The term 'morning sickness' refers to nausea and vomiting during pregnancy, however, it does not necessarily have to strike during the morning hours only. The pregnant woman can experience it any time of the day or night. It is however perfectly normal to have this tendency when you are expecting. It does not mean that you or your baby is sick. It happens because of the hormonal changes inside your body after conception.
Useful Tips
Here are certain do's and don'ts that can help you get relief from the problem-
- Take small but more frequent meals throughout the day so that whatever you eat can be digested easily. You should never be too full or too hungry. Never skip your meals.
- If you do not like the aroma or smell of certain food items, you should avoid them. Stay away from foods that bother you or make you queasy.
- Avoid fatty, greasy, spicy, and rich foods.
- When you feel queasy, try eating bland food, such as chicken broths, Popsicles, Jell-O, ginger ale and pretzels.
- Increase your carbohydrate intake. For example, you can include dry toast, white rice, and plain baked potato in your diet plan.
- In the morning when you awake, you are strongly recommended to eat a few saltine crackers. It will calm your stomach before you get out of the bed.
- If you are taking some vitamin supplements as prescribed by your doctor but you strongly think that these vitamins are actually aggravating the problem of morning sickness for you, you should consult your doctor. Changing the vitamins may lessen your problem.
- Wearing "acupressure" wristbands has also found to be very useful to relieve the problem of nausea. These are the same bands that people wear when they travel in a boat or ship in order to prevent seasickness.
- Get plenty of rest. Try to get a short nap during the day.
- If you have to cook for your family, you had better turn on the exhaust fan or open the window so that the odor does not bother you. It would be better to hire someone else to cook for you during your pregnancy term.
- In order to avoid dehydration, you should drink plenty of fluids - small amounts but more frequently.
- Do not drink water while you are taking your meals. There must be a gap of at least half an hour between your meals and drinks - it can be either before or after the meals.
- You should never lie down just after you have taken your meal.
- In order to relieve nausea, you can also eat watermelon, drink lemonade, and sniff lemon or ginger.
It is also very important for you to understand that when you feel hot, it adds to morning sickness or nausea. Therefore, you should try to keep cool. In spite of everything if you nausea still persists, you should talk to your health care professional about it. Visit pregnancy resources for more information.
