Morning sickness, vomiting, and nausea can be one of the first signs and symptoms of pregnancy. It starts around 4 to 6 weeks of the pregnancy or around the time when you miss your period. It is one of the common and irritating parts of the pregnancy. However, these symptoms go away after the first trimester. There are a certain set of symptoms characterizing early pregnancy like an increased sense of smell, back pain, tender breasts, and constipation.
Vomiting and nausea can last until the 16th week of pregnancy. Some women go through nausea for the entirety of their pregnancy. Here are the most common times when morning sickness can occur:
? Implantation
? When you miss your first period
? Between 4th and 8th week after conception and fertilization
The primary cause of morning sickness is Hormones, especially estrogen. As the estrogen levels are increasing and fluctuation in the pregnancy, women go through a change in their sense of smell that can lead to nausea. Other causes of morning sickness can be relaxing digestive muscles, hCG, and skipping meals due to fear of vomiting.
READ: Tips for Dealing with Morning Sickness
For experiencing less morning sickness, you should start slow and take plenty of time for getting out of bed. Here are some other things that you can try for treating morning sickness:
? Drink fluids before and after your meal but not with it.
? If the smell of cooking is bothering you, either let someone else cook or open a window.
? Water and crackers in the morning can reduce nausea associated with pregnancy.
? Eat only a light meal later in the day.
? Eat before bed for preventing sickness from waking up.
? There is a Diclegis, an FDA-approved drug for treating nausea and vomiting during pregnancy. It contains 10 mg pyridoxine and 10 mg doxylamine in a delayed-release formation.
Nausea and vomiting are some of the most common signs and symptoms of pregnancy. It usually occurs before 9 weeks of the pregnancy and occurs in 1 out of every 2 to 3 women. About 50-80% of women have morning sickness. More than 50% of women have nausea as well as vomiting. 25% have just nausea while the remaining 25% have neither nausea nor vomiting.
Even though it is called morning sickness, nausea and vomiting can occur at any time throughout the day. These symptoms go away after the first trimester. If the symptoms persist after that, other conditions need to be evaluated in the differential diagnosis.
Some women have very mild symptoms while others have severe symptoms. The cause of this difference in the range of symptoms is not known. In some cases, there can be nausea and vomiting in the third trimester along with diarrhea. If you are going through this, you need to see your doctor immediately as this can be because of some other condition like Hyperemesis Gravidarum, besides morning sickness.
Small, Frequent Meals: Always keep snacks like cereal, crackers and dry toast with you at all times. As you get up in the morning, avoid moving around on an empty stomach and eat some biscuits. Eat five to six meals a day for ensuring that your stomach is not empty anytime throughout the day. Try eating easy-to-digest foods like rice, tea, bananas, and applesauce.
Drink Fluids: It is very important to stay hydrated during pregnancy. Take beverages like soup, beverages, and fruit juices mixed with carbonated beverages for settling your stomach between meals. Do not drink beverages with your meals as it will fill up your stomach and there will be no room left for food. It will also worsen the feeling of nausea. You need to drink at least 6 to 8 ounces of fluids per day.
Control Your Environment: For preventing nausea, you need to stay away from the smell that you not appealing to you and have bothered you before. If certain ingredients make you feel nauseated while cooking, have someone else cook for you. Reduce stress can reduce nausea and vomiting. For this, you need to create a restful environment. You can try yoga, meditation, breathing exercises, and listening to relaxing music. These will also help you in getting a better night’s sleep that can reduce nausea.
Anti-Nausea Foods: Some foods can help in alleviating nausea. You can try ginger tea, ginger ale, ginger candies, gingerbread, gingersnaps, and shredded fresh ginger. Peppermint is another food that can decrease nausea. Smelling a citrus fruit can help in alleviating nausea.
Vitamin B6: Women going through severe nausea and vomiting can take Vitamin B6. it is in important vitamin required in an increasing amount, especially at the end of the pregnancy when the fetus is increasing the most in size. Consult your doctor before taking the medication as it can affect the growth of the baby’s nutritional status.
? Eat small meals often
? Drink fluids 1/2 hour before or after a meal, but not with meals
? Drink small amounts of fluids during the day to avoid dehydration
? Eat soda crackers 15 minutes before getting up in the morning
? Avoid foods and smells that increase nausea
? Ask someone else to cook for you and open the windows or turn on fans if the odor bothers you
? Get plenty of rest and nap during the day
? Avoid warm places (feeling hot adds to nausea)
? Sniff lemons or ginger, drink lemonade or eat watermelon to relieve nausea
? Eat salty potato chips (they have been found to settle stomachs enough to eat a meal)
? Lie down after eating
? Skip meals
? Cook or eat spicy food
