Emotional reactions to pregnancy varies. Often the sexual appetite is increased. Sometimes it wanes.
With uncertainty, many partners worry about the effects of sexual activity on the pregnancy. Open communication between both partners is important to maintain sexual desires and needs during the course of pregnancy.
You may find that you want to have sex much more frequently than you did before you became pregnant. Or perhaps you wish to avoid intercourse all together. If so, limit yourself to stroking, massage and perhaps sexual stimulation.
During the first trimester, the physical changes that your body is going through may mean that you find sex physically repulsive. But this is likely to change during the second and third trimesters.
No results found. Click here for amazon.com
Many women say they have increased sexual desire during these later months, often wanting sex more frequently than they did before their pregnancy. This increase in desire is due to the increase in sex hormones, which have been streaming through your body since conception. They are the same hormones that are responsible for your radiant complexion and shiny hair.
The sexual experience may be different and more exciting for you as well. Your body's blood volume will double throughout the course of your pregnancy, and much of this increase is in the pelvic region. Increased blood volume increases genital sensitivity and sexual arousal.
Your partner's reaction to your pregnancy may be one of excitement or fear. Often men experience both reactions during pregnancy, finding their partner especially attractive, and yet experience fear of hurting the unborn baby.
But don't let these fears get in the way of your emotions. There is no physiological reason why you shouldn't have sex during pregnancy. In fact, intercourse may be beneficial, preparing you for labor by strengthening the pelvic floor muscles. By the time you reach the second trimester you will probably begin to enjoy sex once again. Now you are learning more about how your body works. Understanding your uterus, vagina and how they become sensitive and responsive during intercourse will allow you to experience sex in a way that you may not have before. In fact, many women experience orgasm for the first time during pregnancy. Such emotional freedom will allow you to experience sex in a way you never have done before.
As your pregnancy progresses and you enter the later months, you may find yourself feeling guilty about having sex. Those feelings may include guilt about hurting the baby. These are fears most expectant parents experience. Your baby is safe. The amniotic fluid in which it lives protects your baby, and the entrance to the cervix is sealed with a mucus plug to prevent infection.
No results found. Click here for amazon.com
If you still feel uncomfortable, you and your partner should talk to your doctor about sex. If you don't want to talk about sex in front of your doctor, you should discuss your emotions with your partner.
After intercourse you may feel the uterus contracting for several minutes before it dies down. This is a normal part of the female orgasm, and you do not need to worry that intercourse will send you into labor unless you were about to go into labor anyway.
The uterus is a hollow muscle, which begins contractions from time of your first period and continues until you reach menopause. During your pregnancy, you may feel Braxton-Hicks contractions, sometimes called false labor, which prepare your uterus for delivery.
You should avoid having sex if during a previous pregnancy you went into premature labor. If you notice blood spotting or if the mucus plug is gone, you should also avoid intercourse.
The mucus plug protects the uterus from infection. If its been disturbed, which can happen any time during the last five weeks of your pregnancy, it is unwise to continue having sex.
No results found. Click here for amazon.com
