Morning Sickness

Of all the things about pregnancy I feared morning sickness the most. Every time I found out that someone was pregnant I would ask my number one question: “Did you have morning sickness?” I would get all the details to try and see if I also would experience morning sickness once it was my time. See, I get very bad motion sickness. Since I can remember I have been bad with motion sickness. Some of my earliest memories of road trips with my parents involve me throwing up all over the car. This is something my dad has graciously passed down to me. To this day just thinking about being in a moving vehicle can get me a little nauseous. I don’t even have to be in the act to feel the effects. I would also ask these pregnant ladies if they suffered from motion sickness also. Threw this small personal study I conducted, I concluded that if someone suffers from motion sickness they will most likely suffer from morning sickness. However, not everyone was like this. There were a few ladies that did not have morning sickness that got motion sickness and also the other way around. There are probably scientific studies that say these things have nothing to do with each other but I felt that there could be a link.   I was bound and determined that I was going to be one those ladies that did not get the morning sickness since I had to suffer enough with the motion sickness. Well… as you can probably guess I was wrong. Sooo wrong. In fact, I would rather be motion sickness any day of my life over morning sickness. Morning sickness is way worse. I hope that this isn’t too much information but to be able to share this will be helpful in venting my frustrations against morning sickness.

See for the first month of pregnancy you don’t know your pregnant. Your body doesn’t even register the pregnancy hormone until close to your missed period. So for the first month I was fine. In fact I was eating a lot of food. I would eat anything in sight. During the first month we were in Las Vegas for Thanksgiving and of course made our way to the endless buffets. I ate so much food during that trip but didn’t think anything was different other then I wanted to be a fatty and pig out.  I found out I was pregnant the week after we returned from Vegas on December 5. The sickness began the week of Christmas. It wasn’t too bad at first. I was definitely nauseous and smells could bring on a gag reflex but it wasn’t too bad. We ended up going to his sisters to stay for Christmas which was really hard because no one knew I was pregnant so I couldn’t tell them I felt ill either. Not long after Christmas it came to full strength. They are right when they say they don’t know why it is called morning sickness when it should be called all-day sickness. The moment I would wake up I would run to the bathroom and throw up (nothing of course). I would head to work and be sick all day. The only relief came when I fell asleep at night.  I ate so many saltine crackers and ginger ale that I began to get sick at the thought of eating these items. I tried everything. I received a prescription from my doctor that was supposed to help. It didn’t. I tried Ginger tea, Ginger gum, sea bands, and crackers. Food did not sound good at all but I had to keep something in my stomach all day so to not throw up. I would bring so many snacks to work I think my cube mate thought I was going to blow up like a balloon. I couldn’t eat much I just had to eat something.

One night I wasn’t feeling good but I really wanted some pizza from Papa Johns. All I can say is bad idea. I ate 4 pieces; another bad idea. I didn’t feel well after eating it and went to lay down. Not even two minutes later I had thrown up all over myself and the bed. I felt like a little kid. Thank goodness for Mike. He rushed in and helped me get to the bathroom to clean myself up. He then went to work on cleaning the bedding. I knew at that moment that he really loved me. Not that I didn’t know before but it just confirmed it.

I read online somewhere that saliva helps with morning sickness. It counteracts the acid. I began buying candy and gum to help me produce more saliva. I would also suck on a lemon wedge. Amazingly this brought some relief. I would have a piece of gum in my mouth almost all day. Anyone close to me knows that I hate chewing gum but I was going to do anything to feel better.

All the online sites and blogs say that morning sickness begins to lessen around 14-16 weeks with full relief around 16 weeks. Not true for me. I didn’t see it begin to lessen until 19-20 weeks and it still isn’t gone (21 weeks). I still throw up every morning but I do not feel as sick as before. I can honestly say it is ten times better. I hope there is an end in sight.

So to all those moms out there who had to endure through morning sickness I finally know how you feel. I thought that I would be passed over and have an easy pregnancy but it has turned out to be the opposite. The end result is going to so worth it though.