I have become one of those pregnant women that most moms kind of hate. When discussing pregnancy symptoms, especially being sick early on, I get this wide-eyed stare and then slight look of enraged jealousy when I say that I don’t get morning sickness.
It’s NOT my fault! They all want to know what I do to know how to stop morning sickness. Am I doing something special? Something different? No.
It’s genetic, or something….In fact, 20-25% of women DON’T experience traditional morning sickness. Why not? Nobody really knows.
But one thing IS clear, every pregnant mother is STILL going through the same hormonal spikes.
Why Am I Sick In The First Place?
Well, think about it. When a foreign invader tries to infiltrate your body and make you sick, what does your body do? It gets nauseous or feverish or congested at first. Your baby is technically a foreign little entity that your body is naturally reacting to.
Your hormone levels change, dramatically affecting how you feel.
Image courtesy of wikipedia commons.
See that huge spike in your human chorionic gonadotropin hormone? That’s just one reason why you’re getting sick. It’s also the hormone that’s detected during your pregnancy test when you pee on that stick.
But some women are sick throughout their entire pregnancies too. Some women aren’t just sick in the morning, but all through the day. Others are only sick when they smell something that triggers their nausea. I know a gal that gets nauseous everything she passes a certain room she was sick in a lot during her pregnancy.
We’re all a little different in how our bodies process this surge of change. It even varies between pregnancies for some.
But sorry…. If you’ve got it, then there’s not much you can do to FULLY prevent it. You can read all of the help out there and try every little thing. But you won’t find a cure-all. I wish I could tell you that. Biology is biology and nature has to take its course.
So What Can I Do?
But do NOT lose hope. There are things you CAN do to ease those symptoms and keep them under control for a few weeks until your first trimester passes (and hopefully it won’t continue for you).
Not everything will work for everyone. Just be sure to try everything you can in order to know what WILL work for you or not.
- NEVER Go Hungry - this seems counter-intuitive, I know. But when you have food in your stomach, your acids and hunger pangs aren’t churning up that feeling of wanting to puke. (See how vomit can affect your baby here.) And then when you do feel this way, it’s even MORE difficult to eat in the first place.
- What To Do: gradually snack throughout the day, light and easy. Even if you don’t want to eat, do it anyway and you’ll make it much longer.
- Avoid Greasy Or Spicy Foods - telling your stomach to process something that’s difficult to do when it’s already sensitive will not make it happy.
- What To Do: stick to things that are simple to digest like cereal, toast, applesauce, etc.
- Keep Your Protein Intake High - protein will get you farther than carbohydrates will, especially if you suffer from low blood sugar spells.
- What To D0: snack on cheese, hard boiled eggs, nuts (almonds are great), cubed meat (making sure it’s fully cooked and not harmful), whole grains like wheat, yogurts. You can get excellent food ideas from my eBook when you subscribe to the mailing list.
- Keep Meals Small - you will have spurts or even days when your just SO famished that you want to just chow down and stuff yourself. I have them atleast twice a week. But if you’re still dealing with morning sickness, force yourself to still eat small meals every few hours or so. The dramatic influx of food can also overwhelm your system, increasing your stomach acid output and causing the very same symptoms you’re trying to prevent.
- What To Do: if you don’t mind just having a meal full of three to four snacks, that works fine. Or think about how much a toddler would eat and don’t go beyond that.
- Eat Before You Get Out of Bed - you’ve gone all night without food and your stomach is ready to get mad at you, thus why you’re so ill in the morning. But if you counter act that urge before it hits a few minutes after you wake, then you’re already a step ahead for your entire day.
- What To Do: keep an assortment of snacks at your bedside that can sit there all night, like crackers and juice. Immediately after you wake up, reach over and eat for a few minutes before you even get out of bed. If you wake during the night, do the same thing before you go back to sleep. It will do you wonders!
- Keep Comfortable - trying to stay ‘done up’ right now can really be an absolutely joke when you feel terrible.
- What To Do: don’t wear tight clothing or anything that’s uncomfortable. You’ll find that will great affect how you feel as well.
- Stay Hydrated - I can’t say enough about the importance of drinking water during pregnancy. Becoming dehydrated can actually cause you to throw up too.
- What To Do: drink water so that your urine color is a light, pale yellow. That’s how you know you’re getting enough. Of course, in the morning, it’s always going to be dark yellow because you’ve been asleep. But having water in the morning is very important. (More on that here.)
- Avoid Triggers - certain situations, mostly smells, will trigger your nausea. It’s often meat but can vary greatly. Stuffy rooms, heat and stale air can do it too. You’ll learn what will trigger yours rather quickly, if anything is a trigger for you at all.
- What To Do: get out into fresh air a few times a day. Keep fans blowing and windows open when you can. Stay away from foods that you know will bother you. Let your husband know what may do it so he can keep it off his breath too.
- What To Do: get out into fresh air a few times a day. Keep fans blowing and windows open when you can. Stay away from foods that you know will bother you. Let your husband know what may do it so he can keep it off his breath too.
- GINGER, GINGER, GINGER - this is the BEST herb that will quell your nausea and make dealing with your morning sickness bearable.
- What To Do: snack on ginger snaps, drink herbal teas with ginger and other calming herbs, incorporate ginger into your baking, sprinkle it in soups and your cereal.
- Take More B6 - this vitamin is geared towards your digestive processes and can reduce your nausea symptoms when taken with your regular multivitamin. Many prescription vitamins have really high levels of B6 for this exact reason.
- What To Do: get a simple supplement of plain vitamin B6 and take it at night before bed so it is fresh in your system before morning.
The MotherhoodGuru has some other great little tips in this video that you may have not considered either.
You’ll Get Through This
I heard recently from a blogger I like:
The days are long, but the months are short.
You WILL get through this because time DOES pass. But I fully sympathize. I’ve had the stomach flu while pregnant, which is the closest thing I can compare too. And it may not be the exact same, but it certainly was terrible.
My own mother commented here on this site and said morning sickness can be worse than labor. So if you can get through this….you WILL get through your labor too.
If you are unable to bear your morning sickness and need additional help, there is a prescription anti-nausea medication that your doctor can give you in tough cases.
I do have one thing that will REALLY help you along right now. There is an excellent tea in this pregnancy bundle designed for sick mothers like you. It will quell those pangs and help you feel a bit better when you feel so terrible.
Have Tea From This Pregnancy Bundle to Make It
(or click this image for just the tea)
Please tell me how you’re feeling! What have you done in order to get through your morning sickness moments? Even one little thing that worked for you may do wonders for someone else too. Keep going and you’ll get through it.
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checking for new information about once a week. I subscribed to your RSS feed as well.
That’s great to hear. Let me know if you every have any questions, thanks!
Wow, superb blog layout! How long have you been blogging for?
you made blogging look easy. The overall look of your web site is fantastic, let alone the content!
Thanks for the compliments, Geschehen. Feel free to share and visit anytime.
Hey, I didn’t realise that Vitamin B6 could reduce morning sickness symptoms. I like your advice about not going hungry, and it definitely makes a lot of sense to eat more protein, as that definitely does keep you going for longer. Well done on a thorough and helpful article. You are helping a lot of mothers-to-be by providing this information.
Thanks for your comment, Marcus. Please share with anyone you feel may benefit. Thanks!
It wasn’t that long ago that my wife was pregnant with our little boy. She would get sick just before bedtime as so would have a little snack. She also found that snacking throughout the day and staying hydrated helped a ton. Unfortunately she can’t stand the taste of ginger so that one was out. She also suffered with super bad heart burn. Any help tips on that?
I get heartburn pretty bad sometimes too. For that, the only thing pregnant women are okay to have is Tums or generic antacids that have carbonate in them. Those are okay to pop anytime they’re needed. Plus, most of them have calcium in them which is an added bonus to keep mommy’s calcium intake sufficient.
But beyond that, just small frequent meals with easier to digest foods will help with the heartburn. Thanks for sharing Joe!
Wow you provide great morning sickness information here. My mom is like you, she never had morning sickness and all her friends hated her for it lol
Like it’s anyone’s fault they don’t have full blown morning sickness!
Thanks for sharing Shaun.
Ugh! I have four kids and my wife had the worst time with morning sickness!
Great explanation on why it happens and how to avoid it. I’ll definitely pass this on.
Thanks Thomas. Hopefully it didn’t bring back bad memories for you when your wife was sick! Thanks for sharing.
Sarah,
This is such a great site. I love it! I can’t say I never got morning sickness, but it wasn’t as bad as others. These are great tips!
Camille
Thanks Camille! Feel free to share with others so we can reach those mommies that need a little help. You’re the best.
Hello Sarah,
I was like you when I was pregnant. I didn’t have any morning sickness.
A friend of mine was sick al the time. She had to stay at the hospital for about two weeks. She couldn’t eat at all - everything came up again. The first three months was very difficult - but it was worth it. Today her son is a teenager, and she’s very proud of him.
Some mothers have really bad times when a hospital stay may be necessary, but thankfully it’s on the rare side. Thanks Marie!
I always get morning sickness (only severe nausea) the first 12 weeks and then I feel great until the very end of my pregnancies. I have 4 children and it was the same with all 4. I did find that sugared Ginger helps tremendously. I would keep a small ziplock bag full of it in my purse and put some under my tongue when the nausea would appear. It would help instantly. The other points you made all help as well. But Ginger is the best!
Thank you for sharing Kimberly! That’s an excellent idea of just keeping a little baggie of it with you. Glad it worked well for you.
If I ever get pregnant ill know where to look! haha jk.. Great site with tons of useful info.
I’m sure you know someone who may be or could become pregnant.
Thanks Seb.
Hi Sarah, thanks for this great post about morning sickness. I guess many women have trouble with it and should readt your advice to find ways to get over it!
There’s no reason to suffer more than one has to! Thanks Vera.