Green Poop Symptoms During Early Pregnancy Period
When you are pregnant, your body produces hormones called human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) and human placental lactogen (hPL). These two hormones cause changes in the lining of your uterus. Changes include increased blood flow to the area, which causes fluid retention. Your cervix may become larger due to these hormone changes. Other symptoms of pregnancy include nausea, vomiting, cramping pains and fatigue.
The color of your urine may change during pregnancy period. A few women experience a dark brown or black colored urine. Some women have no visible changes in their urine color while others notice a darker yellowish/brownish colored urine. Women with red blood cells usually do not see any significant changes in their blood cell count. However, some women may develop small amounts of clots in the veins of their legs and feet, which could lead to pain and swelling.
If you have any of these symptoms, contact your doctor immediately. If you experience any of these symptoms, consult a physician right away if possible.
Your doctor will most likely order you to be on bed rest during your third trimester.
Green Poop While Pregnant: What Are The Causes And Risk Factors?
Your body already contains a certain amount of bile (a substance that helps with digestion) in the gallbladder. This is normally released into your small intestine when you eat a fatty meal. When you’re pregnant, your body must release extra bile into the small intestine. The hormone hCG stimulates the production of extra bile. This may be the reason why some women see green poop during pregnancy. The increased bile in your intestines causes green poop.
When you’re pregnant, hCG also causes the lining of the uterus to thicken. The increased blood flow brings more oxygen and nutrients to the uterus. The placenta (which is attached to the inside of the uterus) also grows. All these growths contribute to more vaginal bleeding during pregnancy. The increased blood flow also causes dark, tarry stools.
Green Poop and Morning Sickness
Some women experience nausea and vomiting during the first few months of pregnancy. This condition is called morning sickness and many pregnant women experience this at some point during their term. Morning sickness can occur at any time of the day. If you have vomiting, diarrhea or a combination of both, you may notice green poop. The bile in your intestines reacts with the acid and this causes green poop.
Green Poop During First Trimester
Most women do not start having morning sickness until the first trimester is over. This does not always happen. Some women have nausea and vomiting during the first 2-3 weeks after conception. Occasionally, some women experience no morning sickness at all during early pregnancy. Other women suffer from constant or frequent nausea and vomiting.
This can lead to dehydration and malnutrition.
Green Poop During Second And Third Trimesters
Your body does not usually release any hormones that cause green poop during these trimesters. The only time you may experience green poop is if you have severe morning sickness during the second and third trimesters.
Pregnancy is a beautiful and wonderful time in the lives of expectant mothers. However, it is a demanding time for your body too. Changes in your hormone levels can cause strange symptoms and changes in your body.
Even if you haven’t had green poop during pregnancy, you may have found several other strange symptoms. You may have even had a combination of symptoms such as nausea and vomiting and diarrhea. If you have any of these symptoms, don’t panic. Talk to your doctor and rest as much as possible.
Green Poop And Pregnancy: How To Deal With It?
If you have a severe case of morning sickness that leads to malnutrition and dehydration, your doctor may order IV (intravenous) fluid treatment.
You may need to take medication to control vomiting and nausea. Your obstetrician will most likely prescribe medication to relieve diarrhea too. It is important that you take these medications as directed.
To prevent dehydration, make sure you drink plenty of water or a sports drink every day. Sports drinks have more electrolytes and they help with potassium and sodium replacement. These are essential for overall health and well-being.
Drinking a lot of water or a sports drink will not cause green poop. However, you should try to eat small amounts of food often. Eating six small meals a day instead of three large meals a day can help you from getting green poop.
Some women experience green poop from drinking mountain dew or other citrus drinks. These sodas and drinks have a lot of acid that can cause stomach problems.
Green poop can be alarming at first, but if you are pregnant and experiencing this side effect, you shouldn’t worry too much about it. If the green poop is excessive or persists for several days, contact your doctor immediately.
Poop is part of life. Even if you are not pregnant, you will have green poop for several reasons. Eating certain foods can cause green poop. Small amounts of bile in your intestines create this effect. If you eat a lot of leafy vegetables or take supplements, the greens may turn your poop a dark green color.
It is more alarming when the poop is green and you are pregnant. In most cases, the green poop is temporary and caused by your changing hormones during pregnancy. As long as you drink plenty of water and eat small meals, your obstetrician may not need to treat you for it. If you do experience green poop during pregnancy, try not to worry too much about it.
Green poop is common during pregnancy. Don’t freak out. With this information you should feel more at ease about green colored poop. Everyone has experienced it at one time or another. Even if it is due to something else, there is no need to panic.
Most of the time green colored poop is a sign that your body cannot digest certain foods in your diet. It could also be due to eating a large amount of leafy vegetables or something similar.
Sources & references used in this article:
Health promotion: planning and strategies by K Tones, J Green – 2004 – books.google.com
Philanthrocapitalism: How giving can save the world by JA Duke – 2002 – Macmillan
The green pharmacy: New discoveries in herbal remedies for common diseases and conditions from the world’s foremost authority on healing herbs by M Bishop, M Green – 2010 – books.google.com
Letter to a genetic counselor by JA Duke – 1997 – books.google.com
The girlfriends’ guide to pregnancy by R Green – Journal of Genetic Counseling, 1992 – Springer
Suffering and bioethics by D Mitchell – 2007 – Random House Trade Paperbacks
