Surviving Morning Sickness

A whopping 80%-90% of women experience some degree of morning sickness. I experienced it with both my children. With one of my pregnancies I suffered through Hyperemesis Gravidarum, AKA the nausea from hell. If you are like the majority of women who are experiencing morning sickness, here are a few survival tips.

• If you can keep it down, eat it. The key to morning sickness is to never have an empty stomach. This is because nausea is exacerbated by low blood sugar. Keep snacks on you at all times so you can nibble throughout the day. Before bed, try a more complex carbohydrate like a whole grain muffin. Some women report that salty or tart foods like potato chips or lemonade help alleviate neusea. Watermelon is another common helpful food. Avoid foods that have a strong odor. It can help to eat cold or room temprature food because that will cut down on the odors.
• Liquids. If you are vomitting often, up your fluid intake to 10 or more cups of water per day. Popscilces, italian ice, and electrolyte drinks, are great non water hydrating drinks as well. 
• Skip the Prenatal. If your prenatal vitamin has iron in it, talk to your doctor about skipping the vitamin until you are feeling better. Iron can be really harsh on an already queasy stomach.
• Try accupuncture. The American Medical Asscociation has approved acupunture to treat morning sickness. You can also try BioBands, an acupressure product designed to aleviate nausea. Test out this easy acupressure technique too: Press three fingertips gently but firmly on the base of your palm, just above where you'd take your pulse on your wrist. Breathe deeply and press that area with your fingertips for a minute or more, gradually increasing the pressure until you feel slight discomfort. The sensation should be the same as the feel of a mini-massage.
• Ginger. Many women swear by ginger. You can try it in many different forms, ginger candies, ginger teas, and ginger ale made from real ginger.
• Medicine. If nothing is working, talk to your doctor about medication. Unisom is an over the counter sleep aid that contains an antinausea ingredient. Most health care providers agree that its safe to take during pregnancy. If your morning sickness is really bad, your doctor may perscibe an antinausea medicine like zofran.