One of the biggest problems that many moms deal with when they are pregnant is that they can’t take care of their morning sickness in an effective manner.

They come across all sorts of different issues that make morning sickness that much worse – food, activity, and even just going through your normal routine may feel like they are triggering your morning sickness.

That being said, what can you do in order to make it easier on yourself? And how can you feel more comfortable as your pregnancy goes on? In this article, we’re going to look at some of the ways that you can fight off morning sickness effectively.

1- Give Yourself The Benefit of the Doubt – and a Break If You Need It

As you likely know, your body is doing a whole lot of work in order to be able to take care of you and the baby. Because of that, you need to make sure that you give yourself the benefit of the doubt and take breaks as you need to. One mistake that a lot of moms will make is that they will try to keep pushing themselves, even if they feel horrible.

This could result in your immune system becoming quite compromised, which would lead to you getting other illnesses that will make you even more miserable as time goes on.

So, if you aren’t feeling like you are going to be able to get out of bed because of your morning sickness, then you are definitely going to want to think about taking a half-day if you can, or just take the whole day off.

Your boss will understand because you’re carrying a much larger load and you’re tired and feeling ill. Take breaks when you need to and your nausea will not stick around as long as it may have otherwise.

2- If You Need Some Help, Talk to People About It

Many people will try to get through their pregnancy on their own, and that’s a huge mistake to make. You want to make sure that you’re getting well taken care of and that you are getting the support that you need.

Pregnancy is something that takes a toll on your body and your mind, so you have the right to be able to talk about it and look around you for the help that you need and the support that you want. One of the best things for you to do is to go to a Mom’s support group, especially for those moms who are going through their first pregnancy.

You can give each other encouragement, feel more comfortable when it comes to talking about your morning sickness (and whatever other body changes that you may be experiencing on a regular basis) and you may also feel like you have camaraderie with those women.

Support may not be a cure for your morning sickness, but it can definitely be a huge help when it comes to trying to get through it.

3- Avoid Scents that Make You Feel Nauseous

Many moms will complain that there are certain scents that make them feel absolutely terrible when they come across them. They may make your head hurt and they may make you feel like you’re going to throw up at any second in time.

All that being said, it can be hard to try and avoid such things – no matter how much you try to, you may run into someone that smells of it, or you may go by a trash bin that makes you feel like you aren’t going to be able to go any further. That being said, there are a lot of scents that can help your nausea to go away as well, including lavender.

Consider having some of those more pleasant scents on hand so that you’re better able to deal with them. Then, you don’t have to worry about those scents making you crazy, or making you nauseous. It’s a concern, of course, but there are a lot of other things that you can do to prevent it.

Avoidance may take a bit of time in order to be able to do, but if you can’t avoid, then do what you can in order to make it a little easier for you to function when it comes to your morning sickness and nausea. Get creative with your techniques!

4- Drink More Water to Prevent Further Problems

One of the biggest issues with morning sickness is that it can also make your dehydration a lot worse than it would have been otherwise.

That’s a big issue with any sort of digestive problem that makes it so that you can’t keep food and/or water down in your system. So, even though you may not feel like it, or you may be worried that you’re just going to make yourself even iller when you’re trying to avoid those problems, just make sure that you’re sipping water and other things that will help your body to feel a lot better with more hydration.

Look around and find out what works and what will help you to stay on track. That way, you don’t have to worry about fighting off dehydration at the same time that you’re fighting off your morning sickness as well.

Keep a water bottle with you as part of the “survival kit” that you put together for when you’re out and on the go (it should also include toothpaste, a toothbrush, and various other needs that will help you to freshen up, even after you have gone through a bout of morning sickness that didn’t end very well).

Sip water out of a bottle throughout the day too, just to make sure you’ve got enough water going through your system.

5- Foods Can Be a Huge Problem – Make Sure That You Eat What Helps You

Now, obviously, one of the biggest problems that you’re going to encounter when you’re trying to deal with morning sickness is what you eat during the day.

Now, unfortunately, we can’t give you an exact idea as to what you should and shouldn’t be eating as a rule, because everyone’s body is different and everyone’s body is going to react differently based on whatever it is that your body decides should be allowed to come in and out.

It may even differ depending on the day – one day you may be fine eating bacon and eggs, but the next day, you may not be able to eat anything but dry toast without butter. Keep track of what foods are affecting you and how they are affecting you and you’ll have a much easier time when you try to figure out your diet and how you should be eating.

As a general rule, you’re going to want to make sure that you avoid greasy or heavy foods – they usually make you feel a lot worse and can sap away your energy as well.

Try to eat foods that don’t have a lot of flavors or spices in the morning. Toast, pretzels, and other salt and/or dry foods are going to make a huge difference because they will help to settle your stomach and will give you that stability that you need in order to get through your day.

Make sure that you’re also eating a lot of fruits and vegetables – not only do they help with hydration, as we mentioned in the previous point, but they are also quite good for settling the stomach unless they’re too acidic.

You’re looking for a balance that is going to give you what you need when it comes to nutrients, but at the same time isn’t going to cause you a lot of pain and suffering related to your morning sickness. Balance is hard, just test stuff out and see what happens.

6- Split Your Meals Up Into Smaller Portions

One issue that a lot of people encounter when it comes to fighting off their morning sickness is that they’re eating too much in order to compensate for how hungry they are. Yes, you have to make sure that the baby is getting the nutrients that he or she needs, but that doesn’t mean that you have to eat them all at the same time.

By splitting up those meals into smaller portions, you’re allowing your stomach to have the recovery time that it needs in order to function better and to prevent nausea and vomiting. So, eat those smaller portions and spread them out throughout your day.

That way, you feel a lot better, and you’ll still get everything that you need in order to make sure that both you and the baby are functioning as you should be.

Also, if you didn’t know, it’s better for you and baby to eat your meals in smaller amounts anyway – it can help to make you feel a lot more energy and it allows you to get the most nutrients that you can while preventing discomfort.

You may have to make adaptations and such in order to make this work properly, but snacking throughout the day and making other such changes can actually make a huge difference when it comes to making sure that you aren’t going to throw up.

Just follow some of the food tips that we talked about in the previous point and you’ll start to see a big difference in how you feel when you get up in the morning.

7- Do as much as you can in order to prevent straining your eyes

Many people who are dealing with morning sickness will try to make sure that they are distracted in order to help reduce the amount of pain and nausea that they’re feeling.

While this can be an incredibly useful technique to try, you will find that there are some distractions that can actually make things worse. One of the most common things that cause moms to feel a lot of nausea and irritation is screen time.

You will likely be trying to distract yourself by playing a computer game or doing some other sort of screen activity on a phone or tablet so that you don’t feel so bad when you’re done with it.

Or, you may be at work when it is going on, so you will be trying to get some stuff done while you’re fending off the feelings of nausea that you’ve likely become quite familiar with.

That being said, you want to make sure that you don’t have too much screen time because it could end up straining your eyes. Eye strain is a huge problem that can, instead of helping your nausea, make it that much worse.

How can you prevent this? You can avoid screen time when you’re starting to feel morning sickness coming on. Or, if that’s not possible due to the work you do or whatever else you may be trying to take care of while you’re fighting off the sickness, then find ways to make your computer or screen settings so that your eyes aren’t as irritated or strained.

You can reduce the amount of brightness that is on your screen, or you can change various other settings so that they’re more comfortable on your eyes. Talk to your boss or your IT professional in order to figure out how to make those adjustments – it could save you time and prevent your nausea from getting that much worse for you to try and deal with.

8- Get some Distractions so that you don’t think about your morning sickness as much

As we just mentioned, distraction is a huge tool that a lot of moms are going to use when they’re trying to fight off their morning sickness.

It doesn’t have to be screen time, but if you decide to do that, make sure that you follow our tips in the previous point so that the irritation and motion don’t make you that much iller than you would have been otherwise.

All that being said, there are lots of things that you can do in order to get your mind off of your nausea. You may consider taking a walk. Not only is the exercise good for you and the distraction helpful for you, but the fresh air may also help to fill up your lungs a bit, thus making it so that your nausea isn’t as severe as it would have been.

You can also do the dishes, clean up a room, make a meal (if it won’t make you feel more nausea), and take care of a variety of other things around the house.

Don’t push yourself too much (as we talked about above, mainly because it could end up making you feel a lot worse instead of better), but do something little that will get your mind off nausea so that it will more easily go away.

If you want to (and you’re able to), you can even try to get some more sleep as well – that can even play a huge role in ensuring that you feel better when you get up. In short, just do something to get your mind off of it and it could end up making a huge difference for you and your needs when you’re trying to get through your day.

9- Talk to Your Doctor About the Possibility of Medication

This is something that a lot of people will try not to consider, if for no other reason than they don’t want to take something else on top of all of the medications that they’re using when it comes to being pregnant.

The good news is, a lot of these medications are not only inexpensive, but they are also incredibly easy on your body and you don’t have to worry that you are taking something that isn’t good for you or your little one.

Your doctor can give you a lot of options, and many of them will make a huge difference when it comes to how you feel in the morning and how well you’re going to be able to get through the day. See what your options are before writing the whole thing off.

Morning sickness doesn’t need to be a huge problem, as long as you find a way to effectively take care of it. These are just a few of the things that you can try in order to make it a lot easier for you to deal with.

Are you looking for more tips, or do you need some help that we may not be able to provide? Then you’re going to want to talk to your doctor about the issues that you’re facing.

They can give you other suggestions and guide you through whatever is necessary so that you can feel better and keep going, even though morning sickness may be a bit of a problem for you in the process.

Reference:

http://www.parents.com/pregnancy/my-body/morning-sickness/morning-sickness/#page=1

http://www.webmd.com/baby/features/morning-sickness-misery

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/37757.php