(The morning I found out I was pregnant)
No amount of advice, and trust me, there was plenty, could have prepared me for what the first trimester had to offer. I was given approximately five days of bliss before morning sickness hit me like a big yellow school bus. Don't you worry, just like every pregnancy is different, so is every woman's experience or lack of experience with morning sickness. For example, my mother only felt nauseated in the mornings for a short period of time, with all three of her pregnancies. Not I. Not I.
I should first tell you that I am a drama queen when it comes to puking. Actually, the term "drama queen" doesn't accurately describe what I turn into when I vomit. So, you can only imagine how afraid I was of being that woman. You know, the woman that not only feels nauseated, but ends up puking her brains out along the way? I'm sure you know where I am going with this, right? You guessed it. I was that woman.
The morning of my 6th week of pregnancy it was like a switch went off. As soon as I opened my eyes I knew something was off. Very. Very. Off. I slowly sat up in bed and realized that if I moved any quicker, I was going to barf all over my purple pajamas. I dragged myself out of bed and headed to turn on the shower. I've conditioned myself to believe that a warm shower cures everything. I was wrong, it doesn't cure morning sickness. At first I wasn't very alarmed. I mean, how bad could this get? The joke was on me.
Lucky for me, my morning sickness didn't just last the early hours of the actual morning. Think more of morning, noon, and night. The nausea, dizziness, and occasional vomiting lasted ALL.DAY.LONG. It only subsided the moment I put my head down and closed my eyes. Those days were rough. A trip to the grocery store meant knowing exactly where the restroom was, and how long it would take me to get there, before losing my cookies all over the oranges. There were several times where I pulled up into the driveway and never made it to the door; I puked in my front yard. Such a pretty scene.
Here's the thing, there was not a single remedy that helped soothe my nausea. And, I didn't want to resort to taking medication, which meant I had to take it one day at a time. Oh, and don't you fret, I tried almost every natural remedy that was suggested. Sea-bands? Tried it. Ginger? Ginger-ale? Ginger snaps? Tried. Tried. Tried. Water and lime? It worked for about a day. After projectile vomiting lime and water the next day, well, that went out the window. Saltine Crackers? Ugh, I don't ever want to see a saltine cracker in my life. There was one weekend I felt like I couldn't take it anymore. All I did was spend my time on the bathroom floor.
My meals were all extremely simple. I realized that in the mornings eating pretzels and cheese helped ease my stomach. For lunch I basically ate pizza for about 7 weeks. I mean, you can't go wrong with cheese, tomato sauce, and dough. Dinner consisted of rice, chicken breast and a salad. Which normally took me extremely long to eat because I had to take one tiny bite at a time. I am already an incredibly slow eater, so, dinner usually took me over an hour to finish.
My nausea began to subside around the time I was 13 weeks pregnant. However, it wasn't over yet, my friends. Around this time was when my aversion to brushing my teeth began. For about a week and a half every.single.time I brushed my teeth, I puked. True story. Imagine how much fun that was when I brushed my teeth at least twice a day. Yeah, amazing.
There were also a couple times where I broke down and cried. I told you, I'm a drama queen. My mind couldn't wrap itself around the idea that nothing I did made me feel better. Swallowing those prenatal vitamins? Well, for awhile I had to take them with soda. It was the only way I could swallow them without gagging or puking them back up. Yes, it happened a few times.
However, those days did pass. They were hard. Yes, very hard. Emotionally, mentally, and physically. There were moments where I felt like I was going to be sick through my entire pregnancy (I wasn't, thankfully). Yet, as the days went by, I slowly began to feel better. And, after my 15th week that switch was turned off. Just like that, I felt normal again. My normal appetite had returned and I no longer wanted to barf when I walked through a crowd of people. It was wonderful.
If you are having a similar experience here is my advice. Do what feels right for you and your body. Have an open conversation with your doctor and be sure to not stress yourself out. Try out different things, there will be something to help alleviate your symptoms, and it may not be the same as what helped your mother, sister, or friend. It may not make them go away completely, however, even a little bit helps. And, it will be over, it will.
xx
