Morning (All the Time) Sickness

Hi-
I don't have any diet advice but I thought I'd mention I read that a higher percentage of women who reported bad morning sickness had girls. :-) For what its worth!
S.

When I was pregnant I had all day sickness and the only thing that worked for me was to take Unisom at night before I went to sleep. It sounds weird because its a sleeping pill but it worked! And I could finally eat again.

A.,

I am a local Certified Nurse Midwife and think I might be able to throw a little help your way…

First thing we usually recommend is to separate your liquids from your solids. Either drink or eat, but try to not do both at the same sitting. Second, try to eat a high protein diet. A lot of carbs and fats seem to actually make things worse. You can also try some of the acupressure wrist bands for motion sickness. The old adage of frequent small meals and trying to eat something before you get out of bed seem somewhat helpful. Regardless, none of these are harmful, so give them a try!

Try to sip on fluids throughout the day. Keep yourself hydrated is vital. Above all other, I usually suggest for women with severe nausea/vomiting to eat whatever sounds good and whatever they can keep down. A big Mac may not be a perfect meal, but if it is truly all you can keep down, it actually is doing more good than harm!

Are you keeping anything down? It is much more dangerous for you and baby for you to become dehydrated and/or have little to no caloric intake. In order to sustain itself, your body will start to break down the fats you have stored in your body. The toxins released during this process are not good for a growing fetus. The dehydration will even make your symptoms worse.

I don't want to scare you and think that morning sickness or decreased intake will harm your baby, but just want you to keep an open mind about sustaining yourself and growing the healthiest baby possible. Keep in touch with your OB or midwife. We usually don’t like to use drugs either, but sometimes they are the best and safest option for a woman and her child. It's amazing how much better a woman who is truly dehydrated can feel after a bag of IV fluid or some anti-nausea meds so she can get through her daily functions.

Please be cautious when gathering information off of the internet or from other women. While most of the information you get isn’t harmful, some of it is. Yes, ginger candy does help some women feel better and is relatively safe. There are other well intending people who may suggest herbal remedies or things that have not been adequately studied for safety. A good rule of thumb is this…Before you put anything in your mouth, remember that you are, in many senses, giving it to your child, as well. Would you see it as helpful or harmful to your child? Are you willing to risk potential hazards to your child by either taking or not taking something? Just something all pregnant women should consider.

Good luck and remember, things usually even out by the end of the first trimester,

A.

I used ginger candies too, I bought mine at CDost Plus world market. YOu can laso buy plain ginger tablets at walkgreens. I needed to take mine with my vitamins as they made me even more queasy. Don't bother with ginger ale as most don't even contain ginger, some do so look at the label. Ginger snaps will work too but again some don't contain much ginger so whipping up a batch of homemeade and adding more ginger is a good idea.
I'd recommend listening to the CNM who wrote you, you should always be wary of herbel remedies. but ginger is a safe and harmless natural method so just finding a form that work s for you should help you out some.
I have been told also that vitamins with a high amount of zinc will cause more quesiness so maybe take a look at how much is in your vitmains and se if there isn't some out there that has a bit less. I don't know exactly how much a pregnant owman needs so you'll have to look that up online to make sure you are getting adeequate ammounts.
And one lady metnioned twins, please don't get yourself all worked up about that yet. It could be but it could not, I have twins and had way more morning sickness with my other two than with the twin pregnancy so your odds aren't any higher now than they were before you started getting sick. One thing to point out, the sicker you are the more hormones you have which points to a well established pregnancy so that means your baby is doing good, I know its not much when your heads buried in a toilet but its one good thing to think about:)
K. H

Congratulations!!

I am also Pregnant, and I know what you are going through. Fortunetly I am now 17 weeks and no longer have that problem! I found that cold water helped with the gagging. I also tried different foods and found what I could and couldn't eat. Sometimes just thinking of a certain food would make me gag, so I stayed away from those! Deep breaths also seemed to work. Good Luck and let me know how everything turns out!

L.

The ginger candies I like are called Gin-Gin's. You can find them at natural food stores and co-ops.

I was even told gingersnap cookies help -- it was recommended to me to have by the bed when I woke up because I was experiencing all day sickness at well my first trimester!

When I was pg, the only things that helped were lemon Propel water (an absolute lifesaver), lemon drops & lemon jellybeans.

Don't know if anyone else has posted about them, and I actually didn't get them, but I've heard the Preggie Pops (lollypops) can work really well. I think Babies R Us sells them now.

Good luck, and congratulations!

I had bad all day morning sickness when I was pregnent with both my girls. I found that watered down 7-up helped, if I drank that first thing in the morning and if I drank it with meals. I also found that ginger tea helped, or raw ginger soaked in hot water. My girlfriend bought these magnetic bracelets on the internet that she swore by to help with her morning sickness. Hang in there, hopefully it will go away around 12-14 weeks of pregnancy. My sickness was so bad with both my girls, I lost about 10 pounds that first trimester. The doctor wanted to put me on meds, but I did not want to, and they both turned out to be wonderful healthy girls. Good luck and congratulations!!

Maybe you are having twins this time???? Feeling sick is a good thing because it mean you have a lot of hormones raging. This indicates a strong pregnancy or more than one baby :o)
I felt sick all day long with both of my kids and all that helped was to keep munching all day long. Crackers, cheese, and juice mixed 1/2 with water to keep a good taste in your mouth. I think I went through a row of crackers every day.
Congrats,
J.

I had extreme morning sickness throughout all 3 pregnancies. From the first month on I couldn't even keep down water. I was hospitalized all three times for hydration but there wasn't much else they could offer. They did suggest that I not take my fluids with my solids (i.e. eat my meal and then drink the liquids 1-2 hours later) This helped a little. My oldest daughter has a two year old and she too was very ill right from the beginning of her pregnancy. She lost a lot of weight and was miserable. They hydrated her with IV's and then they started her on Zofran, a chemotherapy drug, and she improved almost immediately. There were no ill effects on the baby, he was full term, 8lbs 8oz (my daughter is a little bit of a thing weighing only 105 lbs 5'5")! The cost of the drug is very high but our insurance covered it because the only other option was hospitalization for IV's. As it was she was in the hospital at least a day a week before they started her on the drug. I don't know how bad your illness is but this may be something to keep in mind if it gets to the place where your pregnancy is at risk.

A.,
Congrats on the pregnancy, but I know this part is no fun, I was sick constantly in my first trimester with my daughter. Popcorn got me every time. However, I found that if I kept some dry cheerios on my bedstand and ate before I stood up, it helped. I kept a stash of Ginger altoids with me all the time, theyed were really strong but you can get them at any store that carries altoids and they did sem to help. Good luck.

I was told to take vitamin b6.

The only things that got me going with morning sickness was a sensitivity to smells and some tastes. If I avoided smells that set me off and some food items it helped dramitically. Maybe you could try spraying your house or room with a smell you really enjoy. I had major issues with the smell of coffee when I was pregnant and they still bother me today but never did before I was pregnant. Also tooth paste made me sick so I brushed with water for awhile.

You might try changing the time of day you are taking your prenatal vitamin. If you are taking it in the morning, take it right before bed instead.

My doc also told me that if you start taking your prenatal vitamin a couple of months prior to trying to conceive, this helps to ward off morning sickness. Too late, now, but maybe next time! ;o)

Good luck!

I'd love to help, but my all the time sickness lasted throughout my entire pregnancy. Like stated before, try to avoid places where there are going to be many different smells. I did have to take Reglan and Zofran because I was so sick I lost more weight(20 to 30lbs) thanI ever gained. Hang in there.

My mom told me to eat saltines and have some white soda before getting out of bed. I never tried it, but hopefully it will work for you. good luck.

Sorry to hear that you are already experiencing morning sickness! When I was pregnant with my son I had morning sickness through the whole pregnancy. Things that really helped me were always having something in my stomach (dry cereal or saltine crackers were great)..I always needed to eat FIRST thing in the morning (which isn't normal for me)I also used lemon drops (like lemon hard candy) and these helped quite a bit.
Hope this helps - Good luck!

At the begining cold water and saltines did the trick, but I eventually tried vitamin b6 and ginger altoinds. Although when I was 6 weeks pregnant I was told I had hyperemisis and was put on meds which I refused to take and ended up in the hospital so if your not holding down food or water meds may have to be used. Zophran is what was given to me, but only after nothing else worked.

When I was pregnant with my Son, nothing really helped me with my morning sickness, though I did drink alot of 7-up and that helped somewhat. I just learned what was causing me to get sick and I would stay away as long as I could, though most of the time it did not matter what I was doing or around I would get sick.. I hope that the morning sickness passes very quickly for you.

Mint and ginger work great, my mom gave me some tea (just the bags though, so unfortunately I can't recommend a brand) :( I know it's best to stay away from herbal blends while pregnant, so just check the packages before you buy anything.

Also, lemonade worked for me for some reason. (I got the Countrytime canister that you just add the powder to a quart of water). My mom also suggested saltine or Ritz type crackers, but I've never tried that. Also, if you have a Motherhood Maternity store near you, they sell little losenge-type candies at the counter that help with morning sickness/nausea.

Hi A.:

It may be Hyperemesis which is a more severe form of morning sickness and also sometimes lasts all day. Check out this web-site for more info www.helpher.org - Lemon drops and sour apple jolly ranchers, zup, and saltines worked for me.

Good luck.

B.

Sea Bands helped me out with all day sickness. They are typically used for motion sickness, but really helped. Didn't make it go completely away, but I didn't feel like I was on the verge of vomiting every second.

They look like narrow sweat bands so they aren't exactly stylish, but at least this time of year you can hide them under long sleeves :)