The Root-e-Toots

As a rule, I try to avoid TMI (Too Much Information) on the Internet. But this is kind of a public service announcement, so today I am going to talk about gas. And no, not the kind you put in your car or use in your stove to boil water.

Pregnant women get gassy, or so I hear. And I have this really good friend who is at the exact same point in her pregnancy as I am, and she says that she's been waking up every single morning for a week now with some seriously painful trapped wind. In fact, on more than one occasion she has talked herself into thinking she's experiencing preterm labor (she's totally paranoid and worried, just like me.) Let it hereby be known that sometimes, an intestinal cramp is just an intestinal cramp. How might you tell the difference? Well, um, give it a few minutes... try walking around a little bit... the answer will probably become embarrassingly clear.

The second thing this very good friend has told me about gas and pregnancy is that there are times that you might feel a lot of activity in your belly - the type of activity you would ordinarily associate with an impending unpleasant gastric event, and which would get you searching for the nearest private bathroom. However, don't let your brain trick you here: it might just be the baby moving around. Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle doesn't automatically mean what it used to, so relax. And stop looking up so many stories about preterm labor! After all, Jessica Simpson had a lot of pregnancy gas, and she turned out okay.