Alleviating Morning Sickness

Most women don't think of morning sickness as helpful, but it can be an excellent
indicator of pregnancy. Morning sickness usually begins between the fourth and sixth
week of pregnancy. This is often the first sign most women get that they are actually
pregnant. Therefore, morning sickness is a clue to start taking better care of your health
for you and your baby.

No one knows the exact reason pregnant women experience this time of nausea and
vomiting. When you become pregnant, your body is going through many hormonal
changes, which are normal. The pregnancy hormone, "human chronic gonadotropin," is
believed to be the cause of morning sickness, although not much research has been
done on the subject. Low blood sugar is also believed to be a contributing factor of
nausea and vomiting during early pregnancy.

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 worsen can be helpful in preventing severe symptoms. Unfortunately, in
some cases, nothing can be done to lessen the severity of morning sickness. 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:

" Do not let your stomach get empty. An empty stomach can lead to severe
nausea.
" Move slowly when getting out of bed in the morning.
" If possible, eat a few crackers before getting out of bed.
" Drinking plenty of fluids during the day can prevent dehydration.
" Get lots of rest, taking naps during the day if possible.
" When cooking, keep your kitchen well ventilated to avoid lingering odors.
" Get a light amount of exercise, which will help you sleep and get rest.

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 and acidic foods. These foods can irritate your delicate
stomach and make your symptoms worse.
4. Stay away from high-fat foods. These can also worsen morning sickness
symptoms.
5. Eat foods high in protein, as they can help lessen your symptoms.
6. Drinking fluids thirty minutes before and thirty minutes after eating can help
with symptoms, try not to drink during meals.
7. Eat whatever foods you feel like you can keep down. Pregnancy is not a time to
start or continue on a diet, unless advised by your doctor.
8. Avoid hot foods if your sense of smell is very strong. Cold foods do not smell as
strong as hot foods.
9. Eat anytime you feel like you want to.
10. 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.
11. Some women find relief in drinking carbonated drinks.
12. 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.