Fun morning sickness stories?

In My Humble Opinion
1

Okay, the ‘fun’ is a lie. I’m eight weeks pregnant with my second kid, and thankfully this time I’m much less morning sick than last time (I was on anti-nausea meds until I gave birth, ick). Currently, I can eat in the morning after I’ve thrown up if it’s McDonald’s or equivalent greasy stuff. Also ick.

Anyway, I have an extreme aversion to tomato sauce and most meat, sweet things, and probably a whole host of other stuff. Because of my last pregnancy, I always make it to the toilet. I am a pro.
So, what weird things did you need to eat or avoid during your pregnancies? How did you manage? If you had multiple kids, how did you manage that (kid-chasing during pregnancy is less than peaceful)?

2

Congratulations on your second! I’ll be entering month 7 with number 2 soon. I had absolutely no morning sickness with my first, but with this one, I couldn’t stand the smell or taste of peppermint. Which is unfortunate, because I chew gum all the time. I had to switch to lemon drops, which really helped control the nausea.

I also got really nauseated with perfumes I used to wear. I’ve rarely worn heavy perfume, but I used to spray just a litte in the air and wave my wrists through it. But I can’t stand the smell now. It smells all wrong and my sense of smell is even stronger than usual.

It’s funny you mention your McDonald’s craving because I’ve also had a weird McDonald’s craving with this one. I’ve also spent the whole pregnancy so far jonesing for biscuits and sausage. And, one of the best things for my early-morning nausea was a cup of regular coffee. With my first, I remember eschewing all things caffeinated. With this one, I’m keeping it reasonable, but have eased that particular restriction. After all, how else can I stay awake?

Anyway, I also have a 3-year-old and work full time. It was murder those first months keeping up with him. Did you know that a 3-year-old kid can run for two hours without stopping? I didn’t. Consequently, I’ve gained about half the weight I did with my son.

As for dealing with chasing him around, I mostly just powered through it, kept up with the workouts (modified to be a little easier) so I could keep up and went to bed lots earlier than I had been before. Naps on the weekends are now a must.

3

I managed to avoid morning sickness with my first, but this second time around…UGH. As far as my little man (3) goes, it was rough chasing him when standing up made me run to the toilet. One time we were playing on the floor, and I had to get up and vomit. He was being three–“Mommy has to go, she’s sick.” “NO you’re NOT!”–but I had no time to argue. As I hurl into the toilet, I feel this teeny tiny hand rubbing my back and this soft little voice saying, “Mommy, you sick? You throw up? You feel better now?” I did a lot of resting, and had to throw my “limit TV to 25-45min/day” rule out the window. Sometimes, Dora and Diego were my rescuers.

The only thing I could stomach was bland: tator tots, bread, mashed potatoes. Even that got tiresome. I didn’t crave anything at all–when people asked if I had any aversions, I said, “Food.” I was able to eat okay up until about 2pm, so I loaded up the calories while I could. I managed to maintain weight in my first trimester; I hadn’t gained, but I didn’t lose.

Being a teacher made the morning sickness…interesting. I had to call the office a few times to rush someone over so I could go lose my lunch. It was hardest when mmy students didn’t know I was preggo, but eventually, I was so sick I had to tell them so they knew teacher was okay.

Funny, I went to Babies R Us and bought every morning sickness concoction they had–the teas, the lollipops, the drops–and I couldn’t stomach the very smell of them. The idea of eating, sucking on, or drinking them was enough to send me over the edge. So now, I have all of these Preggie Pops, Preggie Pops, Morning Wellness teas, etc. just lying around. Whee.

The good news is, the nausea stopped at around 12 weeks. I still have moments; I threw up randomly last week when severe heartburn and a coughing fit conspired against me.

Hope your MS passes quickly, and that you find whatever will work for you to keep it at bay.

4

I had horrible morning sickness (a misnomer, because it lasted all day) with both of my kids. I was on meds with my second, but even they didn’t help much. Thankfully, it only lasted until about 15 weeks with both pregnancies. I didn’t do much barfing with either, but my nausea was so severe I couldn’t actually get anything down.

With the first, the only things I could keep down were Honeycomb cereal and salad with Thousand Island dressing. I have no idea why - I don’t generally eat cereal, and I actively dislike TI dressing when I’m not pregnant. With my second, I had an odd craving for ham and jam sandwiches. Yucko.

5

I remember being very tired by the time my day was over and wanting to make supper time easier, I made a pot roast in the slow cooker.

Bad idea.

I cam home to a house that smelled wonderfully awful. I spent the next few hours hanging over the toilet while my husband frantically tried to de-pot-roast the house.

6

I remember going through a stretch where the only thing I wanted to eat were steak fries and blue cheese dressing. The thought of anything else made me want to hurl.

7

I had to throw out a package of fabric softener with my last. It made me dizzy and ill. I also couldn’t stand basmati rice, chicken, broccoli, or steak. And several thousand other things.

I’m on a good anti-nausea med now, and it means I only puke once a day. I read a great book last time where the author described throwing up everyone’s suggested morning sickness remedies. It made lying on the couch a little more bearable, to know that other people had been wretchedly ill.

Gnat’s only eighteen months, and his vocabulary’s quite limited. I haven’t been able to get, “Mama is sick, and doesn’t want to play chase”, or “Mama needs to go throw up. Don’t bang on the bathroom door and cry this time, okay?” across to him. Sigh.

8

It wasn’t bad with my first pregnancy, but with my second the nausea went on for weeks. I remember eating a lot of Vinegar & Salt potato chips.

My motion sickness also became much worse - I couldn’t ride in a car as a passenger at all. I drove my husband around everywhere for nine months.

9

Urgh, what a timely thread. I’m just almost 8 weeks with my first and *hating *the morning sickness. It started about a week after conception, and is just there all the time. I guess I’m lucky that I’m not actually throwing up, but I have gone off pretty much all food, and am nauseus unless I eat constantly. And even then, I still feel sick, just not quite as. As a consequence I’m eating crap (even McDonalds is sounding tempting at times - why is that?), and putting on weight, but not the good kind.

And then there’s the fact that what ‘appeals’ one day will be something I can’t even think about the next day without wanting to hurl. Makes shopping an adventure.

And the fact that any smell makes it worse. I am really not enjoying running the gamut at work, and holding my breath every time someone walks past wearing stinky perfume. I can’t even get near my husband as even the smell of him makes me sick.

My poor husband is doing great with the constant running around after me, trying to anticipate my every whim (i.e. that sudden clarification that comes when you know that if you don’t eat soon, you’ll throw up, and you have finally decided on what you think you just possibly might be able to stomach), but I am hating every moment of this.

Not that I’m glad to hear about other people’s morning sickness, but it is making me feel a little better to know that I’m not alone. And sorry to hear that some have it way worse.

If I could add a sort of related question in here - does anyone else find that when their digestive system slows down, and you get a little constipated, it’s actually uncomfortable to sit down? Is this just me? I wasn’t sure if this was someting normal to do with a growing uterus and the fact that I’m a little more full of crap than normal!

10

My digestive system slowed down, but I don’t get constipated. Sorry you’ve got that fun symptom, Neeps.

Charlotte Bronte died of morning sickness.

11

I only threw up a few times, but I often felt like I wanted to. And I had little appetite. For 20 weeks this lasted. That was depressing, 20 weeks of eating only because I had to, trying to find food that offered maximum nutrition for minimum gagging. I choked down a lot of Total cereal.

Both times I yakked it was a banana that did it to me. I discovered that bananas are pretty slippery coming back up, so if you have to yak something, I highly recommend bananas for a low-fuss vomiting experience.

12

Thanks. I think I’ll mention it to my doctor next time I’m there to make sure that nothing nefarious is happening down below!

Don’t tell me that!!

13

Also good to throw up- tea, ginger ale, apple juice. Not good- milk, orange juice, solid food.

Sorry. Hyperemetis Gravidarum, excessive vomiting during pregnancy. It doesn’t kill women any more (at least in the developed world) because they strap you down and get an IV into you. Dehydration is dangerous. Charlotte Bronte is the example I’ve used when people have told me morning sickness is a) all in your head, b) not bad. I think last time I’d probably have died without medication.

I’ve got this on’t-have-to-chew-and-has-enough-fat theory regarding really crappy fast food and pregnancy, but it’s baseless. It’s non-threatening when every other food seems like The Enemy.

14

I think it also has to do with speed of service. Who wants to smell what they are having to choke down any sooner than they have to? Fast food and ready meals fit this bill, particularly when someone else does the ordering/nuking.

Also meant to say that I’m impressed with anyone who goes through this more than once. Not only do you know what to dread, but you have another kid or two to take care of at the same time. At the moment, I can’t fathom this.

Meant to ask, when’s your due date? It sounds like we’re pretty close together. Mines’ March 24th. Unless it’s twins - find out on Wednesday at the follow up scan (we did IVF so there’s a 30% chance…gulp!)

Oh, feeling queasy again…better find something to eat. Again.

15

My word. March 20th. We’ll have twins! Straight Dope twins! :smiley:
I think the eighteen months in between plus my kid’s extreme cuteness fried my brain. I do miss the newborn stage. I’m not sure I miss the 6-9 months sleep problem stage, but there’s lots of time between now and then.

And my morning sickness really is better this time. You sound like you’re as sick as I was last time, you poor thing.

16

Or triplets! I’ll let you know on Wednesday…

Glad to hear the memory fades - gives me some hope!

Thanks, although I feel bad because so many people on the SD seem to have gone through worse (hospital and IV fluids worse). I just keep trying to remind myself of that when I’m feeling down.

Glad it’s better for you this time around. Maybe that gives me a little hope for next time (if there is a next time).

17

Oh, gosh, a timely thread for me too… due end of Jan; I’ve just got through the worst part, I think (the part where I was nauseous every moment of the day and had to be eating something constantly and what didn’t make me nauseous changed constantly and I couldn’t get anything done because I was too busy thinking about my stomach), though I’m still nauseous sometimes, I still don’t want to eat a lot of meat, and I threw up again this morning, yay.

I know it could be a lot worse (my ob/gyn told me not to call him unless I was throwing up three times a day, and even at the worst it was more like once or twice a week) so I try not to complain too much, but I do kind of want to hit something when my sister-in-law, who had a baby last year and morning sickness that was just during the morning, tells me helpful things like “Try eating nuts instead of sugary foods” and “You should be eating more fresh fruits and vegetables.” Thanks a lot! Yes, if I could even THINK about eating nuts, or swiss chard, without going all wonky, maybe I would! (I have been eating a lot of fresh fruit and corn, so it’s not all been french fries and chocolate peanut butter cups, but I’ve certainly been eating more of the latter than I would have liked to.)

Oh, and thanks for the stories of people who were sick beyond their twelfth week but eventually were okay. Everyone I know immediately got better after twelfth week, so I got kind of depressed when I was still throwing up a couple of weeks later.

18

Way back 21 years ago I remember feeling nauseated in the mall. I didn’t make it to the restroom, so I puked in one of those pretty fountains right in the middle of the mall.
Later my craving was ketchup on everything, whereas I’d hated it before. Also egg rolls from this corner gas station. It had to be them, and they had to have hot mustard.

With my youngest I only threw up once in a Kroger parking lot after drinking strawberry milk. Before that I wanted everything strawberry flavored. Not real strawberry though, it had to be the tart artificial flavor. After that I just wanted chocolate everything but that was normal with me.
The trigger for my sickness was fresh baked bread. I couldn’t go back into Kroger for several months, and even then I had to stay far away from the bakery section of the store.

19

Hah. Twelfth week? Hah. I started feeling better last time around week fifteen, and couldn’t stop the meds for the whole time. Ten months.

“Have you tried ginger tea?” “Why yes, I’ve thrown up quite a lot of ginger tea.”

I’m glad you’re past the worst part. Lots of women are still sick until week 16-18. It’s quite common, according to my midwife.

Last whine: I am also still breastfeeding. I’m grateful I can still eat at least most of the time for this go-round, because Gnat’s still nursing probably ten times a day, and my blood sugar really crashes if I don’t eat often.

20

I can remember being on the train, probably 7 or 8 months along, and heading to an appointment. Suddenly I started to feel like I was going to throw up, and I’m standing there (yes, standing) praying the train reaches the next station before I lose my lunch on the train.

It reaches the station, I book it out the door, shoving people aside as I go, and thankfully there was a garbage can about a meter away from the door where I proceed to puke in front of the lunch hour crowd.

I have no idea how many odd looks I got, but I bet there was a lot as I didn’t look pregnant at all (thus the standing part).

It was worse earlier on, but towards the end I tended to get… woogy real easily. You know, like when blood sugar crashes and you get kinda dizzy and ill feeling and need to sit down right now and drink some OJ? Early on, perhaps my third month, I actually fainted dead away in a book store. I was lucky, my head missed the shelf by about an inch.