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You know you’re pregnant. You’ve told your significant other. You’re compiling a list of baby names. Everything’s just peachy, right? Oh, and you’re vomiting your brains out. Welcome to first trimester morning sickness.
This is not your life now
First thing you need to hear is that this is a TEMPORARY situation. You will not have morning sickness forever. I know it’s annoying that they call it “morning sickness” when women rarely only experience it in the morning, but this pregnancy symptom will end. Promise.
Morning sickness isn’t actually “bad”
Secondly, you need to know that you aren’t doing anything wrong. Morning sickness is a hormonal response to your pregnancy. It does not indicate you are unhealthy or even especially healthy. This is a neutral occurrence.
A common theme you will hear from me in this post is that everyone is different. No two pregnancies will be exactly the same. Try what sounds good to you, but don’t feel obligated to force yourself to do anything. Pregnancy is a weird time in your life where your body is always changing. Listen to yourself, and do what feels good!
How to survive first trimester morning sickness
No remedy is going to completely eradicate morning sickness, but there are some tricks to keeping it from being too bad for you.
1. Hydrate.
Make sure you’re drinking water even if you can’t eat anything. You’re growing a human inside of you, so extra water is extremely important. Yes, you may need to pee a little more frequently, but if you’re throwing up at all, you’re going to need that extra water intake.
2. Eat something. Anything!
While you have a couple extra dietary restrictions during pregnancy, having anything on your stomach makes a difference. Try and keep some protein down and throughout the day don’t feel bad snacking on carbs. All food is energy for pregnant women, so if you’re not eating due to sickness, you’ll feel like crap later in the day.
3. Walk.
Even if you don’t feel like you want to, exercise will get your blood circulating. This will help even out your hormones and (hopefully!) decrease that pesky first trimester morning sickness.
.The sweet, fruity flavor of these lollipops will help settle your tummy naturally. Chemical-free, drug-free, artificial flavors-free, and dye free, these pops are a healthy alternative to saltines full of preservatives.
5. Cave to the crave.
Sometimes a craving during pregnancy means your body needs a specific nutrient. Studies have shown that salty and sweet cravings can have underlying meanings. Salty cravings are common and may indicate that additional sodium is needed during reproduction. Sweet cravings can be caused by low blood sugar due to an increase in blood volume, but it can also be caused by high glucose levels (see Gestational Diabetes Mellitus). Before increasing your intake of these substances, check with your doctor. Otherwise, cravings are simply your body going to what is comforting. This can help fight morning sickness by getting something on your stomach!
6. Take your prenatals.
Most prenatal vitamins contain B6 which is known to help ease nausea for pregnant women.
7. Drink tea.
Fennel
8. Avoid triggers.
Sometimes morning sickness can be triggered by a certain smell or taste. For me, my fish oil vitamins were a HUGE trigger. If you’re just going to throw up your vitamins, then they’re not doing any good. Shop around and try some different kinds. A friend of mine found a prenatal vitamin spray her midwife recommended, and that worked for her. There’s no one-size fits all, and so long as you’re getting the vitamins and nutrients you need, you can experiment a little.
9. Get busy.
If nothing else is cutting it, try to distract yourself. Get out of the house if you. If you can’t get too far from the bathroom, try watching YouTube videos or movies, listening to podcasts or audiobooks, calling a friend. Anything that distracts yourself from your tummy!
10. Medication.
If you’re really struggling with intense morning sickness, you can talk to your doctor about medications to help with nausea.
Some products that might help
Other first trimester pregnancy symptoms
Other first trimester pregnancy symptoms I had were fatigue, dizziness, cramps (different from period cramps), and major food aversions. I also became extremely emotional, something that has actually stuck with me since getting pregnant. Now I cry at even car commercials.
Yes, it’s pathetic, I know.
Fatigue
Your body is going through so many changes, fatigue is likely to be your first pregnancy symptom. This feeling is likely to follow you throughout the first trimester then improve into the second trimester. As you approach your due date, you may notice another lapse in energy level.
How to beat it
Obviously, rest helps combat fatigue. Don’t feel bad for being a couch potato now and then. Better your energy be reserved for when you really need to use it, like going to work or school. Make sure you hydrate and keep your caloric intake up. This is not the time to be counting calories!
When to call the doc
If you have real trouble making it out of bed each day, talk to your doctor. You may need to up your calorie intake. If this is coupled with morning sickness, it can be easy to miss those much-needed calories.
Dizziness
This is a common problem when it comes to pregnancy. I remember getting up off the couch and suddenly feeling dizzy. Often, dizziness during early pregnancy is simply due to increase of blood volume.
How to beat it
Dizziness can be associated with low blood sugar, so try to keep from skipping meals. If you have morning sickness on top of this, then you need to capitalize on 1) the foods you feel like eating, and 2) the times you feel like eating. I hardly ever wanted to eat in the morning, but in the early afternoon I was starved. Listen to your body!
When to call the doc
If dizziness is accompanied by vaginal bleeding or extreme vomiting, talk to your doctor immediately. Other warning signs are dizziness accompanied by persistent headaches, dizziness that won’t go away, and dizziness with extreme shortness of breath.
Cramps
Having pain during pregnancy is scary! I freaked out when I first felt that tight stabbing feeling in my stomach/uterus region. However, cramping feelings are normal during early pregnancy because the uterus is expanding to allow room for the baby’s growth. This feeling can be described as a tightening, as if something inside were, well, stretching! I wish I had known this when I was in my first trimester! Would have saved me some worry.
How to beat it
Relax, get off your feet, soak in a warm tub. Anything that will help your muscles to loosen up will ease the pain of these stretching cramps. The first time I felt them was when I was helping my husband with an electrical job. I carried a few materials back and forth down long hallways. Once I began to relax that evening, the feeling went away.
When to call the doc
If your pains are feeling like period cramps, then you should talk to your doctor. These cramps may indicate something else is going on. Other things to look out for when it comes to cramping during pregnancy are rhythmic pains, vaginal bleeding, and high blood pressure.
Major Food Aversions
Just like many people have extreme food cravings, others have extreme food aversions. Like me. I couldn’t stand anything that had to do with Chipotle, yet I often wanted Taco Bell. I couldn’t entertain the thought of drinking hot tea, but iced tea was a lifesaver when it came to dealing with morning sickness.
How to beat it
There’s really no way to “trick” yourself into eating something that you loathe during pregnancy. The best you can do is eat around these things that make you want to hurl. Give notice to those around you if they will be eating something, ahem, offensive to you. Food aversions can trigger morning sickness, so keep those first trimester morning sickness survival tips on hand!
When to call the doc
If simply everything is sending you sprinting to the toilet and you aren’t able to keep anything down, it’s time to call the doctor. It’s not uncommon for women with severe morning sickness to be hospitalized for a brief time. This is not something you should panic about, it’s simply the way some women have to keep themselves and their growing babies safe.
What were your worst pregnancy symptoms? Share with me by commenting below!
Love, Emily XOXO
Great post – thanks very much! While I’ve not had children myself, I certainly plan to some day, but morning sickness is definitely something I worry about! I hate being sick, so knowing all these remedies is amazing! Thanks so much 🙂