Requested Research - Early Pregnancy

Physical effects and and symptoms of early pregnancy, with some possible character choices.

SOME PLAYABLE ACTING CHOICES

• Because of the pressure on excretory organs and the presence of nausea, it’s conceivable that a busy woman might avoid eating and drinking so she’ll have to use the restroom less and has nothing to vomit if her nausea is triggered.

• Activity is encouraged to keep the body healthy and mobile during the first trimester, so it’s unlikely that too much movement at this point of the pregnancy is causing many problems for Ruth. But prolonged standing or heavy lifting can significantly increase the chances of miscarriage (likely due to the physical strain of gravity and the disrupted blood flow to the fetus). Ruth may or may not know that and may situate her work in a way that makes her body less hospitable to a fetus.

• Your heart is working significantly harder than normal. Blood is in high demand which means that, sometimes, it has a hard time getting oxygen to every part of your body – brain, lungs, limbs, etc.

Heart rate is elevated

Blood pressure can be very easily elevated

Lightheadedness (from either hormonal changes or your blood being re-directed to the uterus and placenta)

Physical exhaustion and swelling because of the disrupted blood flow.

Difficulty breathing

• Spontaneous miscarriages have a strong link with elevated cortisol levels (the “stress hormone”). Women with prolonged and heightened cortisol levels are at greater risk of losing the pregnancy. It’s possible, then, that the physically traumatic events in the play are reactions to a fetus that may be on the verge of being miscarried because of the cortisol levels. In a word, the stress could be killing the fetus, and the fetus is fighting back.

POSSIBLE SOURCES BEHIND THE FAINTING AND PANIC ATTACK

- Unusually high hormone levels

- Elevated heart right and vascular strain (blood is being pulled from everywhere in the body to support the uterus and placenta)

- Spiked cortisol could be endangering the fetus and the body could be working against itself to retain the pregnancy

- Actively avoiding food and drink due to nausea and excretory functions (or vomiting from nausea itself) is tanking her blood sugar, which is already low from other pregnancy effects.

TRAITS OF PREGNANCY TO LOOK INTO (for fun?)

• Minimal weight is gained during the first trimester (2-5 lbs), but weight can even be lost depending on the severity of morning sickness. This is not uncommon and is only a medically addressed, really, when more than 5% of the pre-pregnancy body weight is lost.

• Hormonal changes or lowered blood sugar may be the cause of most morning sicknesses. Many believe that strong morning sickness is the sign of a healthy pregnancy, because it means that the necessary hormone climb is taking place.

• Often triggered by smells, no matter how familiar, because of a sudden hormonal aversion to nearly arbitrary scents. Snacking or sipping liquids often helps curb this nausea

• The biggest hormonal shifts are happening during the first trimester in order to build the environment for the pregnancy, leading to the most significant shifts in mood or disposition. During one pregnancy, you will produce more estrogen than you would for the entirety of your non-pregnant life).

• Sore and Enlarged Breasts

• Frequent urination (expanding placenta and uterus start pressing on your bladder long before the fetus does. Same for constipation and other excretory organs, along with hormones that slow the digestive process.

• Acne and other skin changes

• Heartburn, from hormones relaxing your esophogous and allowing for acid to travel to places where it shouldn’t.

POSSIBLE RUTH-SPECIFIC TRAITS

• Women who work with their hands are likely to develop carpal tunnel later in pregnancy because of fluid buildup, but this can start earlier in the pregnancy.

• Vitamin D deficiency and the associated depression/fetal developmental risks (which is more common in those with darker skin and/or those who work long hours indoors and/or do not have access to nutritionally dense foods)

• Hypertension (caused by stress, in this case, and exacerbated by pregnancy).

• Black women and women who experience exceptional amounts of stress are also at higher risk for preeclampsia, which can cause, among other things, stroke and seizures.

• Exposure to harsh chemicals (like those that domestic workers, like cleaners, interact with) could cause a range of reactions from headaches to lightheadedness to rashes (new hormonal reactions) to miscarriage.

• Abdominal pain due to fibroid tumors (noncancerous masses of tissue that grow on the wall of the uterus, which aren’t always disastrous to a pregnancy, but are more common with Black women).

• Blurry vision and clamminess - We can infer that these are due to a change in blood flow, but these symptoms only really stood out when I searched for symptoms more frequently experienced by Black women.