Don’t be fooled by the term "Morning" sickness. Morning, afternoon, night, work meetings, car rides, you name it - nothing is sacred to this sneaky bastard.
Sometimes it can last for hours, sometimes it comes and goes. Click the title of this entry “Morning Sickness - not just for the morning” above, or “Read more” below for more information about morning sickness, as well as some remedies and tricks I’ve learned in dealing with one of my least favorite pregnancy side effects. |
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Morning Sickness
- Bland foods, carbs, and cold dairy-free treats were my best friend when I was plagued by the morning sickness beast. Saltine crackers, bagels, toast, Jello, ice pops, Italian ice, ginger ale, and almonds were some of the few things not rejected by my mouth, nose, and belly. Personally, at this point in your pregnancy, I think it's more important to worry about getting something down, than to worry about what you're getting down. Obviously, you want to try to maintain a somewhat healthy diet, but if you're not getting anything at all, you're not doing anyone any good. You should try be careful about your sugar intake, however, do be sure to stay away from sugar-free anything, the “fake sugar” or sugar substitutes, have been known to be extremely unhealthy for both mother and baby.
- When you wake up, sit up slowly (I know, that can be hard to do when you have to pee so badly you feel like your eyes will burst) and stay in your bed for a minute or two, then slowly stand up. I actually kept saltine crackers by my bed and ate them before my feet ever touched the floor. Eating something at that point is probably the furthest thing from your mind, but sometimes it can help absorb some of the "yucky" stuff in your stomach making you feel sick.
- In the beginning I would avoid eating for as long as I could, or I would end up eating a bunch of whatever it was that I could stand, so that it would “hold me over” so I wouldn’t have to do it again for a long time. Not a good idea. Try eating multiple small meals throughout the day. Feeling hungry, and feeling too full can actually make morning sickness worse.
- If it doesn't smell appealing, stay away from it. Also try to stay away from spicy, greasy and fatty foods that may further upset your stomach.
- Personally, I never tried this one, but some women use acupressure wristbands to help with their nausea.
- Vitamin B6 has been shown to help alleviate some nausea in pregnant women. (25 mg 3x daily)
Everything is different for each woman, and each pregnancy, however, most of the time morning sickness subsides either near the end of the first trimester, or the beginning of the second.