Morning Sickness Is Not Just for Mornings

I just recently found out I am expecting my second child. It was a planned pregnancy and we are totally excited. My first pregnancy seemed to be by the book, minus morning sickness. While my husband will tell you that I dealt with a few bouts here and there while I was pregnant with Olivia, I protest and tell people it was the pre-natal vitamin since I only remember getting sick when I took it. It was so bad that I started taking it at night and the "morning sickness" went away.

I am dealing with a totally new experience this time around. I had inklings I was pregnant weeks before I could test just based on the nausea I was experiencing. It would come over me like a wave and it wouldn't let up for hours. I even experienced it in the middle of the night. Being wakened out of a sound sleep to experience just plain misery! So it didn't come as a surprise that my pregnancy test was positive when I got around to taking it.

Now to this day I have not gotten "sick" I have only had to deal with full blown nausea, but for me that's enough! My heart goes out to anyone who has had to deal with morning sickness that has them running to the bathroom or not being able to keep anything down or getting sick at other inconvenient times. I cannot imagine what that must be like.

In dealing with this new experience, it sent me searching on the net to find out what was happening in my body and why I was feeling the way I was. Morning sickness is attributed to the change in hormones a body goes through when it is pregnant. Most often it only occurs during the first tri-mester but some woman have it throughout their pregnancy. Statistics show that more than half of pregnant women experience some form of morning sickness!

Once the news gets out about a pregnancy, it appears to give the green light for everyone to give you advice...about anything and everything! I have had no shortage of advice about what to do to treat my morning sickness. Here are few suggestions that I have found in my research on the net that have worked for me and other moms:

• Never have an empty stomach. This only makes the feelings of morning sickness worse.



• Try to eat 5-6 small meals a day instead of 3 big meals. This helps to keep the stomach full.



• Stay away from fattening or spicy foods that can cause your stomach to feel unsettled. Fill up on vegetables and fruits.



• Keep small snacks available on hand such as crackers, ginger snaps, Pepperidge Farm Gold fish. Have a stash even on your night stand for those times you may be feeling sick at night.



• Non-caffeinated teas such as peppermint and ginger tea may help keep morning sickness at bay. Ginger ale has also been known to help.



• Try taking naps and getting enough sleep. This will help your body to deal with morning sickness and will help you to take your mind off the discomfort.



• Stay away from smells or odors that make you feel nauseous.



• Drink plenty of fluids between meals to help you feel full.

For severe cases where morning sickness has caused serious problems with holding food down, weight loss, dehydration or other health issues, you will need to see your pediatrician immediately. There are things they can do to help!

There are hundreds of remedies out there that people will swear by. There is nothing wrong with researching and trying to find other helpful ways to combat morning sickness. Find what works for you. And remember...morning sickness is only temporary! Before you know it, it will be done and over with and you will have a beautiful baby to focus on. You won't even remember how morning sickness made you feel!

Here are some other helpful sites that I found:

American Pregnancy Association

Family Doctor

Mother Nature Never Had Morning Sickness-Pregnancy.Org