Avoiding dehydration during these hot summer months

 We have officially reached the dog days of summer! It's hot, really hot, and it is too easy to get dehydrated. Dehydration can be lead to headache, nausea and vomiting, dizziness, fatigue, preterm labor scares, and a lot of extra Braxton-Hicks contractions.

For this reason I recommend you make a concerted effort to increase your fluid intake every day, but especially if your summer plans take you outdoors to work in the garden or hike at the state park.

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What should I drink?

Consider the following:

• Water
• Pregnancy Tea: you might enjoy your pregnancy tea or raspberry leaf tea iced this of year. If you haven't received a bag of pregnancy tea from me yet, hit me up at your next prenatal!
• Coconut water (which naturally contains electrolytes)
• Smart Water (vapor distilled water with added electrolytes)
• Gatorade (the organic version is made with cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup)

Generally, we want you to consume caffeine or sugar in moderation, but at times the benefits of the added electrolytes in Gatorade will outweigh the added sugar.

Also, we recommend having a few options from the list above, as well as juice if you like it, for labor as we want to be sure you have added fluid replacement for the work of labor. We don't believe in withholding food or drink in labor anymore than we would withhold from someone training for or running a marathon!



This post is to be used for informational purposes only and do not constitute medical advice; the content is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.  Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.