:37 AM on June 13, 2007

Knudsen is the brand we get around here, but there are other brands that are the same thing.

It's unpaletable in concentrated form. But in a good way.
posted by GuyZero at 8:39 AM on June 13, 2007

Until the antibiotics get rid of the infection, certainly have her drink tons of the cranberry juice. Also, you can try AZO which provides some temporary relief from the pressure in addition to turning your pee a bright orange color.
posted by inconsequentialist at 8:53 AM on June 13, 2007

The UTI might be contributing, but here's the real problem. Put something baby sized in that uterus and you put a ton of pressure on the bladder. It becomes like a slightly larger continuation of the ureter tubes. No a good urine pouch anymore.

But what can you do? Kegels are going to help, but there just is not a whole lot space in the bladder anymore.
posted by bluenausea at 8:54 AM on June 13, 2007

Cranberry juice (I get the kind mixed with 100% other juices, NOT cocktail) and yogurt with live cultures (doesn't matter if the yogurt is flavored as long as it has live cultures). Every day, as often as you like, until the UTI clears out, and then every day after that for maintenance (a glass of cranberry and a cup of yogurt each day, at least) so it doesn't recur. Until the UTI resolves, try going commando as much as possible, wear only cotton underwear, and you can try a bit of Neosporin/polysporin around the urethral opening. Ice packs to the crotch can help get her mind off the gotta-pee feeling, and so can soaking in a lukewarm or cool tub of water.
posted by Melinika at 9:05 AM on June 13, 2007

I'm not sure cranberry juice does much for an established infection that's being treated. As a preventative, sure, but. And, yeah, ixnay the "cocktail" stuff. The concentrated pure juice is pretty good mixed with ginger ale, though.

Anyway, I am currently thirty-two weeks, and: if this is a problem beyond the UTI, I don't know that there's much to be done. However:

Pissing in a warm bath is nice when you have a UTI. It also tends to get a lot more pee out in one go.

Particularly if she keeps going to the toilet, wiping, and finding there's more to come out: wad up some toilet paper and apply gentle pressure to where she was going to wipe. Pee on toilet-papered gentle-pressuring hand. Wash hand. Wipe, repeating if necessary.

Given that it's 'pregnancy category B,' I would be on the phone asking my doctor for pyridium if the UTI was still in full flare. I think (?) it's OTC in the States. Wherever you are, ask a pharmacist.

It does help me to eat before bed; it seems I get a bit more sleep before having to get up if there's food in there as well as liquid.

If the toilet is not near the bed, now might be the time for a charming antique chamber pot.
posted by kmennie at 9:31 AM on June 13, 2007

Does she do Kegels? That might help control, at least.
posted by schroedinger at 10:02 AM on June 13, 2007

Affirming from upthread that the combination of UTI and 30 weeks into pregnancy seriously makes the sensation of urinating intense. Things that worked for me:

* cranberry pills because drinking cranberry cocktails is too much sugar

* adult or maternity pads; seriously some leakage will happen with sneezing and coughing so you want something that can handle that amount of liquid and the smell

* kegel exercises and if she needs help try these

Pregnancy wreaks havoc with those muscles and she is not alone with the leakage and need to urinate.
posted by jadepearl at 10:10 AM on June 13, 2007

Boy, unfortunately, she is just going to have to ride it out. From week 28 until my son was born, I had to wee all the damn time. I too, had (have) a weak teeny-weeny little old bladder, and I was annoyed by my constant need to take a pee break, even while sleeping. The advice I have is that she stop drinking liquids early on in the evening, in order to reduce the amount in her system, so that by the time she goes to bed, she will have less fluid to pass through her body. This, of course, after her UTI has cleared up. Until then, bring on the cranberry juice!
posted by msali at 10:43 AM on June 13, 2007

I had those symptoms while NOT pregnant (but three pregnancies in a row didn't help!)

Is she actually peeing or just feeling the urge? IF the latter, there is medication one can take for that but with her being pregnant that might not be an option. One other thing I did was drink a lot of water and try to hold my wee just a little bit longer each time, to stretch the bladder out. Obviously you'd do this at home, and not for LONG periods of time. What you are trying to do is break the vicious cycle of bladder spasming, not back up your kidneys!
posted by konolia at 11:24 AM on June 13, 2007

In my humble opinion this is nature's way to acclimate the mother to waking every few hours to tend to the needs of her new born baby.
posted by JujuB at 11:25 AM on June 13, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

This answer is based upon JujuB's deep insight (thank you for that thought, JujuB!), but I can't explain it any further than that at this time.

If your wife is willing to confine her eating to earlier in the day than she has been doing, and go to bed a little bit hungry, I think her bladder will interrupt her sleep less than it has been doing.
posted by jamjam at 12:58 PM on June 13, 2007

Here's a suggestion I learned in my prenatal yoga class that might help once her UTI has cleared up.

In the last 2 mo of pregnancy (especially if she is carrying low) one trick is, after urinating, while still sitting on the toilet, she can lift up/jiggle her uterus/belly with her hands and often this will reposition the fetus and bladder and release urine that was trapped in her bladder by the pressure of the fetus, hopefully allowing her an extra hour or so between urges.

The biggest problem is simply that the bladder is one of the first organs to compress when space becomes limited. Then the weight of the kiddo-to-be increases the pressure, and so on. Going more than 2 or so hours between bathroom breaks, especially if she's adequately hydrating is sadly unrealistic at this stage but I agree that 15 minutes is going to drive anyone crazy - hopefully that's just the UTI and clearing that up will help.
posted by rosebengal at 4:13 PM on June 13, 2007

AZO which provides some temporary relief from the pressure in addition to turning your pee a bright orange color.

Seconding AZO, just be sure to get doc's permission first.
posted by almostmanda at 7:38 PM on June 13, 2007

Seconding rosebengal on lifting the belly gently as she pees, especially toward the end. This helped me immensely in my last pregnancy!! -- the antibiotics will help the pressure to pee every 15 mins or so, but she'll still be going to the bathroom a lot.
posted by mdiskin at 4:51 PM on June 14, 2007