Water Making Me Nauseous During Pregnancy, Why & What to Do?

Water is essential for our bodies, it’s vital to ensure your fluid intake is increased during pregnancy. Drinking enough water can be difficult especially if you are experiencing sickness as a symptom of your pregnancy. Vomiting after water can cause dehydration and lead to further complications. So Let’s find out why is water making me nauseous during pregnancy.

Why Is Water Making Me Nauseous During Pregnancy?

Can water make you nauseous when pregnant? Yes, it can.

The main reason for feeling nauseous or vomiting after drinking water is pregnancy sickness. Whether it’s the lack of taste, being overly full, or drinking on an empty stomach your body can expel everything, even water when pregnant. Dehydration becomes a worry if you can’t keep water down which needs direct medical attention.

Water Making Me Nauseous During my Pregnancy, Can It Get Worse?

From years of medical research, we are told that water is the best form of staying hydrated. When your body is hard at work creating new life you know that you have to keep on top of fluids and eating healthy balanced meals, yet pregnancy symptoms can get in the way of your ideal diet.

Drinking water makes me nauseous during pregnancy is a topic that many expectant moms have to handle. So what’s the deal? You’re trying to fuel your body with the very best nutrition yet as soon as it goes in it’s quite quickly rejected.

Why Does Water Make Me Nauseous While Pregnant?

Feeling nauseous is sometimes worse than vomiting. It can stay with you for hours and disturb your daily routine. Unfortunately for many moms, nausea is a symptom of pregnancy that is usually worse in the first trimester.

Even water can give you that sickening feeling. In my first pregnancy, I suffered from nauseating feelings for what felt like forever. Every meal, and every drink felt like I was ingesting some poison that my body was trying to warn me from. Fast forward to my second pregnancy and the nausea wasn’t as bad but who knew you could be sick through your nose cue the worst pregnancy sickness ever.

The sheer thought of drinking water was enough to trigger those unfortunate symptoms. Meanwhile, like you, I knew that my water intake was important.

Drinking water in pregnancy is a must but here are some reasons why you may become overwhelmed with nausea or vomiting.

The Taste

Hormonal changes play a huge part in how sensitive you are to foods and liquids you enjoyed prior to pregnancy. Have you noticed the horrid taste in your mouth? Thanks to estrogen your mouth is now producing more saliva which has changed in acidity. This can leave a really bad taste in your mouth, medically known as Dysgeusia.

Water has no taste, it’s plain and pure which in turn can cause this metallic taste to worsen. Even sipping water can be enough to turn your stomach.

Being Overly Full

As you progress through pregnancy your baby puts pressure on your internal organs including your stomach. Eating large meals and washing it down with a large glass of water can be enough to induce nausea or vomiting.

Your stomach cannot cope with large quantities at present and without realizing it chugging down water afterward may push your stomach too far.

Hunger

Before being pregnant I used to practice curbing my hunger by drinking water. Most of the time this worked perfectly as confusing hunger with a thirst can be a real issue.

Being pregnant, your body needs more fuel often, so when I tried my thirst technique during my pregnancy I realized that the nauseating feeling became overwhelming very quickly.

Filling your stomach with water when it’s empty can cause vomiting. This is because acid tends to build up in your empty tummy and as soon as your stomach acids mix with water you may suffer from reflux. Think of it as your body shouting ‘feed me.’

You may notice that you spend most of your pregnant days eating and that’s okay. Eating small and often can help curb the hunger monster and prevent the acid build up in your tummy.

Dehydration Danger

The most obvious worry over not keeping water down is of course dehydration.

Suffering from morning sickness increases the risk of dehydration so preventing anything that turns you green is probably for the best, but when this thing is water how can you make sure you’re getting enough fluids?

Around 8 – 9 glasses of water should be consumed a day in pregnancy which may be enough to send chills down your spine if it’s making you nauseous. Avoiding water isn’t an option. Your body and baby need extra fluids to help develop and grow.

The American Pregnancy Association advises that not keeping on top of your fluids can cause birth defects, premature labor, and low amniotic fluid. Not to mention how it helps your body.

Fluids like water can promote your heart to circulate oxygenated blood around your body. It’s already doing so much, so help your body out by keeping hydrated.

Seeking advice

For some women, it’s not that they are avoiding water due to the feeling of nausea or vomiting but it can be physically impossible to keep fluids down at all.

Hypermedia Gravidarum is a severe case of pregnancy sickness where extreme vomiting causes deficiency in vital nutrients and minerals, not to mention the risk of dehydration is imminent. If you find that even a sip of water is unleashing a hurl you may need medical attention. If your doctor is concerned then you will need an IV drip to restore fluids into your body.

How To Control Nausea During Pregnancy

If water alone is causing the churning in your tummy then there are alternative ways to ensure you’re still getting fluids without the horrendous hormonal nausea taking hold.

Sipping water – small but frequent sips may be enough not to overwhelm your stomach.

Drink throughout mealtimes – taking regular sips during your meal can help you identify when you are full.

Infuse water – infusing your water with fruit like strawberries, lemon, or cucumber. It can mask the bad taste in your mouth leaving you feeling refreshed.

Herbal Tea – many herbal teas are safe to use in pregnancy and can give you the benefit of hydrating without caffeine. Ginger tea is known to calm nausea.

Coconut water – enhances electrolytes lost after vomiting but take note of the amount of sugar included.

Water based fruits – watermelon, orange, strawberries, tomatoes, peach, and cucumbers are some of the fruits and vegetables that have a high water content. They will replace electrolytes and fluids.

Wrapping Up

To be fair the question, why is water making me nauseous during pregnancy? Is totally dependent on you and your pregnancy. If you are suffering from nausea and/or vomiting then you already know that you could be at risk of dehydration.

If you are concerned about symptoms of dehydration speak to your doctor.

I feel your angst when it comes to feeling nauseous over water, it doesn’t feel that long ago I was once in your shoes. Give the alternative fluids a go. Water doesn’t have to be boring or a chore to drink. Treating yourself to some flavorsome mixes and remembering little sips often is key. Including water-based foods in your diet will help replace lost electrolytes.

The nausea will ease as your pregnancy progresses and you will soon be bursting with hydration in no time.