Nausea and vomiting or morning sickness is usually equated to pregnancy but it is one of those truisms about pregnancy which is not necessarily true. Studies show that almost three quarters of all expectant mothers experience this symptom.
If you are among those who did not have a nauseous moment, or who feel only occasionally or slightly queasy, you can consider yourself not only pregnant but also lucky.
Happily though, for all those of you who are in the queasy club, you maybe definitely feeling the effects of the morning sickness but your baby are not. That is because your baby is not even the size of a pea and its nutritional needs are tiny now. Even those of you who are actually moving leftwards on the weighing machine during your first trimester are not harming the baby or your pregnancy, provided you make up for the lost weight in the later months.
Morning sickness is by the way a misnamed malady as most of you must have already noticed it can strike at morning, noon, evening, night or all of the above!
When do you experience this discomfort?
This disabling symptom in majority disappears by the end of 12 weeks and for a few by 20 weeks. Rarely do you end up suffering from this throughout your 9 months.
Why do you feel queasy?
Stress, fatigue and improper eating habits can aggravate it.
Although the exact cause of this nausea and vomiting in pregnancy is unknown you can comfortably blame it on your hormones. No matter what the cause, there is no sure cure for the queasiness but the passing of time. Fortunately, there are ways to minimize these discomforts while you are waiting for the less nauseous days to dawn.
How to find some relief?
Eat after going to bed and eat before getting out of bed! No I am not playing. Morning sickness does not wait for your day to start, in fact it is at its worst if your stomach is empty and the acids are churning in the tummy with nothing in it to digest. Thus, stack your bedside stand with nibbles like cracker biscuits or wholegrain bread and munch on them whenever you wake up in the night for a nature’s call or in the morning before you climb out of bed.
Eating a high protein or complex carbohydrate snack before bed is a treat for your tummy as well.
Eat small frequent meals. A stuffed tummy is as likely to puke as is an empty one. If all the balanced diet nutritious charts are not working for you eat whatever you can tolerate for the first few weeks. You will soon be better. Right now, getting anything into your stomach and keeping it there should be your priority.
Avoid the spicy and greasy foods and try lemon or ginger ale or ice. If your so called favourite foods are making you nauseous, just stay away from them. Period! Don’t force yourself to any food whose taste sight or smell irks you.
Keep yourself well hydrated, particularly if you are vomiting. Not able to get even a sip of water down your throat, you are not a rarity. Try other liquids, anything including home-made soups, fresh fruit juices, buttermilk, coconut water, smoothies or any recipe under the Sun.
If nothing helps consult your doctor especially if you are feeling dehydrated or if the frequency is more than regular or if colour of the vomit is different. There are some medication which is safe to be used in pregnancy to curb the vomiting.
In conclusion let me say that no one said that your pregnancy would be easy but it is surely worth it!!
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