HOW I DEALT WITH MORNING SICKNESS

Morning sickness is not fun and a lot of you have recently asked me for advice on how to get through it. I hope this post will help.

Morning sickness is one of those things that can happen, and it was probably one of the hardest parts of my pregnancy, although I actually ended up getting used to it at some point. My doctor kept saying, “You’re pregnant! congratulations!”

I eventually started adopting that mentality; every time I threw up, I imagined my little self patting my shoulder and saying “Yup! You’re pregnant! Be happy.”

I was nauseous very early on and ended up throwing up 12 times a day over 15 weeks. I had little episodes of “malaise” in my second trimester that consisted of me feeling a fainty feeling and throwing up before I even knew it was coming and some nausea in my third trimester. It’s common for morning sickness to come back in the third trimester if the first trimester was quite intense.

What I learned is that it’s not always in the morning, even though it’s called morning sickness and it’s usually at the same time during the day, but this can also change over time. Some women just have really strong nausea with no vomiting.

THE OUTSIDE DOES NOT REFLECT THE INSIDE

The thing is that morning sickness is one of the first signs of pregnancy, so while your body doesn’t show at all…that’s not how it feels inside of you! I really struggled with my daily routine. I sometimes couldn’t even respond or talk because I was so nauseous and any vibrations in my body would make me throw up. It was really challenging to go through such radical changes in my daily life for me and especially for Kyle. He saw me look the same but act completely differently in no time. I realized what people with chronic pain probably go through as far as with the world around them, they often don’t look like they’re dealing with pain but inside they’re really struggling.

There was a period of time where I didn’t even want to talk about being pregnant because I was so miserable. There were moments where I questioned if I could really do this. Now that I look back, I’m thankful…nature prepares you the way it needs to prepare you. These stages were necessary to make me strong.

HOW I FOUND RELIEF FROM MORNING SICKNESS

Some foods or combinations of certain foods can really help. It’s a matter of finding which ones and listening to your body. Carbs were my best friend. Anything like salads or “liquidy” foods came right out in about 15 minutes. At least pasta or bread gave me a two-hour grace period. I couldn’t even bear the thought of eating any type of cake or pizza. Oliver must’ve not liked it!

Watermelon was my best friend so I could stay hydrated. Water was difficult to drink, I mean I’m sure you’ve gotten food poisoning before and the last thing you want is to chug water. Watermelon also has great properties for healing the uterus after giving birth so you don’t want to go too crazy on it while pregnant.

Crackers & ginger ale. Pringles to be exact helped a lot (I know it’s odd but seriously thanks to Kyle who loves them, I was able to munch on something).

I stayed away for anything that had a strong smell…and some things that didn’t bother me before could all of a sudden be a deal-breaker. Corn and fish were like a huge no-no, and I love fish!!!! I’d literally throw up in an instant from the smell of it.

Also, anyone’s scent made me nauseous, it’s weird and difficult to approach that sometimes, by the second trimester it gets better. Meanwhile, you just have to pray that someone doesn’t wear a crazy strong cologne around you.

NATURAL REMEDIES FOR MORNING SICKNESS

Pink Stork is said to be great to find natural relief. I didn’t know about it while pregnant and would definitely use it if I had to.

I used Sparkling Mama and that helped me a lot.

MEDS FOR MORNING SICKNESS

It’s really up to you. Towards the 12th-13th week, I eventually decided to take Zofran. I really wanted to hang tight and stay organic but I literally couldn’t do it anymore. 12 times a day throwing up had become a nightmare. Flying was excruciating and my anxiety level of feeling stuck in a plane and possibly not making it on time to the bathroom was like “enough is enough.” It reduced my vomiting but didn’t stop it. Which was fine. I just needed a little break and that’s ok!!!!

THE MENTALITY TO ADOPT

You’re pregnant, it’s part of it. What’s not part of it is you comparing yourself to others. Some pregnant women have no morning sickness and easy pregnancies, some don’t. Find someone to relate to and don’t let anyone make you feel misunderstood or unsupported.

Morning sickness is very hard and is like a silent phase of pregnancy which makes it harder for people to understand what you’re going through. You’re not alone! People don’t post their picture lying by the toilet because you can’t move – and perhaps they should post about it to shed a little light about the natural difficulties of pregnancy. I spoke about it a lot and eventually had no shame either. It is what it is!

You think it’ll never end but one morning it’ll be gone and then less throughout the day and then gone altogether. You have to prep your mind that it’s not “curable” like food poisoning. I think that’s something that tricked my mind the most. I wasn’t prepared for it to come back every few hours.

You have to ride the wave, relax and get a lot of rest. Turn to fellow mothers who’ve done it before, it helps a lot to communicate! Think of what’s to come and the rewards…I look at Oliver and I’d do it all over again in a heartbeat.