Are you struggling with morning sickness? Morning sickness occurs during the first trimester as hormones are steadily increasing to support your growing embryo. The shift in hormones typically occurs around the 6th week of pregnancy and sometimes begins to fade during the 12th week. However, it is possible that you may have to deal with the symptoms of morning sickness throughout your entire pregnancy.
Disclosure: This post is for informational purposes only. If you are concerned about the severity of your morning sickness, please contact your OB/GYN or go to your nearest emergency room for treatment. These tips worked for me when I was pregnant with my own children.
What are the Symptoms of Morning Sickness?
Morning sickness can be a bit deceiving because some women experience symptoms all day long. But the main symptoms of morning sickness include:
- nausea
- gagging
- food aversions
- vomiting
- decreased urine output if you are unable to keep any fluids down
- feel dizzy or like fainting
- racing heart
Nausea and vomiting are fairly typical during the first trimester; however, if you are experiencing severe symptoms the please contact your OB/GYN as soon as possible. There are medications that are safe for your baby while relieving your physical symptoms.
Morning sickness generally appears in the morning time, hence the name, due to you having an empty stomach when you wake up. An empty stomach tends to churn and make you feel unpleasant. Most ladies will urge you to keep plain crackers and some water or ginger ale on your nightstand. Then eat a few crackers while sipping on something to drink prior to getting out of bed. This may help calm your stomach down.
Can Morning Sickness Cause Harm to Your Baby?
Overall, morning sickness isn’t harmful. It is possible that you may lose weight during the first trimester without even trying to. But when it is difficult to keep food down, it can make your weight fluctuate. It is best to eat smaller meals and several healthy snacks throughout the day if you are struggling with morning sickness. When you have food in your stomach, sometimes it is enough to help keep your nausea away.
If you find that you can’t keep anything down despite trying all of these morning sickness home remedies, please contact your OB/GYN immediately. There is a condition that affects some pregnant moms called hyperemesis gravidarum. Hyperemesis gravidarum is a potentially serious condition that causes severe nausea, vomiting, weight loss, and prone to dehydration.
Mild cases of hyperemesis gravidarum can be treated by your OB/GYN; however, more severe cases usually require that mom be admitted to the hospital to receive IV fluids and nutrition. If you think that you have hyperemesis gravidarum, never try to treat it at home. This ailment can escalate quickly and it is important that you get immediate treatment. Failing to get the proper treatment could be potentially harmful to you and your unborn baby. Your baby relies on you for nutrition and without proper nutrition, your baby won’t receive the necessary nutrients for proper development.
Best Morning Sickness Home Remedies
Morning sickness is an annoying ailment that makes the first trimester difficult. Just keep in mind mama, that your body is working very hard during this trimester to form your baby. Having morning sickness is a sign that your placenta is developing properly and that your tiny baby is rapidly growing. Give these best morning sickness home remedies a try and help reduce your symptoms.
- Try eating several smaller meals and healthy snacks throughout the day. Having food in your stomach can help reduce nausea symptoms. Also, if you are struggling to eat, try filling up on protein. Protein takes longer to digest and will help keep you full longer which could also help reduce your nausea.
- It is normal to be nauseous when you first wake up in the mornings. Try leaving some crackers on your nightstand and eat several prior to getting out of bed each morning. You should give yourself an extra 20 to 30 minutes each morning so that your body can have some time to work. Sip on ginger ale too.
- Slowly get out of the bed in the morning. Jumping out of the bed quickly can cause you to experience morning sickness symptoms.
- Make sure that you are drinking plenty of fluids before and after meals. When you drink large amounts of fluids with your meals, it doesn’t leave much room in your stomach to fill up on nutritious meals or snacks.
- Try drinking ice cold, carbonated drinks. Some women will also drink sour drinks too. I suggest trying ginger ale, coke, or lemonade.
- Cooking can cause food aversions and make your stomach queasy. If you are having trouble with food preparation or cooking meals, don’t be afraid to ask for help.
- Avoid foods that you know that makes you feel nauseated.
- Find meals that you can eat that are room temperature or even cold to avoid smells that could potentially trigger morning sickness. Hot foods tend to give off stronger smells and morning sickness is more likely to show up.
- Get 7 to 9 hours of sleep on a daily basis. If possible, take a nap during the day. During the first trimester, your body is working in overdrive growing a baby.
- Avoid overheating. When your body gets too hot, you probably notice that you feel nauseated or lightheaded more often. During pregnancy, your hormones are raging and it can throw off your internet thermometer causing you to overheat easier.
- Skip eating foods that are too spicy, acidic, and fried foods if you find that they trigger your morning sickness symptoms. If you are struggling to eat, stick to foods that are bland such as crackers, baked potatoes, rice, bananas, plain chicken, etc.
- Do avoid triggers that tend to make you feel nauseated.
- Suck on ginger. Ginger is a natural remedy that helps settle your stomach.
- Go outside and get some fresh air. Not only is it healthy to get some sunshine but the fresh air can help relieve your morning sickness symptoms.
- Go for a walk or try light exercise. Exercising helps increase digestion and relieves stress.
- Try sucking on hard candy or use Preggo pops that are designed to help reduce nausea.
- Take your prenatal vitamins with a meal if they make you feel sick to your stomach. You can also switch to gummy prenatal vitamins.
- Use sea bands to help relieve your morning sickness symptoms. Sea bands were created to help relieve motion sickness while out to sea.
- Up your B6 vitamins.
- Ask your OB/GYN for prescription medication to help relieve any nausea and vomiting. Just keep in mind that some nausea medications can cause constipation.
- Chew peppermint gum or try diffusing peppermint oil.
- Suck on a slice of lemon.
Morning sickness is a common ailment that most pregnant moms complain about during the first trimester. Give these best morning sickness home remedies a try to help ease your symptoms.
Great tips! Morning sickness is really terrible and I am so lucky I never experienced it for a long time and it wasn’t so difficult for me during my first compared to my second pregnancy.