I just learnt 2 days ago that my GF is pregnant … - well mostly due to the fact that she is barfing a lot
I just called her again, and got the distinct “bathroom reverb” on the phone … and I feel very sorry for her being in this unpleasant situation
Could I please ask the sympathetic femaleship (?) and others - here on straightdope if they have any (hopefully) natural remedies … any herbal teas, does and don’ts or so?
We live in S-America and wont have the same medcine as you guys in the states.
Also what causes this effect? Is it hormonal disorder?
As to what causes it, IANAD, but I’ve heard the following theory:
The prime danger time for fetal anomolies is the first trimester. The baby-to-be is just starting to form its parts, so it is a good thing if the mother-to-be avoids any questionable foods. However, she really doesn’t need any extra calories now. Ergo, women who are sick to their stomachs had a slightly better chance, back in our hunter-gatherer days, of having a healthy, non-deformed baby. So this trait is beneficial and was passed along. She’s puking now to prevent her from ingesting harmful substances, since she really doesn’t feel like ingesting *any * substances.
Whether this is really the case, who knows. But it’s a comforting fact to think that you’re barfing your guts out for a good reason.
As to what to do about it, one thing to try is very simple: crackers. Bland, boring, plain crackers. Keeping a small amount of simple food in the stomach sometimes helps alleviate nausea. Sometimes. YMMV
Never letting your stomach get completely empty is the best treatment.
Giner tea or ginger ale with real ginger is good. Peppermint tea is another good one. Sipping pear juice helped me a lot, but it’s expensive here.
Discourage her from drinking chamomile tea (I know it’s popular for digestive upset in much of S.America, as it is here.) There’s some suspicion that, in high doses, it could cause miscarriage.
Some women find relief using wrist bands sold by nautical suppliers for sea-sickness.
Saltines next to the bed. If she wakes in the middle of the night she should munch one. Before her foot even hits the ground in the morning, she should munch two.
Let me just add that not only do not all women experience morning sickness, but not all women who do get it get it with every baby.
With my son, I was just fine. One queasy day in 9 months - which was most likely the fault of the half a watermelon I scarfed down for breakfast, and not the pregnancy at all. I was on top of the world.
With my daughter, I was on top of the toilet. And next to the toilet. And praying to just yack and get it over with, because throwing up “cured” the nausea for 15-20 minutes. That lasted all 23 weeks I was pregnant, almost all day long.
Now, there were 13 years between the two pregnancies (I was 17 with my son, 30 with my daughter), so that may have had something to do with it. I was also significantly overweight with my daughter, so I wonder (WAG alert!) if the morning sickness was my body’s way of making sure I didn’t gain too much weight with my daughter* (and I didn’t, only 12 pounds), whereas with my son, I was underweight when I got pregnant, and ate like a horse the whole time.
*Put in more scientific terms, I wonder if the excess estrogen, which is stored in fat deposits, had something to do with making me feel ill.
By some accounts, fennel seed tea can help, or umeboshi plums, or fresh sesame seeds/gomasio. Seconding the ginger ale, or maybe try either ginger snaps or fresh ginger? Saltine crackers (low salt for me) helped me. I’d eat a few before getting out of bed. Ginger ale, peppermint tea, fennel seasoning in dishes, and flat Sprite helped me at times too.
