5/23/11

This morning I was woken up by a terrible case of heartburn. I don't get heartburn very often and if I do it's usually from white onions. I can't eat onions at all right now because they make me sick, so I know that wasn't the cause of my discomfort. 

It was just after 2am which is miserable because my alarm doesn't go off until 3:30 (and I usually hit snooze a few times) I woke up with a horrible burning pain in my chest. I remember reading that laying on a couple more pillows can help ease heartburn so I did that and no luck. I also remember hearing that milk can help so after a while I poured myself a big glass of milk and sat on the couch for a while. It seemed to help a little, but I'm still dealin with it today. 

I wasn't sure what kinds of antacids I could take considering some brands contain aluminum and some contain asprin. I talked to some friends and people in the office and found out that Tums is the way to go, but one of my friends said that Tums didn't work for her at all so her doctor had to prescribe her something for the heartburn.

Because of my misery I had to do some research to find out what causes heartburn. Of course the old wives tale says you'll have heartburn if the baby has hair, but I don't recall there being a Montgomery baby in history born with hair. Through my research I found that a hormone produced by the placenta relaxes the valve between the stomach and the esophagus allowing stomach acid to seep back up the esophagus. AKA acid reflux. 

I also read that this will likely continue for the duration of my pregnancy. Which is not something I'm looking forward to. I will by buying a big bottle of Tums on my way home today.

Did you suffer from heartburn? How did you deal with it?