I would say good morning, but maybe the mornings haven’t been so good to you lately! Unless you are a part of the lucky ten percent of women, morning sickness is probably one of your most annoying pregnancy symptoms thus far. That is right, up to ninety percent of women will suffer from morning sickness (with or without vomiting) during the first trimester.
Don’t let the name fool you, morning sickness can show up at any time of the day. So I am not too sure why we haven’t changed the name to just “all day” or “anytime” sickness. Better yet, maybe we could refer to it as pregnancy sickness, but that might be too broad.
Morning sickness usually arrives around the sixth week of pregnancy and can last until around 16 weeks. A few unlucky women may continue to have morning sickness throughout their entire pregnancy. When morning sickness is severe it is called hypermesis gravidarum. According to the Mayo Clinic there are fewer than 200,000 cases of hypermesis gravidarum in the U.S. At any rate, let’s dig into morning sickness and what you can do to help it.
Causes Of Morning Sickness
Unfortunately, there is no medical or scientific study confirming the exact cause of illness. Some physicians believe morning sickness is due to change in hormones or the rapid increase of hCG. Also, the change in your sense of smell can affect your stomach if you smell something unpleasant. No matter the theory, it isn’t a pleasant feeling.
I was trying to find research that pinpoints the exact cause, but no such luck. I did run across an interesting article that mentioned morning sickness was caused by dehydration from the cell divisions that takes place in the growing fetus. However, I found no medical research to back this up. I do know that it is important to stay hydrated to keep queasiness away and to keep from getting dehydrated if you are vomiting.
If you are vomiting you are likely to lose minerals so it is important to eat small meals when you can. I know there really isn’t an upside to morning sickness, but the good news is that it isn’t harmful to your baby. This is because during early pregnancy your growing baby doesn’t require many calories. If you are at a healthy weight, you will not need extra calories until the second trimester.
Water To Combat Morning Sickness
As I mentioned earlier, staying hydrated is really important especially if you are vomiting. It is important to replace the minerals that you are losing in the process. In my article Change That Diet!, one of my readers commented stating she had to change her regular drinking water to alkaline water because it was less acidic and kept the queasiness away. So I looked into it.
Apparently, during pregnancy a woman loses alkaline minerals and it causes her blood to become more acidic. These minerals can be replaced by drinking alkaline water. The increased acid in the bloodstream is supposedly a cause of morning sickness.
Other Ways To Ease The Ickiness
Generally speaking most people know what they should or shouldn’t do to keep from getting sick. The problem is during pregnancy it is hard to tell what is really triggering it. Just waking up in the morning can make you vomit, hence the term morning sickness. Keeping crackers on your nightstand are a good idea. Other ways include:
- Rest and nap when you can
- Eat small meals
- Try not to go into hot places
- Keep your house or kitchen ventilated to avoid strong odors
If these things aren’t helping, you can also purchase OTC remedies at your local pharmacy or grocer. The morning sickness cures I recommend are:
- Three Lollies Queasy Drops or Preggie Pops
- Pink Stork Aromatherapy Diffuser Necklace
- Anti-nausea wristband
There are tons of remedies for nausea on the market, so you are bound to find something that will help you make it through it! I also found that ginger ale or the smell of lemon eased the queasiness. Some days required stronger medicine. There is nothing wrong with wearing a wristband or necklace to help you keep your food down. Fortunately, these items are pretty fashionable and blend well!
On the bright side, morning sickness will be just one of those pregnancy side effects that you will soon forget (hopefully) once you are holding that beautiful baby of yours. All the nausea, vomiting, and upset stomach will be worth your bundle of joy. I find it interesting how I quickly forgot how uncomfortable I was during pregnancy and my desire to do it again. I am very glad that thanks to technology we don’t have to suffer so much throughout the pregnancy. There is help out there. As I have said before, I am not a doctor and don’t pretend to be one, so make sure you do what is best for you and consult your physician!
As always, good luck and baby dust!
Great info! My wife could have benefited with this info with our last pregnancy. On our next one were are totally going to try these out!!!
Thank you for reading! Yes, definitely let her try something to ease the sickness. Even just for nausea these things will work.
I say great job for highlighting a topic no one likes to talk about. I agree that water is good for combating morning sickness. It is SO helpful for our bodies I have no idea why it isn’t the norm these days.
Most of society are walking around dehydrated. Our food gives us water but it is nowhere near the amount that we actually need.
And I didn’t even know that a well ventilated house reduces morning sickness either! Thanks a lot.