Morning sickness usually begins between the fourth and sixth week of pregnancy. This is often the first sign most women get that they are pregnant.
Morning sickness does not mean you will be sick and vomiting every morning. Morning sickness can occur at any time of the day or night. It varies from woman to woman and can be brought on by many different things. Knowing what can cause your morning sickness to get worse can be helpful in preventing severe symptoms. If you are vomiting more than twice a day or think you may be losing weight, contact your doctor. He or she may prescribe medication that can lessen the symptoms of morning sickness.
Morning sickness can occur regardless of your lifestyle, but there are many factors that may contribute to causing morning sickness to be more severe. Here are some things to do that may help prevent the onset of nausea and vomiting:
Food is a big factor for most women when dealing with morning sickness. From eating the right foods to smelling the wrong ones, food of all kinds can either help or prevent morning sickness. Some tips for dealing with food and morning sickness are:
1. Eat many small meals throughout the day. Eating too much at one time can make you feel sick, but not keeping something in your stomach will bring on nausea.
2. Take your prenatal vitamins with food. Some vitamins may cause your stomach to become upset if not taken with food.
3. Try to avoid spicy, acidic, and high-fat foods. These foods can irritate your delicate stomach and make your symptoms worse.
4. Eat foods high in protein, as they can help lessen your symptoms.
5. Drinking fluids thirty minutes before and thirty minutes after eating can help with symptoms; try not to drink during meals.
6. Eat whatever foods you feel like you can keep down, and eat anytime you feel like you want to. Pregnancy is not a time to start or continue on a diet, unless advised by your doctor.
7. Avoid hot foods if your sense of smell is very strong. Cold foods do not smell as strong as hot foods.
8. Certain foods seem to help most women alleviate morning sickness symptoms. Eating these may help: dry crackers, Melba toast, whole wheat toast/bread, fruit, baked potatoes, pasta etc. These are easy to digest foods and are light on your stomach.
9. Some women find relief in drinking carbonated drinks.
10. Ginger is believed to help relieve symptoms of morning sickness. Try eating ginger snaps, drinking ginger ale or ginger tea.
Morning sickness can range from making you a little queasy to very sick and unable to get out of bed. The good thing is it usually only lasts through your first trimester of pregnancy and should start disappearing after the twelfth or thirteenth week. Just keep in mind it is a normal part of being pregnant, and you are enduring it for a great cause.