Aching back, that awkward, uncomfortable feeling, morning sickness. Theses are not exactly symptoms to make a woman feel sexy and desirable. Yet it's important that you and your spouse remain intimate during your pregnancy. (Notice that I didn't say you had to have sex.) Thankfully there are many ways to remain close as a couple, no matter the circumstances.

Assuming you have a loving relationship, what's with the sudden loss of sex drive with pregnancy? It seems logical that this happy time would bring you closer together, but your hormones may actually work against this.

"Women go through a wide range of hormonal changes during pregnancy and for some lucky couples this can actually cause their sex lives to become even hotter," says Patty Brisben, intimacy expert and CEO and founder of www.PureRomance. "However, this isn't always the case with everyone; many find that the fluctuation in hormones actually creates a negative effect on their intimate life."

Since hormone levels vary with each trimester, your desire for sex may be nonexistent sometimes, while other times you're more in the mood. "For my first pregnancy, the 'sex slump' happened during the first and third trimesters," says Sue* of Cedar Rapids, Iowa. "The morning sickness and probably all of the changing hormones were throwing my body and brain for a loop. I was just really nauseous and definitely not in the mood."

Sun Kim of Shasta, Calif., had a similar experience. "These phases went on and off throughout a lot of the pregnancy," she says. "In the first trimester [it is] with the bodily adjustments, morning sickness and fatigue. When the energy picks up in the second trimester, a lot of attention has to go toward all of those things that were neglected during the lethargy of the first (work, home, other kids)." Then comes the third trimester, when your size may make sex uncomfortable or impossible.

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