If you're expecting, there can be a lot of benefits to having sex in those nine months as you wait for baby. In your first trimester, breasts and genitals are more sensitive and hormone swings are abundant, making for potentially serious horniness. Not to mention the fact that early in a pregnancy, it's easier to maneuver with a smaller stomach. But drawbacks to doing it in the first trimester may include just not feeling like it if morning sickness or exhaustion has taken over. Once you emerge from the first-trimester fog, many women find that all systems are go in the second semester. Again, your stomach isn't unwieldy yet, and with hormones on the increase, it's prime time for getting busy. Estrogen boosts blood flow and lubrication of the genitals, so sex may be more pleasurable than usual. Don't feel bad if desire wanes again in the third trimester, when you're back to feeling tired and gigantic to boot. However, if you're overdue, then doctors say the prostaglandins in sperm can help soften the cervix and speed things along, so there's a major benefit to sex in the home stretch.
With your burgeoning belly, it may be wise to explore different positions, like spooning, with the man behind you and your belly propped on pillows. If you like missionary, then try lying on the side of the bed with your butt at the end and feet resting on the edge of the bed. Your man can stand up and enter you that way in order to reduce pressure on the abdomen. Getting on top is an ideal way for you to control penetration and speed, so hop on if it's comfortable. Many partners worry about sex's effects on the fetus - but doctors say there really is no need, unless medically indicated. In cases of bed rest, placenta previa and other conditions, your doctor might have you swear off sex. But during healthy pregnancies, it's usually OK to do it throughout the entire nine months. And tell your man that no, he's not hitting the baby with his penis - a popular myth.
