I always thought pregnancy would bring on a lovely glow, give me new understanding of life, and a strong sense of purpose and focus. I was right. Unfortunately, I never realized my glow would be from the sheen of post-vomit sweat, my heightened understanding would be of nausea triggers and the insides of many a toilet, and my sense of purpose would be trying to get through each day without losing my cookies in front of anyone. The joys of morning sickness, anyone?
I knew morning sickness generally kicked in somewhere around 6 weeks, so I was a little dismayed when I started getting queasy the week of our BFP. In hindsight, I know this was probably a result of the elevated preggie hormones thanks to having two growing babies inside me. By the beginning of Week 5, I had already tossed my cookies a few times and was having all-day queasiness every, single day. It has been a very loooong first trimester.
I got a prescription for Zofran (an anti-vomiting med that is safe for pregnancy) early on, but from Weeks 7-10, the prescription didn’t even touch my morning sickness. I was a sick little mommmy-to-bee and trying to work during that time was absolutely miserable. All I wanted to do was curl up in the fetal position in my bed with a trash can handy. Alas, life must go on.
At 12 weeks, 2 days, I feel like I can say there is finally a light at the end of the tunnel. The last week and a half has been a comparative walk in the park. I haven’t even taken Zofran a couple days, but more importantly, when I do take it, it actually works! Having come through what is hopefully the worst of the sickness, I’m ready to share my tips for surviving if you’re one of the unlucky ones that gets morning sickness.
– “It’s temporary and for good cause.” My cousin’s wife told me this, and it became my mantra that I would repeat over and over. Sometimes, you really just need the reminder that this will eventually end!
– Unisom & B6. This made me feel more human again, but then the nurse at my doctor’s office said Unisom wasn’t on her “safe list,” though she said that didn’t mean it wasn’t safe. Huh?!? It is a Class B drug, and many doctors do approve its use for pregnant women, but to varying degrees. My advice on this one is it is definitely worth asking your doctor about. Many Hellobee users have used it with the approval if their doctors and have perfect, lovely LOs. Even though I felt pretty confident that it was safe, I felt guilty taking something that wasn’t specifically approved by my OBGYN practice. So, I regretfully stopped taking it.
– Prescriptions. If you are throwing up very often, talk to your doctor. As a first-time mom, I was really nervous about taking anything, but my doctor helped me realize that if I wasn’t keeping anything down that it was bad for the babies and for me. There are several different anti-nausea/vomiting prescriptions that are safe for expectant mothers and will help you to enjoy your pregnancy much more! If they don’t work all the time, don’t give up on them; they may be doing more than you think. I didn’t take anything one day because I decided it wasn’t working, and I proceeded to throw up every time I even drank water. I lasted three hours before I popped that sweet little pill and never looked back.
– Snacks! As backwards as it may seem, one of my most effective tactics has been to keep a plethora of food handy at all times. My car and purse always have saltines in them. One of my desk drawers is filled with the following: a variety of nuts, dried fruit, animal crackers, saltines, a bag of Cheerios, and a Butterfinger. When I feel a wave of nausea, I pop open my drawer to see what sounded like I could keep it down. I try to eat the fruits and nuts as often as possible to be a bit healthier, but sometimes carbs are the only thing I can stomach. Experiment and see what snacks work the best for you and keep a variety readily available.
– Don’t eat too much in one sitting. While it’s important to not get too hungry, getting too full may have the same effect. It’s so tempting to load up when something tastes good and is actually setting well, but I’ve found my nausea does not tolerate a glutton well. Eating small meals/snacks often seems to be the best way to get some nutrition and not get sick.
– Fluids. Sip, don’t guzzle! If I drink too much at one time, I’m almost guaranteed to get sick. You need water, so just sip, sip, sip throughout the day. In the midst of my worst morning sickness, my doctor was concerned about dehydration and told me to buy some Gatorade, Powerade, Pedialyte, etc., pour it over ice, which for some reason tends to quell nausea, and just take 2-3 sips every thirty minutes. This will help keep you from getting a little hospital stay due to dehydration, which none of us want. Also, I love red Gatorade, so it was an extra special treat for me.
– Carry bags with you and keep one in the car. A ziplock bag is my favorite, but a grocery sack, etc. will work in a pinch. Unfortunately, I’ve been on the freeway or far away from a restroom or trashcan a few times when I got sick, and I was sooo thankful for my stash of sacks. It keeps you from getting sick all over your car, etc., but provides an easy method for getting rid of the evidence. If you are getting sick much or feel particularly queasy, I recommend keeping said sack on your lap while you drive, just in case. Of course, you should pull over as soon as possible, but it’s certainly safer to have the bag readily available than to be digging in your purse or car while you try to get to the shoulder of the road, vomit, and locate a bag simultaneously.
Recognizing that everyone is different and will have different reactions to things, here is what did not work for me:
– All the morning sickness or ginger teas. These usually made me get sick, rather than making my nausea subside. I attribute it to drinking a lot of liquid in a short period of time, but none-the-less, I stopped trying the teas rather quickly.
– Preggie Pops. These worked okay if I only was slightly queasy, so if you are having mild morning sickness, they might be more beneficial. I didn’t think these were worth the cost since they didn’t help me very often.
–Whole-grain anything. I pretty much only eat whole grain/whole wheat carbs, but these made me sick every time. I’m really not sure why this was the case, but my theory is that it was because they required my stomach to do a little more processing and it just wasn’t up to it.
Experiment and see what works for you. Know that the same thing may make you sick the next day, so be prepared to change it up. Most of all, remember that this too shall pass, and even though that little baby may not feel real yet, it will be worth it a million times over. At least, that’s what I tell myself!
Did you have morning sickness? What worked or didn’t work for you?
Morning Sickness Treatments part 1 of 2
1. Surviving Morning Sickness by Mrs. Blue2. Nausea Treatments by Mrs. Bee
blogger / persimmon / 1220 posts
Preggie pops! Those things actually worked wonders for me. I didn’t even know they existed until a friend purchased them for me (after watching me run to many restaurant bathrooms in the middle of a meal). They’re so tasty too!
I found snacks really helped me too. Sometimes I would even eat some crackers before bedtime, so I wouldn’t be too hungry when I woke up.
I had terrible morning sickness for the until about the 16-17 week mark. I didn’t have it as bad as some of my friends (who literally threw up all day long), but I through up at least once every night. My “morning sickness” always hit me in the evening hours, which in a way was not a bad thing because at work I was completely fine, and it wasn’t until I got home when I started feeling nauseated (but the nausea generally lasted from about 6 PM – 11 PM every single night).
blogger / pear / 1964 posts
Love the new icon!
My go-to remedy was a bag of peanut m&ms. As long as I was chewing, I didn’t feel sick. An m&m every couple of minutes got me through the worst bouts (though it didn’t do much to help my thighs…)
blogger / nectarine / 2010 posts
Cold, cold, cold water. I could not drink anything unless it was ice cold. Just a sip of room temp water had me running (waddling? it lasted the entire time) for the toilet.
I also found that I couldn’t eat sweets – ice cream was the worst, it made me so ill.
blogger / nectarine / 2010 posts
I love the new icon too
admin / watermelon / 14210 posts
i couldn’t have survived without vitamin b6 + unisom moreso for my insomnia, but it also greatly helped with the nausea. my ob was fine with me using it.
GOLD / pear / 1845 posts
I was on dyclectin, which is a b6 and some kind of antihistamine. It’s the standard perscription for morning sickness in canada. I was still really sick but only threw up a couple times a week instead of a coue times a day. I was sick right to the end, both times. My go to breakfast was apple slices with nut butter.
blogger / eggplant / 11551 posts
i didn’t have any morning sickness with my first pregnancy, so i was really surprised to experience it with my 2nd. my morning sickness wasn’t too severe (no vomiting) – i was just nauseous all the time and couldn’t stomach anything except simple carbs (i ate pretty much only noodles and soup for the first 12 weeks). i also found that if i ate i’d get sick, but if i waited til i was too hungry i’d get really sick too… such a fine balance, so the little snacks definitely helped.
@mrs. stroller – any sweets made me sick too!
apricot / 391 posts
My husband’s Aunt had four little ones who all had car sickness and she gave me a tip that expands on keeping the throw-up sacks handy. She said she’d put a ziploc inside another ziploc, with the inner one lined with a paper towel. The paper towel would keep some of the splash contained and also make sure you don’t have to look at the contents of your stomach before you find a trash can! The double-bag guarded against leaks.
apricot / 426 posts
I am lucky that I never actually vomited, but I def felt queasy in my first tri. I swore by real dried ginger. I munched on it (it’s pretty strong, but better than queasiness and has a sugar coating to make it more tolerable) or dropped in hot water to make my own tea. I didn’t find the store-bought pre- concocted ginger teas worked either — but real ginger took away my symptoms almost immediately. I also ate snacks to alleviate the sickness. M/S went away quite suddenly at about week 14.
wonderful olive / 19353 posts
When I finally do get KU, I am NOT looking forward to being sick all day. No bueno! As you mentioned, it’s temporary and for a good cause. I’ll have to keep that in mind in the future!
honeydew / 7916 posts
@Mrs. Superhero: I think Diclectin is actually Unisom + B6 in prescription form!
coffee bean / 29 posts
I don’t just get morning sickness I get HG (Hyperemesis gravidarum) which is morning sickness on steriods. My 1st pregnancy was’t too bad, I did lose weight but I didn’t have to be medicated (the baby was a boy).
My 2nd pregnancy was the worst of the 3. I got very dehydrated & had to be hospitalized twice. It was 2004 and zofran was new and my insurance wouldn’t cover it till I had been in the hospital. My body couldn’t keep down just the pills, so I ended up with a home heath care nurse, with continuous IV therapy to have the zofran injected and eventually a PICC line because my IV’s would hold more than 24 hours. Even that didn’t stop me from throwing up & losing weigh so with my 2nd hospital stay they placed an NG feeding tube. The feeding tube allowed my weight to remain steady and finally at 24 weeks it was removed.
I waited 7 years to get pregnant the 3rd time LOL. The minute I was nauseous my midwife put me on a combo of zofran & phenergan that I alternated around the clock. I still lost weight but at least I wasn’t throwing up constantly and I was never put in the hospital. My liquid of choice was VERY cold sweet iced tea.
Your list is great – but those won’t work for true HG. And I would add having more protein than carbs. I hated the smell of any meat but when I ate it I didn’t feel as weak.
pomelo / 5298 posts
Zofran was my go to. I also kept crackers (saltines or ritz) on my nightstand. I would usually have one or two at night before bed. And if I felt bad in the morning, I ate a few before getting out of bed.
I also ate snacks religiously throughout the day.
blogger / persimmon / 1220 posts
That should say THREW UP (not through up). I still have mommy brain! Will that ever go away?
P.S. I also love the new icon!
hostess / wonderful persimmon / 25556 posts
Oh, I never found anything that worked for me other than staying away from my triggers. Sometimes just moving triggered it, though so, that sucked. I’m so glad you’re feeling better now. Morning sickness, though for good reason, suuuucks.
coffee bean / 48 posts
I was mostly just queasy, but 3 separate times I was sick enough to actually barf. The problem was, once I barfed, if I put anything in my stomach (saltines, water, ginger tea) in the ensuing 12-ish hours I would immediately throw it up again. So while I say I was only sick 3 times, the first 2 incidents I actually barfed 4 times apiece over the course of two days. I finally learned my lesson and the 3rd time around I set a timer and took a micro-sip of water every 15 minutes, and after 2 hours of success I added in a tiny nibble of pretzel with each micro-sip. After a few more hours I slowly started to increase the size of my sips and nibbles.
I never discovered any triggers, though I’d guess getting a bit dehydrated beforehand was the most likely cause for me. Anyway, here’s hoping it’s in the past for good and I won’t see any reappearances in the 2nd trimester…
guest
Newman’s Own Ginger “mints”. Very strong ginger to stop the quezzy or at least get a better taste in your mouth. I bought a case at Whole Foods.