Morning sickness, travelling, and dramamine
Apr 22 '02
The Bottom Line If you get morning sickness, be prepared. Also, reserve dramamine for rare occasions as it may have a negative impact on your baby.
I've been one of those people that have been blessed with third trimester morning sickness... most people end up sick until about the 12th week or so, and then they get better. I started getting sick in the 12th week, and I haven't gotten better since. After two miscarriages, however, I am happy to get sick.
Morning sickness is different for every individual. It is difficult to give advice on every specific case, but if you have it, you will eventually find out if there's a pattern, if any, and find out the best ways to cope. However, there are certain things you can do to help deal with it in any case.
In my case, I usually get sick in the morning... or at night if I happen to be up late enough. Mine is aggravated by motion in a vehicle. I will usually be fine after vomiting... often I can eat immediately afterwards. It often takes about 5 minutes to get the mucus out of my system. I can get sick on an empty or a full stomach, and some things taste better on the way up than other things.
There are some things you should have handy if you are prone to have morning sickness:
A plastic bag. Make sure that there are no holes in this bag. I ride the bus a lot, and fortunately, I have only had to use this once. If you are riding in the car or on a form of public transportation, you might find this essential.
Listerine oral care strips. The kind that you just pop in your mouth and they melt. These take up a lot less space than your toothbrush and toothpaste, and fit in your coat pocket. These are definitely handy to have, because you may not be in a position to make it to the restroom to brush your teeth immediately afterwards.
Spare underwear. If you happen to be prone to a weak bladder during times of heaving. I don't always carry these around, only during times I am at my most nautious... but there have been a few times I wished I had not left this at home.
Hair rubber bands. If you happen to have long hair and sometimes have a little notice before you get sick. There have been quite a few times when I just know that I'm about to get sick, and can manage to hold back for just a few minutes in order to put my hair in a ponytail. If you are prone to morning sickness while pregnant, you can get to be a pro about neatly expelling the contents of your stomach... this is definitely a tool to aid you in that.
There are many products that have been developed to ease morning sickness... but to tell you the truth, my morning sickness is usually predictable enough and not bad enough for me to warrant buying any. I will not review them here, but there are many pregnancy sites on the web that will try to sell them to you.
Morning sickness while travelling. Hopefully your morning sickness won't be so bad that it will keep you from travelling. I have had the opportunity to make transatlantic flights, as well as extended bus trips, while pregnant, and there are some precautions you may wish to take on these trips as well.
While on a plane. Make sure that the seat pocket in front of you is stocked with a vomit bag. You may never need it, but you never know. I was about 2 hours to the end of an 11 hour flight when I suddenly had a bout of nausea. I looked in the seat pocket and there was nothing. There were flight attendants with a drink cart blocking the path to the bathroom. Fortunately, a little bit of prayer left me with only a little bit of hypersalivation (which I was able to dribble into a cup). I did ensure that I got a bag at the earliest possible moment however. I did have the plastic bag with me, but since that's not the prettiest sight, I try to reserve that for emergencies.
While on a bus. You may or may not have a bathroom on the bus. Take the plastic bag. Or two. The bathroom on the bus (as well as on a plane) is probably not going to be large enough for you to comfortably be able bend over and hit the toilet anyway.
I made two overnight bus trips while pregnant. While I never had to resort to the plastic bag, on the first trip I did get sick off the side of the road (I wasn't showing yet either, and I felt like some drunk). The second trip I took dramamine... which has its pros and cons.
The pros... it really does work. I had never taken dramamine in my life before, as I am not prone to motion sickness when not pregnant. I know that I tend to get sick from around midnight to six in the morning, so I took one pill each night around 10 or 11, and a second pill at about 2 in the morning. I got through the whole weekend vomit free.
The con to dramamine... it may knock the baby out. I got permission from my doctor to use dramamine before this trip, but I did notice negative effects. My daughter, who usually passes her kick counts (needs to kick 10 times within 2 hours some time throughout the day) failed her kick count the day I took dramamine. She would kick a few times during the day, but she was a lot more lethargic than normal. She may have failed because I was busy thinking about other things... but she was noticeably more inactive. Reserve dramamine usage to rare occasions when you really don't want to get sick.
There are other issues with morning sickness that are beyond the scope of this review. If you find yourself getting so sick that you can't keep any food or liquids down, contact your doctor. You may need to be hospitalized if your situation is bad enough... they can give you an IV to replace lost fluids. For most people, however, morning sickness is just a nuisance.
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Homeschooling mom of two cute kids.
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