Thursday, April 8, 2010

Morning Sickness

To all those suffering from morning sickness, or from what I have called permanent day sickness (PDS) please know that you are not alone! This post is to share what I have learned along my journey the past 8 months and most of all for those of you who may be suffering and reading this to know you are not alone!

For me it all started within 4 weeks of finding out I was preganant. I was scheduled to present at a fitness conference in Halifax, a full 8 hour event that featured none other than the newly pregnant me. I started feeling a little queasy in the mornings a few days before I was to travel and thought nothing of it. This is what I had read about and was prepard for. A little uneasiness in the morning and on with my day I would go.

I made it to Halifax late afternoon and by the next morning when it was time for me to shine I had already hugged the toilet a few times too many. I made it through the day with some grace and nobody seemed to suspect anything, or mentioned otherwise. The next morning in my hotel room was followed with some dry heaving and I made my goal of making it to the airport and flying home.

From the first day home forward my PDS began. I thought that for some this was the morning sickness they spoke of and that it would soon pass.

However I learned after a week of not being able to leave my bed or the toilet that this was not the regular morning sickness described in books. The depression started to hit me. Getting out of bed in the morning was a scary thought, even just opening my eyes after being asleep as I knew the vomitting would come next.

I had been so excited for this pregnancy and always dreamed of being the glowing and vibrant pregnant women and was devastated at first that this was not me.

I tried different food combinations, drinks, smoothies, etc. Nothing seemed to help. What went in usually came back out. I read and read books and information on the internet. However most pregnant women do not experience nausea and vomitting to this extreme. I was at my wits ends and realized that I needed help if I wanted to be able to function at all throughout this pregnancy.

Thanks to Ann Douglas and our twitter conversations I picked up the phone and called MotherRisk out of Sick Kids in Toronto.

Here are some things I found helpful throughout my pregnancy and hope they may help you......

*Call motherrisk @ Sick Kids I cannot express this enough. They have tips and tricks that will make you feel better! Not cured but can take the edge off most days. They are also usually better at informing of diclectin doses than Dr. And will tell you other anti nausea meds that are safe and can help keep diclectin down ;)

*get your doctor to prescribe diclectin

*eat very very small meals

*never drink fluids while eating. The combo is guaranteed to bring on vomit!

*Gwen from Nayla Natural Care I cannot thank you enough! I am ever grateful to the introduction to Earth Mama Morning Sickness Tea & Preggie Pops Gwen- your thoughtfullness, caring nature and warm thoughts from experience sincerely helped me get through some very dreary days over the past months. We have yet to meet in person but I cannot wait until the day we do!

*eat whatever you can whenever you can. Dearest Husband looked a little crooked eyed at me somedays with my requests and even asked the doctor if he should be concerned with making sure I ate certain things. The Dr. said give the girl what she wants! There were some very odd requests at times but the concern is getting food in and keeping whatever you can down. Poutine was something that for some reason or another usually would stay in! Breakfast requests, 2 days in a row, was poutine and mozzarella cheese sticks. I don't know why but thats what worked. Othere days it was toast, crackers or anything else with salt!

*jello made with pedialite or sports drinks turned into ice cubes also was a great way to stay dehydrated. Sports drinks on their own were too sweet for me but watered down or made into ice cubes was good. That being said too much of one thing can be bad. I hope to never see a sports drink again ;)

*some medications say not to take during pregnancy but talk to your doctor & Mother Risk. ex: anti-nausea pills say not for pregnant women. Mother Risk has done much research on how much and when you are able to take them. For me they were prescribed to take before my diclectin just to keep that down!

*some vitamins can increase nausea. Talk to your doctor about your options to help you get appropriate nutrition and stay vomit-free for a few more minutes ;)

*be forewarned that the nausea may improve but it may also stay with you through the duration of the pregnancy.

*ask for help and support. Don't be afraid to tell others about your permanent day sickness! There are more of us out there than you usually think. Most importantly you are not alone!

~A

3 comments:

  1. Great tips!
    I think you have it worse than I did, but I was on diclectin the entire time for both pregnancies. I had to cut out all vitamins - I knew they were good for me but I just couldn't handle the accompanying nausea.
    Also, the more I slept the less sick I felt. Not ideal if you have a full time job. Luckily (sort of) I was unemployed for the majority of my second pregnancy and worked part time weird hours at the beginning so got a lot more sleep in than when I was working full time hours with my first pregnancy. This made the world of difference.
    I ate whatever I felt could stay down too. My first trimester with the twins, all I wanted were french fries, hash browns, mcdonalds and grilled cheese sandwiches. Whatever works!
    And from my experience, from the moment I went into labour (except for a short spell in active labour) the nausea disappeared for good!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lara- its my fear that I will be this sick for preg. #2 and have a little one to take care of at the same time! some people say that they aren't sick for all preg. & others feel sick through all. Guess I won't know until we cross that bridge, but gotta get through this one first ;) Yes, first 6 months I craved anything salty. poutine was my best friend and the only thing that never came back up. I do have many foods that I don't know if I will ever be able to eat again!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Amanda!

    I only just saw this post today after clicking on the link in Twitter to see your new post (great pics by the way...I always regret not getting a better photographer for my pregnancy shots, but that is another story! :))

    It was my pleasure to help you out in any way I could. As a former PDS (lol) sufferer, I know exactly what you are feeling. Everyone told me that it would go away at 3 months (it didn't), that I would forget all about it after the baby was born, (I haven't), so I can really sympathize with any mom-to-be going through the same thing. Luckily, my PDS ended at the 7 month point both times so I was able to enjoy the end of my pregnancies sickness free. I am sorry to hear that you will most likely be going into your delivery feeling this way but I am am happy to know that the products did provide a bit of relief for you.

    Enjoy the last few weeks of your pregnancy. I know you will not miss the sickness, but you will miss that belly and feeling the baby kick around in there. Savour every second left :)Pregnancy is such a special time.

    I hope to meet you in person too! With all the local tweet ups that happen, I am sure it will be sooner rather than later :)

    ReplyDelete