Morning sickness

Morning sickness is a discomfort of pregnancy that many women experience. While not all go through it, most do. Morning sickness is basically nausea and vomiting that occur and are hard to find relief from. For many it is one of the first signs of pregnancy.

Morning sickness usually begins around the 6th week of pregnancy, and is supposed to stop at the end of the first trimester, or in other words, around week 12 or 13. However, for some it lasts much longer, and for others it only lasts a couple of weeks.

While it is called morning sickness, it can occur at any time of the day. It is often worse in the morning because the stomach is empty, but some women suffer far worse at night, or in the afternoon, etc. And for some, morning sickness is really "all-day sickness."

While extremely uncomfortable, morning sickness is not harmful to you or your baby. Many women worry that vomiting means they are not getting the nutrients they need, or gaining the weight they need to gain. However, as long as you were healthy before pregnancy it should not be a problem, and your weight gain does not typically start until the start of the second trimester anyway. If you are experiencing morning sickness in the second and third trimester or are unable to keep food down for 24 hours, consult your health care provider.

The causes of morning sickness are not certain. There is not enough evidence to say that one thing or another is the cause of morning sickness, but experts theorize that the following factors contribute to the nausea and vomiting:

When you are pregnant you will experience an increase in the circulating level of the hormone estrogen. The estrogen levels may increase a lot, and this may lend to the discomfort and sickness during pregnancy.

When you are pregnant, the placenta forms, and often drains resources and blood sugar from the mother, leaving the mother in a state of hypoglycemia, which might contribute to the sickness.

During the first trimester of pregnancy there is an increase in production of progesterone, which relaxes the muscles in the uterus in order to prevent early childbirth. However, it is thought that this progesterone may also relax the stomach and intestines, leading to excess stomach acids, which can cause nausea.
 
Some experts believe that morning sickness may be due to an increase in sensitivity to odors, which over stimulates normal nausea triggers. However, some would disagree as often odors are not the cause of sickness.

Others think that morning sickness is the body's way of detoxifying in order to provide a healthier environment for the fetus to grow in.

Of course these are all theories, and the truth may be that it is different for each woman, as pregnancy, and the discomforts experienced can change from person to person and from pregnancy to pregnancy. So, while it is unclear what actually causes pregnant women to experience nausea and vomiting, it is important to help these women understand some of the things they can do to relieve the symptoms of morning sickness.

The following are some great tips for helping reduce the symptoms of morning sickness:

• Eat small meals throughout the day so that you're never too full or too hungry. An empty stomach can make nausea worse, which is often why it is called morning sickness, but too full of a stomach is also negative.
• Avoid rich, spicy, greasy or fatty foods. These are harder to digest, and often cause stomach pain, in a woman already experiencing sickness, this only makes things worse.
• Avoid foods with smells that bother you or make you nauseous. Smell plays a big part of morning sickness, so even if you normally love the food, if the smell irritates you when pregnant, avoid it until you are past the morning sickness stage.
• Eat more carbohydrates (plain baked potato, white rice or dry toast).  They tend to be easier on the stomach, and help alleviate nausea.
• Eat bland foods when you feel nauseous (such as saltine crackers, gelatin desserts such as Jell-O, popsicles, chicken broths, ginger ale and pretzels).
• Get iron-free prenatal vitamins. For some the iron in prenatal vitamins increases their level of sickness. If you find that you get sick after taking a prenatal vitamin you may want to discuss it with your doctor and see if you can get a prenatal vitamin that does not have iron until you are past the sickness stage.
• Before getting out of bed in the morning, eat a few saltine crackers to calm your stomach. Again, your stomach is empty at this point, so putting something in it, and waiting 15 minutes before engaging in activity may help.
• Try normal nausea helps, such as "acupressure" wrist bands, you can usually find them in drug stores and they may help.
• If your morning sickness is really severe you may be able to get a prescription for something to help alleviate the symptoms.

While morning sickness is normal, sometimes people mistake real illness for morning sickness. So, it is important that you understand when to call your doctor or go in for a visit, and when you are experiencing normal morning sickness symptoms. In general, experts agree that you should call your doctor if you experience the following:

• Morning sickness does not improve, despite trying home remedies. You may actually have the flu in addition to being morning sick, and it could help to see a doctor.
• Nausea and vomiting continue beyond your 4th month of pregnancy. This happens to some women and is usually normal, but have it checked out in case it is an indicator of a more serious problem.
• You lose more than 2 pounds of weight. While not gaining during the morning sickness stage is fairly normal, weight loss is unhealthy for a baby, so be sure to talk to your doctor.
• You vomit blood. If this happens, or if you vomit a material that looks like coffee grounds it is important that you call your doctor right away and go into the hospital or doctors office to ensure you are okay. Usually you aren't.
• You vomit more than 3 times per day or you cannot keep food or liquid down for an extended period of time. Regular vomiting is normal, but if you go more than 24 hours without keeping anything down you need to call your doctor so you do not risk dehydration or malnutrition.

While morning sickness relief is found in different ways for each person, there are some helpful tips that will make your sickness less miserable, or help you through it better than otherwise.

First, eat often, but keep the meals small. This is good for the baby, but it can also help ward off nausea.

Next, for some fluids, and drinking with a meal can cause an increase in nausea, so be sure to get plenty of fluids, but drink about half an hour before you eat instead of with the meal, it might help digestion.

Keep dry crackers or foods by your bed so you can eat something before you get up. Consider eating them 15 minutes before you get out of bed, so have something to do by your bed so you stay lying down until they have a chance to be effective.

Choose bland, or non-smelly, foods to help avoid triggers to your nausea. Many women can attest to the fact that they felt fine, then walked into a room where someone cooked something that smelled bad to them and caused them to instantly start vomiting.

Eat out for a while, or have someone else do the cooking. Sometimes preparing the food makes you too nauseous to actually eat it, so keep more down by not preparing the food yourself.

Eat as soon as you want something. Often waiting too long can lead to nausea.

Get plenty of rest and nap during the day.

Avoid warm places as being too hot can add to nausea or trigger vomit.

Eat foods that help relieve nausea such as lemons, ginger, or watermelon, or try something like salty (but not greasy) potato chips (they have been found to settle stomachs enough to eat a meal).

Exercise regularly.

In addition to dong specific things to help with nausea there are things you should not do as they might make your nausea worse.

Do not lie down after eating it is harder for your stomach to digest the foods, and may lead to heightened nausea.
Do not skip meals, this is hard on the stomach, and may leave it too full or too empty at other times.

Do not cook or eat spicy food, they are harder on the digestive tract, and while your digestive tract is having problems it is best not to add to them.

Morning sickness, while miserable, does go away, and the baby is worth it.