Morning sickness

[HOMum]

I am coming up to my 15th week of pregnancy and my morning sickness is showing no signs of stopping!

It is really wearing me down, as it isn't just morning it is all day and night too!

I was up from around 3.30am last night and was basically sick every hour from then!

It isn't just nausea, I am physically sick most days..

Obviously I am trying all suggested (Ginger biscuits, dry crackers, milk before bed, sea sickness bands-all sorts!!)

I guess I am just having a bit of bad luck plus lots of people say it is actually a sign of a healthy baby... Not sure how true this is?!

Any other tips? Did anybody else suffer fairly badly? Did it stop?

Thanks,

Jade

[Pickle]

You poor thing! I didn't have actual sickness apart from very occasionally, but the nausea was constant. It stopped for me at about 18 weeks.

The only things I ate (and craved like mad) that seemed to help was salt & vinegar crisps, and zinger burgers from KFC - a super healthy diet for early pregnancy!

I hope things start to ease up for you soon.

[sb]

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[fmay]

Accupuncture really helped me, and yoga type breathing and stretches. The only time I didn't feel as queasy was when doing those sort of exercises. Have you tried either of these? The ginger tea, ginger capules and crackers etc didn't seem to work in my case. Good news is though that mine went from being really bad to just stopping dead at about 16 weeks so maybe this will be the case for you...perhaps it will just stop any day now? Let's hope!

[fmay]

I heard the rumour that it was a sign of a healthy baby too but at least 3 friends of mine didn't suffer a single day of sickness and also had perfectly healthy babies so just unlucky for those of us who do end up throwing up I guess!

[darlin']

Ugggh that sounds awful, poor you! I didn't actually vomit but I did feel sick most of the time for the first 12 weeks. I found the only thing that stopped the nausea was lemonade, lemon tea and salty popcorn.

Hope it stops soon!

[ryedalema]

The BBC ran a story saying 'the worse the morning sickness, the higher the IQ of the child', when I was going through my nauseous stage - cheered me up no end!

The only thing that worked for me was the sea sickness bands - I'm so sorry they're not working for you!

[alibo]

I found week 11 to 18 hideous and then it all stopped and felt fantastic. As much sleep as possible was the best solution for me so I took thurs and Friday off every week until I felt better. I took sick leave from work most weeks and a couple of days holiday. I told HR the situation and they allowed me to take sick leave. Interestingly pregnancy sick leave was not classed as sick leave in my company, I do not know if this is their policy or if it is law.

I was told by the midwife that you feel ill because the baby is taking the nutrients from your body so that can only be a good sign for the baby, pants for you though.

Good luck and I hope you feel fantastic soon, hopefully at week 18 you will be a new woman.

[Smiler]

Poor you.

For ladies in a similar situation, and possibly some more tips, I recommend Baby and Bump website, First Trimester section!

Think that fatigue makes it worse, so agree with alibo that rest - and sick leave if your work is good about that - is a good plan.

[EDmummy]

I would suggest that you mention this to your GP or midwife if it goes on very much longer. There is a very rare condition where "morning sickness" can last throughout pregnancy and it might be important that you flag what you are curently experiencing with whoever is looking after you.

[jollybaby]

If your morning sickness is so severe that you are vomiting several times a day please go and see your GP about it. There are anti nausea medications that are licensed for use in pregnancy, and although of course no one will say that any medication is risk free in pregnancy, this needs to be balanced against the risk from you becoming dehydrated.

[Jojo]

Hi, it's so grim isn't it? I had it all the way through my pregnancy (but I think that is pretty rare don't worry) so I consider myself a know all on the subject.

When you are really throwing up there is not too much you can do other than get to the docs if you can't keep anything down at all for more than a couple of days as you don't want to get dehydrated as that is bad for baby. Try little ice chips as I found they could sometimes help a little with nausea and keeping hydrated.

When you are feeling nauseous and the vomiting isn't too bad make sure you do eat as when you get hungry this makes it much worse and can actually make you throw up. I found stuff like jacket potatoes quite good or pasta with tiny amounts of sauce. Dry cereal would also stay down (no fun I know)

In terms of helping with nausea, I found some things could take the edge of it such as sour sweeties, fennel seeds, fruity ice lollies and apples. May not work for others but I found them of some help.

It feels like hell but it won't be for ever so focus on that and yes my baby is very healthy indeed. Was 9lb when he was born and completley thriving!

Good luck, hope you feel better soon

[sillywoman]

Would agree with the other posters; you need to notify your midwife of this as it could be hyperemesis (continuous vomiting). If that's the case you easily run the risk of becoming dangerously dehydrated and needing hospitalisation with an drip to rehydrate you. Please get it checked out, as jollybaby says, there is stuff that they can give you, but even if they can't you need to be aware of the health implications this may have for you & take what steps you can to counter balance them. Jojo's advice re this is very good, but from what you say it sounds as though you may have a more severe case?

[Jojo]

Yes, I was like jayd5 for about the first 12 weeks, but after that I was usually only sick a couple of times a day (and always fine during the night) and just felt really sickly with just the odd relapses back into severe vomiting - at which point I was prescribed meds which helped to a point with vomiting but not nausea. As Sillywoman says you should def get checked out at the docs so they can keep an eye on you

[kristymac1]

Hi,

Sorry to hear you're having a rough time. I had hyperemisis with both my pregnancies, losing a significant amount of weight during the 9 months, spending periods of time in hospital on IV fluids and serious medication and I have to say it was truely miserable. There is a lot more known about hyperemisis now (it's amazing how much research has happened in the last 4 years) and most (although sadly not all) medical people realise it is a very serious, potentially life threatening condition. If you are suffering from hyperemisis, ginger tea/sea sickness bands etc won't work in the slightest bit and you will need to take medication to stop you being sick and possibly medication to repair any internal damage which has been caused by continuous vomiting.

I don't mean to scare anyone, but unfortunately because most pregnant women suffer morning sickness there is a tendency to think that hyperemisis is simply 'severe morning sickness', I'm afraid it isn't, there is an awful lot more to it than that - the support group HER (hyperemisis educational research) www.hyperemisis.org is a useful website for information and support.

I wish you well with all my heart and sincerely hope you are not suffering from HG. x

[KBN]

Hi Jayd5,

I was one of those unlucky people with hyperemesis, and for the first 9 weeks or so I did nothing about it, thinking "all other women are hard and i am a wimp". It was only when i got so ill i couldn't work I checked it out with the GP, so do go. As an indicator, I was sick between 6 and 12 times a day (and yup all day and night), and could keep nothing down. Literally, unfortunately. As some of the other posts have said, dehydration is a real problem, and I was given urine sticks to measure levels of Ketones, and called in if the stick was a certain colour as this was a sign things were bad: maybe you could ask for these to be sure you aren't getting down on fluids? And do not worry about weight loss/the baby: it takes what it needs and Mum suffers: littleun is fine!

The other thing I would say is that if you can eat or drink something, no matter how weird, DO IT! When I could eat, I ate Twiglets (!), drank coke (which I hate normally) and was told by the midwife to sod the "healthy" rules as when the sickness gets so bad you need nutrients.

For me.. well I was off work for 2 months, then it eased up at 23 weeks, and I went back part time on shortened hours, but I did have a tendency to vom all the way through...I thought it had gone completely for the rest of my pregnancy, but I vividly remember waking up about 5 days after my daughter was born thinking "whoa, no nausea". I guess we can get very very used to it!

It is rubbish, rubbish rubbish, but with a wonderful 8 month old now I'd say don't get disheartened: it is all worth it!

[HOMum]

Thank you all so much for the feedback. It's great to understand other issues etc.

On my last midwife appointment (1st feb) my midwife did urine test and all was fine but I think you are right that having a few of these sticks to hand would be great so that I could monitor myself more easily.

It is my first baby - so it is true that I have been trying to get on with it!

I have left a voicemail with my midwife so we can discuss further. I haven't been able to go to work today and haven't been sick for about 3 hours so a vast improvement since this morning! But it does come back at night!

Hopefully it isn't so severe but if it is at least there are things I can do if it is picked up on - so thank you for all comments!

Jade

[esme]

I had "morning" sickness in the evenings for my 4th month and it lasted a month - I found eating very little in the evenings worked for me, ginger biscuits were quite good and staved off hunger pangs.. basically i don't think much you can do about it - like heartburn only a few things work (for me resting, camomile tea, and milk or yoghurt) - hope it eases soon xx

[newcomer]

My morning sickness also lasted throughout the 4th month. It started to ease away by the end of the fourth month and it felt like I'd been released from a prison sentence. However, if your MS starts to goes away, try not to get complacent. Even now, at over 7 months pregant, I still make sure I eat regularly as if I go too long without eating (especially if I even think about skipping breakfast), I feel the nausea creeping back again. A pregnant body demands respect, and you can't fight it...

Apart from all the stuff everyone else has said, the best advice I could give is to eat basically ALL the time - never go for more than 2 hours without eating something.

I know it's hard - because sometimes the LAST thing you feel like doing is eating - but do try to force yourself to have even a dry piece of toast or (my favourite) a small bowl of dry cereal like Cornflakes or Just Right. Very bland carbs were the only thing that worked for me - ginger biscuits and milk both made me feel worse (maybe the sugar/fat content?) - but just eat whatever works for you. Don't worry too much about a balanced diet at this stage - your baby will take whatever nutrients it needs from you. Oh, and make sure you drink plenty of water.

Other weird advice (sorry if TMI) that I doubt your midwife will tell you:

- if you're vomiting, try to resist the urge to brush your teeth immediately afterwards - the acid mixed with the toothpaste/brushing action apparently causes tooth decay. Instead, wash our your mouth with water (and, if you like, mix in a little alcohol-free mouthwash to 'freshen up').

- after eating something (no matter how little), try to sit quietly for a while and don't rush around. If you can aim to keep food down for at least an hour or so, some of it will have been digested.

- if all else fails, try eating ice-cream. At least it sort of still tastes nice on the way back up! (Yup, that one is definitely TMI, sorry!)

Hang in there... The rest of the second trimester is much easier than the first trimester..

[legalbeagle]

One tip would be to drink as much as you can when you aren't being sick. Dehydration makes you feel sick anyway, so if you don't keep hydrated it becomes a vicious circle. I would also echo what others have said about checking this with your midwife, and be forceful about it if you have to!

[linzkg]

Sounds awful for you!

I had bad morning sickness .. and it didn't let up after the first 3 months like its "supposed to" but I just managed it as best possible. Sorry, hopefully its different for you obviously - some people do just wake up on a morning and its gone over night though.

With all the tips above hopefully something will work for you though ..

Just take things slow (obviously) - it helps to take it easy and guard your energy.

I went to yoga so became familiar with breathing and relaxing techniques ..

I lived on weak horlicks, hob nobs and yoghurt - so whatever you can eat/drink go for it. (I actually lost 10kgs which I stressed about terribly and felt awful that I wasn't providing my little one with everything he needs - but they take what they need and he came out fat and happy!)

[BanJo]

Poor you Jayd.

I am just coming to the end of my 3rd hyperemesis pregnancy and can honestly say I know exactly how you are feeling and how miserable it is. There is lots of good advice in the posts above. Only things I would add is that I really suggest you see your GP as you are quite possibly dehydrated and, although the baby seems to magically get all the nutrients they need, you don't and I had serious problems after birth with nutritional deficiencies, anaemia etc. It may help, even if you don't want to take any anti-emitic meds, just to make your GP aware of the situation so they can monitor you post birth as well. My midwife this time round is lovely but her knowledge is limited but my GP was fantastic and prescibed me cyclizine for this pregnancy which did stop the vomiting. I was like you around 14 weeks - went a full 24 hrs without keeping anything down. Although I was very reluctant to take any medication, it was either that or do harm to both me and the baby and be hospitalised.

Other things to suggest:

- take a good multi vitamin to prevent you getting too run down. I couldn't swallow any tablets during the worst months but did manage to get Berocca down (one of those fizzy tablets you dissolve in water) and it's safe for PG women.

- tap water tastes like metal when I'm pregnant and made me vomit at the height of my sickness. If you are the same try bottled water, or mix water with squash. Whatever works for you. Somebody else also mentioned full fat coke which did the trick for me too!

- as gross as it sounds, try to eat as soon as you've vomited. I usually got about 10 minutes respite after a good puke (sorry!) and it was a good time to try to get some toast or cereal down.

- Mumsnet.com Talk section has lots of posts on HG. You are certainly not alone!

In answer to your question as to when the vomiting stopped, 20 weeks for both number 1 and 2, 24 weeks with this one but I am sure that is because I am just older and more knackered generally!! I found it gradually wore off too - I didn't just wake up one morning and felt fine but slowly managed to eat more and my energy levels improved before the vomiting stopped altogether so fingers crossed you should see some improvement soon. And you clearly do get over it and it obviously is worth it, otherwise I wouldn't have gone through it three times!!!

Good luck.

BanJo

[Dulwich Born And Bred]

I suffered from 24/7 sickness throughout the whole duration of my pregnancy, it eased up a bit towards the end but it never went away. The only way I could keep control of it was to eat non stop all the time, I was constantly grazing to keep the sickness at bay then I had the indigestion to deal with...ahhh not fun...I hated pregnancy, I never glowed at all.

[HOMum]

Thank you so much banjo-your post was very helpful and encouraging!

Thanks everybody!

xx

[crystal7]

My sympathies Jayd5.

I had 'morning sickness' until I was about 18 weeks- horrible! I'm a teacher and was constantly running out of the classroom with my hand over my mouth much to the bemusement of my class! I lost about a stone in the first trimester. I went to see my GP who wasn't very sympathetic but did sign me off work for 2 weeks which heped. Found I felt much worse when tired. It stopped really suddenly and I felt brilliant for the rest of my pregnancy and went on to have a very healthy daughter.

Also everyone said to me (including a midwife!) that this sort of sickness means you're having a girl- surely untrue?!