Thread: Just to let you guys know...

Ginger tea worked for me last night. Just smelling the ginger helped. I am keeping dry crackers by the bed. I'm not getting the nausea often but when it comes it's the dizzy, hot, weak type of nausea and it floors me. My midwife suggested a medicine that I take if I really have no choice.

Some advice from a veteran. Not every one gets morning sick. Six times I never did. for the first three months all I wanted to do was sleep. Whatever you do don't let anyone tell you it's all in your head. Everyone's system is different and if you get sick the rest of the world has to deal with it. My eldest daughter found the only thing that helped was egg drop soup. I kept tons of the stuff in my freezer.
Take vitamins and pay attention to what you eat. You really are eating for two That little person in there will suck up all the vitamins and calcium she needs off the top. You have to be sure you are getting enough good nutrition for both of you. While you don't want to gain a hundred pounds now is not the time to worry what you'll look like in a bikini next year. Stay away from junk food and artificial sweetners. The good news is breast feeding can burn up two thousand calories a day. Lastly, don't listen to the maternity horror stories that some people seem to delight in dishing out. If someone isn't cheerful and supportive avoid them for now. If they get their feelings hurt tell them why. If something worries you no matter how foolish it may seem talk to your midwife she'll have the answer. Remember this is about you, your baby and your partner and anybody who can't get on that train will just have to stay in the station.
Blessings and Joy
[dancing-banana]

Well, after reading Conjurewise's wise advice, I thought I'd also share my pregnancy stories. (I know everyone who's ever been pregnant was one to tell....)

When I got pregnant with my daughter back in 1975, I was 20 years old, normal weight, and in good health. I only experienced morning sickness 2 or 3 times during the entire pregnancy. We were doing Civil War re-enacting at the time, so while pregnant, I marched in July 4th parades, spent days in the heat dressed in hoop skirts and participated in battle skirmish "shows" for the public, and camped out and slept on the ground. I also was managing an apartment complex at the time, so I was up on ladders cleaning and re-painting vacant apartments, too. In spite of the fact that I was Rh negative and my husband Rh positive so that I had to have more frequent blood tests, everything went relatively smoothly. The pregnancy and delivery were normal and fine. My daughter was born 1 week before my due date, and aside from slight jaundice for the first couple of days, she was fine.

With my son, I was 25 when I got pregnant with him, still at normal weight and in good health. However, I was sick from Day One of that pregnancy. I had extreme morning sickness round the clock, including bouts of dizziness/vertigo. I threw up frequently, including vomiting and fainting in public on several occasions. My doctor and nurse mid-wife first had me follow a very bland diet. I tried it for a few weeks, but I couldn't keep much of anything down, even water at time. I threw up day or night, and if my stomach was empty, I threw up bile. The doctor then started me on a morning sickness pill on the market at the time called Bendectine, but it really didn't help, so he slowly increased the dosage of the medication over the next month or so. Around the 4th month of my pregnancy, they wanted to hospitalize me for a few days because I was dehydrated from vomiting too much, and I hadn't gained any weight. I wasn't able to go into the hospital though because my daughter was in kindergarten only half days at that time, and I had no one to take care of her when she wasn't at school, and I couldn't afford to pay anyone to watch her either. They then diagnosed me with pernicious vomiting and upped the Bendective to its maximum dose. To make a long story short, I ended up LOSING 14 pounds during the course of this pregnancy because of all the vomiting. I never really needed any maternity clothes, and when my clothes got a tad uncomfortable during the last month or so, I just wore loose tops and used a diaper pin to keep the top of my unzipped pants closed. The nausea, dizziness, and vomiting only stopped during the last month or so of my pregnancy. My son was born less than a week before my due date. Because my water broke, but no labor contractions started on their own after 18 hours, my labor had to be induced because my OBGYN said I was facing a C-Section if labor didn't start by the 24th hour. Other than that, the delivery itself was normal, and my son and I went home 12 hours after he was born. After having had such a difficult pregnancy, I can honestly say that if I'd have gone through this experience for my first pregnancy and not my second, my son would have probably been an only child.

A few years after my son was born, we learned that Bendectine was taken off the market because of a link to birth defects, and here I'd taken it for months at the maximum dosage. We'll never know for certain if that medication had anything to do with my son having dyslexia, learning disabilities, and Asperger's Syndrome, although my ex and I always suspected it was responsible at least in part.

I guess the point of all this is two-fold. First, IF you go on any type of morning sickness medication or medication of any kind during your pregnancy (aside from an occasion Tylenol), please do lots of reading and research online as best you can beforehand. Computers and the internet weren't available back when I was pregnant, and I didn't have much ability to do research on Bendectine back then, but you have this tool available to you now. Second, each and every pregnancy, from person-to-person and even pregnancy-to-pregnancy, is different. Someone else's experiences may or may not be similar to yours, and what happens during the course of this pregnancy to you may or may not happen again if you get pregnant in the future. So, take all of our advice and stories with a grain of salt and for what they're worth. Maybe you'll find something in all of this that's helpful. Hugs to you!!

lemon drops and lemon heads work great. also smelling a lemon works too.

Ok...my turn to share!

As I mentioned there is a history of around the clock sickness. The theory at one point was that the boys didn't cause it..but my son proved that wrong.

With my daughter I was working in a high stress active environment. I was so tired but I never stopped doing my job. I was sick all the time and had to carry the pills with me where ever I went. Not sure what your midwife suggested but here Diclectin (sp) is what we get. Max 4 pills a day...not once did I take less. My first weekend of sickness I literally lost 15lbs because of how much I threw up. My Doctor neither cared nor was concerned for my baby. In my baby calander I tracked my weight loss..always 1-2lbs per week. I also got the POPS (google if you want, to long to explain here). It was a busy pregnancy but I loved every minute of it and wouldn't trade it for the world.

My son...I still threw up..but I was mentally prepared this time and knew what worked for me and what didn't. I didn't get the POPS this time, but did have very low Iron which in turn made me more tired. I still kept up with my job and tried as hard as I could to not let the sickness get to me. I learned that fighting the feeling made me more anxious causing the nausea to get to me more.

At that time I didn't know enough about herbal teas and was actually more frightened of the effects than anything.

When it comes to dealing with the nausea..you really have to do what works for you, not for every other pregnant person out there. It gets harder when you have people who have never had children tell you how you "need" to deal with it.

Good luck and again, Congratulations..very happy for you.

wow...

I'm just scared to get sick at work because I work in an upscale jewellery store as a manager, and I really would rather not lose my lunch in front of customers about to pay $5000 for a bracelet.

But I've been ok. I've only had a few waves of dizzy-nausea so far, but to be fair I am only 5 weeks along (judging from my last period). I'm praying that it doesn't get worse.

The pill recommended here is called Gravol. It's anti-nausea, whatever the cause, but it's a low dose. They do have it in higher doses and in suppositories as well, which is wonderful for when you can't keep something down. Most women in Barbados that suffer morning sickness take Gravol for it. I has to use it when I had Gastroenteritis (which is NOT fun) and it worked wonderfully to calm the vomitting...only problem is it makes you really sleepy. but if you can fight through that initial sleepiness for the first 20-30 minutes, you'll be fine for another 4-6 hours.

My mother was sick from morning to night with me, she suffered Heart-burn, constant vomiting (just brushing her teeth made her throw up), kept nothing down and was exhausted the whole time. Up to the delivery, she got sick on the bed. When she got on the scale after delivering me, she weighed all of 101lbs - when her normal weight was 130-135lbs.

With my brother she wasn't sick even once, no dizziness, she ate everything in sight, slept beautifully and worked until she gave birth. She still weighed only 120 lbs after having him, but he was healthy and so was she.

My grandmother had five children and each pregnancy was different, she said.

So I'm a little scared, not knowing what on earth to expect, but I'm more excited and happy than scared. One day at a time!!

Thank you guys for all your wonderful advice, as always!

I googled POPS but all I came up with were sites talking about the pergnancy lollipops. Was that what you were talking about? I somehow didn't think so.

My mistake..it's not Pops it's PUPPS. When I had it I didn't have a computer so never saw it in writing.

Although there never is damage to the skin, I had to wear cotton gloves to lessen the damage I did to my self with itching. I had these things everywhere..even the bottom of my feet. I would literally lay naked on a cold sheet on my couch for relief. Tried preperation H on my hand to see if it would take the heat away! I went through many many bottles of Aloe Gel..the colness was my only short term relief. I would wake up all hours of the night crying from the consistant itch which would force me into an ice cold shower to help me out.

I have to stress though that this is not a common thing. I am just one of those lucky people who happens to get things that most people dont.

Needless to say that when people saw my body (nothing on my face at all) they were afraid to come near me...even the nurses at the OBGYN. They do a blood test to make sure it's not a form of Herpes as that would be harmful to the baby.

Here is a link with a bit of info:
http://www.tcinternet.net/users/kritzerburke/naomi/PUPPP.htm

Oh Selene......now I feel bad because I didn't mean anything in my previous post to scare you or stress you out. In fact, I was in a rush the day I was posting that, so I feel like the info sort of "rat-a-tat-tat" rapid-fired out. I didn't mean to bombard you with scary stuff. I was just trying to get across my message that each pregnancy, even with the same person, can be totally different, and what works for someone, may or may not work for someone else.

By the way, you mentioned your Mom getting sick while brushing her teeth. My daughter, Heidi, had that happen during her second pregnancy, and when she was going through that, she heard of other pregnant women that were made nauseated from toothpaste. I didn't have the experience with either pregnancy and hadn't heard of that until it happened to her, but it evidently isn't uncommon.

I hope you know how totally happy, excited, and jazzed I am for you and Alex. I want you to try to stay as relaxed as possible, eat well, get your rest, and hopefully, stay smoke-free, so that your end result is a healthy and beautiful new little person to bless your lives.

Hmmm..that's the problem with sharing pregnancy stories. Very rarely will you get the "it was the easiest pregancy" "no morning sickness at all". Is pregnancy stressfull...yes...but it can also be the most wonderful experience you will ever get to experience. The sad part is that you wont come to really appreciate it until it's over. The first time you feel the baby will white wash any stress or nausea you experienced.

Enjoy it! Enjoy all of it.