Morning sickness relief tips

Are you feeling a little queasy these days? If you’re early in your pregnancy, there’s a good chance you have morning sickness. And while it might be unpleasant, morning sickness is a totally normal symptom of pregnancy.

Morning sickness refers to the nausea and vomiting that can happen in the first few months of pregnancy. And despite its name, morning sickness can happen at any time of day. Roughly 7 in 10 women experience it during the first trimester, according to the March of Dimes.

“For some people, it can be afternoon, it can be evening, it can be in the middle of the night,” says advanced practice registered nurse D’Lita M. Parker. She’s an ob-gyn nurse practitioner at University Health’s Truman Medical Center in Kansas City, Missouri.

Here’s what you need to know — and how you can feel better.

What does morning sickness feel like?

No one knows for sure what causes morning sickness. A rise in pregnancy hormones may play a role — particularly hCG, a hormone produced by the placenta. But it can also be triggered by your newly heightened sense of smell, according to the National Library of Medicine.

You might feel like you have an upset stomach. You may even throw up. Or feel like you’re carsick all the time.

You may feel your worst at around nine weeks. That’s when morning sickness peaks. Morning sickness typically goes away for most women by around 14 weeks, according to the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG).

How to ease morning sickness

Luckily, there are many ways to relieve those woozy feelings. Some may work better for you than others. Read on to see what may help.

Eat smaller meals but more often. As your uterus grows inside your abdominal cavity, your stomach has less space for food. “So, overfilling it will make you feel queasy,” says Parker.

Instead of three big meals, eat five or six small meals throughout the day and evening.

Avoid a totally empty stomach. It can also make you feel nauseated. It’s a good idea to stash some crackers or granola bars in your bag and in the car. You’ll have something to nibble on if you have sudden hunger pangs while you’re away from home.

Try eating a protein-packed snack like a hard-boiled egg or crackers with peanut butter right before bed. That way, you won’t wake up hungry in the middle of the night, says Parker. Keep crackers on your bedside table to munch on before you get up in the morning.

Other high-protein snack ideas: string cheese and a piece of fruit, nut butter on toast, yogurt, cottage cheese, smoothies, nuts.

Stay away from trigger foods. Certain foods you’ve always liked can turn your stomach for no real reason during pregnancy. (Meat is a common one.) Food smells can make you feel sick too. Stick with foods that taste good and that you can keep down.

One good option: Low-fat, bland foods that are easy to digest. Try bananas, rice, applesauce, toast, broth, or a plain baked potato.

Sip ginger tea (or anything made with ginger). Ginger is one of the things that’s been known to ease morning sickness, according to the Mayo Clinic. Ginger ale, ginger tea, or ginger chews are good choices.

Take your prenatal vitamin with a snack. Sometimes vitamins can upset your stomach. Having food in your stomach can help.

Drink up. “Once you’re dehydrated, you actually tend to get more nauseous,” says Parker. Sparkling water or ginger ale can help with a queasy stomach. Another option: Sip a drink that contains electrolytes, like Gatorade or Pedialyte. But try to drink between meals. Drinking with meals can fill your stomach faster, which might also trigger nausea.

Let someone else cook. If cooking makes you feel sick to your stomach, ask your partner or a family member to help with meal prep for a few weeks. If you must cook, run a fan in the kitchen or open a window to get rid of cooking smells.

Get acupressure bands. These wristbands apply pressure to certain places on your wrist. They’re used for motion sickness, and they might help ease your morning sickness. Acupuncture might help too. It’s a treatment in which thin needles are put into your skin. Just be sure to talk to your doctor before you try it.

Take vitamin B6. This is a safe over-the-counter treatment, according to ACOG. If B6 supplements don’t work on their own, your doctor might suggest adding doxylamine. It’s a medication found in over-the-counter sleep aids.

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What if I really can’t keep anything down?

About 3% of women get severe morning sickness, known as hyperemesis gravidarum. That’s when you can’t keep anything down, even liquids, for 24 to 48 hours, says Parker. It can also cause weight loss and dehydration, according to the Cleveland Clinic. If you have any of these symptoms, that’s a sign you should call your ob-gyn. Your doctor can prescribe an antinausea medication. Or send you to the hospital for intravenous fluids, if you’re dehydrated.

Hyperemesis gravidarum can sometimes affect your baby’s weight at birth, according to ACOG. Thankfully, that’s not the case with ordinary morning sickness. Even if you can only eat oatmeal three times a day for a couple of weeks or lose a pound or two, your baby will be okay.

The best news? Morning sickness tends to go away during the second trimester, typically around week 14. That’s when you’ll start feeling better — and be able to eat pretty much what you want.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.