Morning sickness can strike a pregnant woman at any time. We share a few tips to deal with morning sickness.
Is there anything good about it?
The good? No good. No good whatsoever, sorry to report. Except maybe the thought that you are indeed pregnant and your body is slowly but surely turning an embryo into your little bundle of love. Once you hold your baby in your arms for the first time, truth be told, the horror that was morning sickness kind of fade away. So that’s something!
The bad
The bad? Quite a lot. Part of the initiation into motherhood, it dawns on you that the term “morning sickness” is a misnomer, seeing as most pregnant ladies experience morning sickness morning, noon and night! The only escape being your dreams. And sometimes it haunts you to your dreams too, that is known to happen, if you’re extra lucky.
Morning sickness also has the uncanny ability to really sneak up on you. Being really nauseous all of a sudden and feeling dreadful, one might be of the firm belief to be caught in the claws of a dictatorial stomach virus. And perhaps flu as well. When after day 4 of nausea the runny tummy still hasn’t made its dreadful appearance, the penny she drops. Preggers… Suddenly your boobs are also feeling quite tender, hmm. And even more so, you’re quite up and down with your emotions – one moment you can’t get enough of your guy. The next? Just get out of my face.
The ugly
And then there is the ugly. The ugly, ugly thoughts one has lying on your cold bathroom floor, hoping on salvation. It’s ugly. The dirty hair. The legs not shaven. You feel too rotten to even care for those niceties. Who do you want to dress up for, anyway? Not that man! He caused this horrible feeling of dread.
The light at the end of the tunnel?
Yes, there is a light at the end of the tunnel! Most cases of morning sickness seem to dissipate by week 12. Whoo-hoo, you should be home-free by month three, then! And then it is “heeltyd speeltyd”, as the second trimester (the awesome middle part, between the horrid first part and the difficult ghastly last part) come to be.
Just hope with all your heart you do not get hyperemesis gravidarum. That is “morning” sickness ALL the time during ALL THE TIME OF THE PREGNANCY (all the time, ALL OF IT! The horror). It never stops. Stuff terror telenovellas are made of, surely. Luckily for our mere mortal souls, a rather small percentage of pregnant ladies suffer from this insufferable suffering. Seems more princesses get it (a moment of silence for Princess Kate who was hospitalised for long bouts due to this martyr illness).
There are numerous ways to alleviate morning sickness.
Tips to live by:
- Have a cracker (like Salticrax) on your bedside table, and start nibbling on one as soon as you wake up. Also take your time to wake fully, and only get slowly out of bed.
- Keep special lollipops in your bag wherever you go. The honey and ginger is somehow soothing.
- Tablets you can take: ASIC or Vomisene. There is also Emex syrup available.
- Have five or six small meals throughout the day, not three big meals.
- Peppermint tea might help.
- Foods to consider: avocados, marie biscuits, grapes, rice crackers, yogurt smoothies
- Ice-cold sodawater brings relief as well, maybe something to do with the carbonation (and lack of fructose sugars and such, just good old bubblised water)
- Take your pregnancy vitamins after a meal, always, never on an empty stomach (in fact, your tummy should never be totally empty, that’s looking for nausea trouble)
Don’t be alarmed if you actually lose a bit of weight during these rough first few weeks. A lot of moms to be see weight-loss due to the morning sickness. Your body is taking care of your baby, so don’t worry about it. Worry equals stress, and stress is no good, not for you and not for baby!
Please share other Moomie Moms the remedies you had success with during this nauseating time. – Jana Cloete
