Let the Morning Sickness Begin!
Morning sickness is typically one of the first signs of a pregnancy, lasting from about the sixth to the twelfth week of pregnancy. If you are suffering from morning sickness, it is not a threat to you or the baby's health. If, on the other hand, you are unable to keep any of your food down, it is possible that you are suffering from hyperemesis gravidarum (http://www.americanpregnancy.org/pregnancyhealth/morningsickness.html). If hyperemesis gravidarum is very severe and goes untreated, it can be harmful to you and your baby. This is the result of a shortage of nutrients and electrolytes. If you are suffering from these symptoms, you should contact your health care provider.
What is Morning Sickness?
Over half of the women who become pregnant suffer from morning sickness. Morning sickness is a feeling of nausea that you get when you are pregnant. It is not always accompanied by vomiting. Morning sickness is the result of pregnancy related hormones moving through the body. Morning sickness, so long as it is not extremely severe, is actually a good sign because it means that the placenta is forming properly.
Advice for Dealing with Morning Sickness:
If you are suffering from nausea during pregnancy, it is a good idea to eat smaller meals more often rather than fewer large meals. You should avoid drinking water while you are eating. Instead, you should drink about a half hour before you eat. It is also advisable that you drink small quantities of water throughout the day in order to avoid becoming dehydrated.
You may want to consider eating something very light, such as saltine crackers, about fifteen minutes before you get out of bed in the morning. Do not eat anything whose smell causes you to feel nauseous. If the smell of cooking bothers you, you should have somebody else cook for you if possible. Open up the windows and turn on the fans to rid the room of the smells.
Make sure that you get plenty of sleep, not just at night but whenever you feel the need to take a nap. You should also avoid hot places because heat and the feeling of sweating can increase your likelihood to feel nauseated. The smell of lemons or ginger is helpful for some women. Lemonade or watermelon may also do the trick. Eating a few salty chips before a meal may also help. Finally, getting some mild exercise is advised.
Things That You Should Not Do:
Do not lie down after you eat. This means that gravity is no longer on your side, leaving the burden of keeping your food down entirely on your body. Do not skip meals; always eat before you start to feel hungry. Avoid spicy foods. It is probably a good idea not to even cook them. The acid in spicy foods is associated with nausea in people who are susceptible.
What Causes Morning Sickness?
Although nobody is entirely sure, the scientific consensus is that morning sickness is most likely an evolved adaptation. It is intended to protect the embryo from toxins that would be harmful for the baby if they were not excreted from the body before making it to the placenta. This is because several plants contain chemicals that serve to keep animals from eating them. Adults have mechanisms to protect themselves from these chemicals, but fetuses do not. Chemicals that are harmless to adults can be damaging or even lethal to unborn children. The evidence for this theory is compelling. Since more than fifty percent of pregnant women suffer from morning sickness, the likelihood that it is an adaptation is high. It is also most frequent at about three months, when fetuses are most susceptible. Foods with higher concentrations of toxins also cause more nausea. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morning_sickness)
