Yuck, just the word brings back horrible memories of day and night nausea.   There are still foods from that time in my life that I will never eat again.  The best way I can think to describe it is having the flu for months.  My morning sickness started off normal enough and then progressed  to the very rare, severe and dangerous form of morning sickness called hyperemesis which was for me morning sickness for the full nine months of the pregnancy including during labor.  I was still actually getting sick during labor but the moment my daughter was born, literally within a minute, I wanted to eat a bowl of cereal – it was the first time I had wanted to eat in 9 months.  This is a long story though and a blog for another time.  Right now I want to talk about that first trimester of morning sickness that most women experience and tips for getting through it.

I would really love to get some tips and comments  that we can post for women going through it right now.  Believe me I would have tried almost anything so let’s see if we can help.  To leave a comment, at the end of the blog, you’ll see the word “comments”.  That is a clickable link, even though it’s not underlined, just click to leave your morning sickness advice.  You can also cut and paste this link in to your browser – http://miraclemunchkins.com/blog/?p=172

So on to my tips……

The first thing I tried right at the beginning when I was just feeling a little yucky but nothing too bad were those motion sickness wrist bands.  The basic premise is that the wristbands provide acupressure to help relieve the nausea.  I’ve never had problem with motion sickness so I can’t speak to the effectiveness of these bands for motion sickness or chemotherapy (another use) however I didn’t ever feel that they helped reduce my morning sickness.  That being said, I rarely removed them as I wasn’t taking the chance.  At any rate, it was hassle-free, drug-free and definitely worth trying.

The most helpful thing I was told and that I tried to do was to make sure that you don’t let your stomach get empty.  An empty stomach will make the nausea worse and I definitely found that to be very true. By the way, this is typically why it is called morning sickness.  Our stomachs are the emptiest during the morning which means you usually feel worse at that time.  I felt horrible 24 hours a day but an empty stomach was like giving me a double dose of morning sickness.   That means you need to snack and snack a lot. This doesn’t mean tons of junk food, think healthy snacks.  Fruits are recommended but to be honest I couldn’t stomach it , for me it was saltines and pretzel sticks and they really did help.  Also, try keeping some snacks, like crackers,  at the side of your bed to eat before getting out of bed in the morning.

Sugary lemon drops -  a friend said she sucked on these during her morning sickness and something about them just seems to help a little.  I have never really loved hard candy but the sugary lemon drops really were comforting and did seem to make a difference.  I haven’t had them since but I probably sucked on enough of them during the first trimester to last a lifetime.

room temperature water – Ice cold water may make you feel worse when that cold hits your stomach, it did me, so try your water at room temperature.   Whatever you prefer, make sure you are staying hydrated, vomiting frequently will dehydrate you quickly.  Besides being dangerous, dehydration will also make you feel significantly worse.

ginger tea – okay, I hate ginger and I hate tea so I this idea also didn’t appeal to me whatsoever but ginger has long been used to treat nausea.

taking a vitamin b6 supplement- of course always ask your doctor before adding an additional vitamin as perhaps you are already getting your maximum amount through a medicine your doctor is providing you.  However many women have reported that taking a b6 supplement helped.   During my pregnancy, somebody recommend a vitamin e supplement.  I tried that for awhile and I didn’t really notice any improvement.

Okay ladies, let’s hear some things that may have helped you!!

Munchkins Mom at MiracleMunchkins.com

I hope everybody had a happy and healthy Thanksgiving!  

While my family gathered around the dinner table for our Thanksgiving meal, I was quickly reminded it was cold and flu season by all the coughing, sniffling and sneezing going on around me.  Luckily everybody seemed to be in various stages of having some type of cold rather than something more serious; all except for one relative who seemed to have the flu.  As he started getting his fever, I was immediately grateful that I received my flu shot several weeks ago.

I have personally found that the flu shot has really helped reduce my chances of getting the flu during the main part of flu season.  However, as many of the visitors to this website are pregnant, what about them – - should pregnant women also get flu shots?

Did you know that women who will be pregnant during flu season are now on the Center for Disease Control and Preventions recommended list on who should get the flu vaccine?  http://www.cdc.gov/flu/protect/keyfacts.htm  The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) also agrees with this recommendation.

Originally the flu vaccine was recommended only for women who would be in their third trimester during flu season. That was recently changed to include all trimesters because according to the CDC, pregnant women are more likely to suffer severe complications from the flu than are women who are not pregnant.  A recent study also suggested that with the flu vaccination, protection from the flu is provided for both the mother and baby.  This study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, indicated that newborns whose mothers received the flu vaccine while pregnant had a 63% reduction in influenza. The full study can be found here – http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/359/15/1555

However, giving the flu vaccination to pregnant women is not without controversary.  The majority of influenza vaccines available currently contains thimerosal (mercury); see – - http://www.cdc.gov/FLU/ABOUT/QA/thimerosal.htm  While not everybody is concerned about thimerosal in vaccinations, it clearly is an issue for quite a few women. Currently only about 14% of women are vaccinated for the flu.  If you are unaware about thimerosal and why concern exists, www.safeminds.org has a lot of information.

According to the ACOG,  “there is no evidence showing that thimerosal is a danger to the health of the pregnant woman or her fetus.”  While at face value that statement is true, it is misleading because there has been no research, therefore there is no data, either way regarding the safety to the fetus. 

If you are concerned about mercury in vaccinations, the good news is that thimerosal-free flu vaccinations do exist!  You just may need to make a few phone calls until you find a doctor’s office that stocks the thimerosal-free version.  In addition, within the last several years, six states –California, Delaware, Missouri, New York, Washington and Illinois– have enacted laws that ban the use of the thimerosal-containing vaccines in both children under 36 months of age as well as pregnant women.   More states have legislation pending.

The bottom line is do some of your own research so that you have the knowledge to make an informed decision that is best for both you and your baby and talk openly to your OBGYN. 

www.MiracleMunchkins.com

Information on this site is provided for informational purposes only and is not meant to substitute the advice provided by your own doctor.