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Expectant Moms Revitalizing With Water
Plenty of H20 Is Good for Your Pregnancy
By Kim Seidel
Sheri Menelli was early in her second pregnancy this summer when she learned firsthand the importance of drinking enough water. "I wasn't keeping track of the water I was drinking, but I always had a glass with me and I figured I was doing fine with it," says Menelli, a hypnobirthing educator in Carlsbad, Calif.
At about 13 weeks along in her pregnancy, Menelli realized her lips were chapped, which was odd, considering she was living in a 70 percent humid area of California. She noted other symptoms: Her urine was dark yellow; she felt constantly exhausted and she was queasy all the time. One Sunday she needed three naps just to get through the day.
"I suddenly realized that I was dehydrated," Menelli says. "It wasn't just morning sickness causing these symptoms. I made a chart for the fridge to really track how much water I was taking in. I was shocked."
At that turning point, Menelli drank as much water as she could for the next few days. "I was only drinking 35 to 45 ounces when I pushed it," Menelli says. "I realized that I was probably only drinking 25 ounces the days before. After a few days I was finally able to take in 80 ounces a day."
Menelli happily noted the positive changes she experienced after she increased her water intake. "All of my morning sickness disappeared," she says. "I was no longer exhausted or queasy."
Fortunately for Menelli and her baby, she realized she was dehydrated before other dangers set in. "The most serious danger of dehydration in pregnancy is toxemia, which is life threatening to both mother and child," says Shoshanna Bennett, a psychologist specializing in pregnancy and the postpartum period and president of Postpartum Support International
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