Morning or All DAY?
Oct 29 '00
Morning Sickness is definitely a bad name for the vomiting and nausea that accompanied my three pregnancies.
With my first baby, I began to feel nausea in the morning at around the third week of the pregnancy. By the 7th week I was not just sick in the morning, I was sick in the mid morning, in the late morning, in the early afternoon, in the mid afternoon, in the late afternoon and ALL NIGHT LONG! In fact, until about the 5th month of that pregnancy my morning sickness lasted all the time.
Everyone had advice for me. I heard statements like, "eat saltines first thing in the morning," "drink more water", "take your vitamin" "take tums", "get more rest"....the advice just kept on coming. I tried everything and got no where.
In the 6th and 7th months my "All Day" sickness went away with that pregnancy. In the last two months I suffered from severe motion sickness. I also noticed that my gag reflex was very strong and I felt like I had a lot of nasal stuffiness which made me gag and as a result I was sick from that. I did not have an upset stomach.
With my second pregnancy, I was not sick at all until the 7th month. It was then that the "all day sickness" took effect. I again had the nasal stuffiness and increased gagging that I had had in the first pregnancy.
In my third pregnancy I began vomiting at the first month. I vomited so much that I was hospitalized three times for dehydration. I tried everything. I took tums, I took papaya enzyme, I ate saltine crackers by the box. I could not stop vomiting. In fact I vomited for three weeks after the pregnancy.
My daughter was 6 years old when I was pregnant with my third child. I was constantly in the bathroom vomiting and it really had an effect on her. I remember one afternoon she had a little friend over to play. I had been laying on the couch, my three year old was napping at the time and I could hear the girls making strange noises and giggling. I went to find out what they were up to and found them in the bathroom. They were both pretending to throw up in the toilet. I was horrified and asked them what they were doing. "We are pretending we are having babies" both of them answered. "just like you Mom," My daughter said innocently.
I was absolutely taken by surprise by this innocent game these girls were playing.
Morning sickness, or all day sickness in my case, is very difficult. I tore all of the muscles in my abdomen from vomiting and the pain was severe.
However, people consider morning sickness to be such a normal part of pregnancy that they do not realize that women who have it are really in need of a lot of support. I could not work because my vomiting was so severe with my third child. And because morning sickness is the most talked about symptom of pregnancy it seems that women who have it are expected to just grin and bear it. I heard comments from more than one co-worker about how I was using a little morning sickness to get time out from work.
I even had a co-worker try to tell me that there was no real cause for morning sickness, that women who say they are sick are conjuring it up in their head and forcing themselves to have this reaction to pregnancy.
When I first got pregnant I would vomit three times every morning during the drive to work. I took an extra outfit to change my clothes when I got to work and then I would vomit at work at least once an hour. I had to eat snacks to keep myself from getting the dry heaves and I drank a lot of water. I ran out of important meetings to go to the bathroom and vomit. It was awful. The vomiting also caused dehydration and as a result from my 20th week on I was having contractions. The stress on my body from all of the vomiting was very bad. I had blood vessels break in my eyes, I pulled the muscles in my abdomen, I developed a very weak bladder and I was a total mess. I could not travel, if I got into any moving vehicle the motion sickness was unbearable. I was at risk for pre-term labor and had to stay on bedrest as much as possible. My doctors visits were every two weeks throughout the pregnancy and I was constantly having IV's stuck into me to rehydrate me. I was in constant fear that my baby was not gaining weight and not receiving the necessary nutrients he needed to grow. As the baby grew bigger and my pregnancy progressed my vomiting increased and worsened. I had severe leg aches and back aches. I had dark circles around my eyes and I felt like I had the flu for the entire pregnancy.
Often women snicker about morning sickness. I have found that women who have never had morning sickness oftentimes are very quick to judge those of us who are victims of it. Everyone has advice for morning sickness. Some women sail through their pregnancy without any sign of it. Some have it a little bit and some have it a lot. Since I always had vomiting associated with pregnancy I did not realize until my third baby that morning sickness is a serious condition if it is severe. At first I thought vomiting was just a normal part of pregnancy for me I had had it so much with my first two pregnancies. However, if you are vomiting all day make sure you tell your doctor. You can quickly dehydrate from vomiting and that can send you into pre-term labor. It is important that your doctor know how often you are vomiting.
Also, if you have All Day sickness like I did, you can still enjoy your pregnancy. Keep reminding yourself that this will end and a baby will be in your arms. Don't let others make light of your plight. Serious morning sickness, is REAL and it is very difficult to handle.
If you have a friend who is suffering from All Day sickness, offer to help her in little ways. Take care of her older children for her, prepare meals for her family so that she will not have to do it, help her with housework. Sit with her and talk with her and do not keep suggesting ideas for her to try. Suggest she see a doctor. Most of all be supportive.
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pantazis5
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Location: New Hampshire
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Life is a banquet and most people are starving to death!
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