How much are you supposed to drink in a day? Its really hard for me to drink more than 2 regular sized water bottles (poland spring, for example) while Im at work because I don't have time to keep running to the bathroom.
Can anything bad happen if I don't drink enough water?
Can not drinking enough water cause headaches?
Thanks for any input :-)
Re: drinking water
you really should be drinking 100-ounces+/day. i am not saying this to be snarky at all, but your health and your babies' health are waaaay more important than work. i know it's annoying to constantly get up, but your body is going through a lot and you need to stay hydrated. you can get headaches and dehydration can cause contractions. if you have dr. luke's book, she discusses the need for being very well hydrated and why it's so important.
i was drinking about a gallon of water a day, and there were 2 occasions that i was having BH (early on, like weeks 24 and 26 or something), went to triage, and they said i was dehydrated and i received IVs of fluid. after having a gallon of water, plus other fluids like milk and gatorade. point being - you need to stay hydrated, drink more than you think you need to.
It took me a while to get up to what I needed-but I also wound up in Pre-term Labor as well, so I wouldn't suggest following my example.
I would start with 16 oz as soon as I woke up, and then would do 16 oz for lunch, 16 for dinner, and 16 around 8.
I couldn't drink just water- I mixed mine with lemonade or raspberry lemonade. It was still good for me, and it made it a lot easier to drink the amount that I needed.
Your body will adapt to drinking more-the first couple of days you may see that you are going to the bathroom a lot, but it will change.
Also, it's important that you are watching the color of your urine-that's the biggest indicator about how you are doing. The darker it is, the more dehydrated you are.
Not drinking enough water can (according to my OB) lead to issues with low amniotic fluid level, exacerbate issues with low blood pressure, cause dizziness and (obviously) dehydration. HORRIBLE headaches.
He has me drinking a gallon a day right now. He said to plan to increase that to 1.5 gallons in my 3rd trimester.
I think you're not doing yourself any favors by not drinking enough water. I hope this doesn't come across as preachy because it isn't meant to be, but I think you need to make the time to drink water and go to the bathroom. Your babies are worth it.