"I think I might be dying"

I was recently talking to the woman who cleans our apartment for us about her first pregnancy.  She was on birth control when she got pregnant (oops!) and had no inkling at all that she was expecting for the first month or so.  She finally went to the doctor when morning sickness kicked in, and she described her state to her doctor as, "I think I might be dying. I'm so sick every night."  She thought she must have cancer or some other sort of terrible malady to feel that nauseous all the time. That's how fun morning sickness can be!

The surprising thing for me about morning sickness was that it's not just in the morning!  In fact, I have hardly ever felt sick in the morning—the evening is usually the worst time.  As many pregnancy books point out, "morning sickness" is a misnomer for many women.  Fortunately, I'm feeling sick less and less often as the first trimester comes to an end. 

The good news is, you can do a few things to control and prevent first trimester nausea.  Everyone has different tips on how to do so, and I'm sure different things work for different women, but here are a few things I've found most helpful:

• Get enough sleep. Before I got pregnant, I'd very regularly get by on 5-6 hours of sleep.  But now anything less than 7-1/2 or 8 hours of sleep is a recipe for me feeling barfy and exhausted the whole next day.  As soon as I realized this and started sleeping enough, the intense bouts of nausea went away.
• Stay hydrated.  This will also help keep you from feeling warm or feverish. It's a good idea to always carry water with you.
• Never let your stomach be too full or empty.  I find I have to eat a little something every 2-3 hours.  For this reason, I also make sure to eat something shortly after I get up in the morning.
• Each snack should be a good mix of fat, protein and carbs - or at least these are the kinds of snacks I've found most effective at settling my stomach.  I pretty much lived on egg and cheese sandwiches, cheese and crackers, baked potatoes with sour cream, and apples during the worst week or two of nausea.  I also drank a lot of milk and water. 
• Don't eat anything sugary.  I am a huge chocolate fan, and usually have a little bit of chocolate every day.  I could only eat small amounts of very dark, slightly bitter chocolate for most of the first trimester.  Desserts were out of the question.  Strangely, honey did not have the same ill effects as sugar, so if you want to sweeten something, try a bit of honey.  (I believe you are supposed to stick to pasteurized honey while pregnant.)
• There is something to that pregnant women and pickles myth, but it's not just pickles—anything sour or bitter seems to go down well.  A tiny bit of straight lemon juice (I'd just suck on a lemon slice) was strangely effective at calming my stomach.  This worked much better than any over-the-counter remedy; the few I tried were completely useless—save your money for cute maternity clothes instead.
• Ginger candy was also excellent at settling my stomach.  I really liked The Ginger People's gin-gin candies.  Just don't get overly sweet ginger candy—the sugar cancels out the beneficial effects of the ginger.
• If your prenatal multivitamin makes you sick, talk to your doctor about switching to a folic-acid-only supplement.  My doctor suggested that as a possibility before I even mentioned feeling nauseous.
• Pay attention to your body.  Everyone has different smells and tastes that set them off.  For me, onions and Indian food did it, though I was a big fan of both before I got pregnant.  Processed meats, including bacon, also just seem gross to me right now.
• Once the worst week or two of morning sickness was over, I craved steaks regularly, and I always felt great after eating one.  (My husband has spent a lot of time grilling on the barbeque recently.) Your mileage may vary, but if that sounds at all appealing to you, give it a try.  Hamburgers—extra pickles, no onions—have a similar effect, though I often don't want the bun.

The good news is, for most women, "morning" sickness starts about a month after conception and ends after the first trimester.  (It often peaks in intensity in the middle of that period.)  So you probably won't have to worry about feeling sick for too long.  Better yet, maybe you'll be lucky and be one of the 20% of pregnant women who doesn't experience any first trimester nausea! 

Have any other tips for preventing first-trimester nausea?  Post them in the comments below!