Morning Sickness

Another friend of mine just discovered that she is about 2 months along. Unlike her 1st pregnancy, this one is giving her big time morning sickness. Frankly, I do wonder why people call it morning sickness. Like my friend, my nausea was whole day long! More like whole-day-sickness. I wasn't spared for all 3 children. And this condition only mellowed after 4-5 months. I said 'mellowed' not stopped :( At the slightest trigger, I would be asking my husband to stop by the side of the road or just anywhere so that I could purge. This was the worse part of my pregnancies. I'm just so afraid to go thru this again. When I was carrying my 2nd and 3rd kid, I was really wondering how could I forget the experience and still go for another kid. The answer is simple. The end result is worth it! I have 3 wonderful children and I love them with all my heart!! :)

I was told by some that if my mom had morning sickness when she was having us kids, then very probable I too would have morning sickness when I carry. My gynae dismissed as nonsense. Just part of old wives tale. In fact, consider us lucky coz morning sickness is the baby's defense sytem against anything which is not favourable to the baby while in our tummy. It has been proven that those mummies with morning sickness have lower chances of miscarriage in view of this natural defense system. Unfortunately in the process, we suffered like mad!

If you don't have morning sickness, does this mean you wouldn't get it the next round? Or vice versa? Nope! Each pregnancy is different. I have known friends who gave birth to 3 kids without suffering any morning sickness but the 4th pregnancy was hell. So its just luck. But then again, look on the bright side. It's safer for the precious little one in you.

So for those mummies out there, if you happen to experience morning sickness the 1st time round, here are some pointer for you based on my experience. Please do be conscious that everyone is different and if you cannot 'tahan' or it gets too bad, do see your gynae. One of the worries is dehydration.

1. Understand which 'taste' aggravate your morning sickness.
   In my case, I couldn't take anything sweet at all. Even sour food which leaves a sweet after taste was no go for me. I could only go for salty food.
   
   
2. Always carry a tub of crackers with you. Jacob crackers worked best for me.
   Whenever the sickness began, I would be munching 2 crackers to settle my stomach. Works most of the time.
   
   
3. Never let yourself go hungry.
   I couldn't go hungry. The moment I felt my 1st hunger pangs, I HAD TO eat something. Else my stomach juice and gas would aggravate my morning sickness. This is the worse part because there is nothing in my stomach to throw up except my stomach juice. It was really painful. That is why I always have crackers with me wherever I went. In fact, my gynae recommended hard fruits to snack between meals.
   
   
4. On the flip side, I couldn't eat too full. A really full stomach also made me sick and throw up. I had to balance my food intake. Sad, isn't it?
   
   
5. I couldn't travel outstation by car.
   Not all people have this issue. For me, traveling too long in the car increased the gas in my stomach. In all 3 pregnancies and throughout the 9 months, I got very sick after traveling outstation in a car. And it lasted for 24 hours each time.
   
   
6. I kept some plastic bags in the car
   Many times, my husband couldn't stop the car in time for my nausea. So I used to carry some plastic bags in the car and lotsa tissues to prevent making a complete mess.
   
   
7. Avoided medication for nausea and vomitting. If need to, I just rest.
   Some doctors would give their patients medication to ease their nausea and vomitting. GPs are particularly so especially they provide symptomatic treatment in lots of circumstances. Both my gynaes were firmly against giving me any medication for my nausea and vomitting. My gynae explained before but sorry I can't remember the rationale specifically. I'm talking about the regular symptoms. But if your symptoms are so bad, always see a gynae for advice and even medication if needed. Trust your gynae to give you the right treatment.
   
   
8. The worse is not over until the baby developed the face. That was when my nausea and vomitting peaked. My gynae explained that the baby's defense system goes up during this 1-2 weeks and that is about 4-5 months along in pregnancy. I experienced the worse here. After that, I would gradually surfaced and the morning sickness would suddenly went away one day.

In a lot of cases, I know of people who had morning sickness the whole of 9 months!! Some were so bad that they had to stay in bed most of the time. I was praying I wouldn't be one of them. As it is the 5 months was hard on me. Some friends only got it for a short 3 months. Lucky them! In all my pregnancies, even though my worse was over after 4-5 months, I was still very sensitive throughout my pregnancies. The slightest upset or wrong food (I was extremely sensitive to boric acid) would trigger sickness and vomitting.

Oh, by the way, do avoid food with borc acid as it is harmful to the baby. That is why I got sick when I took noodles - especially 'loh shee fun', sometimes 'kuey teow', yellow me and definitely 'lai fun' (the noodles for assam laksa) - and fish balls.

Hope this helps you. But do bear in mind that no one situation is exactly the same. While this acts to comfort your situation, always go to your gynae for advice.