Morning Sickness (or "I'm sorry I threw up on your shoes...again")

I threw up morning, noon and night from about the third week to the seventh month of my pregnancy. I had to drive with a trash bag on my lap because the windshield wipers made me vomit. Actually, just about everything made me vomit. I couldn’t read, watch television. Nothing. I threw up so much I lost 15 pounds the second month of my pregnancy.

I threw up A LOT and I tried everything. Here’s what worked for me:

LIMES: I was told the smell of ANY citrus would do but I found that limes worked the best. My husband would cut them up and leave them on a plate by my pillow so I could sleep. I kept them with me everywhere I went in the house. Other than the nausea medication I eventually needed, this worked best. Squeezing lime juice into my water helped me get down the water I needed. The downside, well, you look odd walking around with a plastic bag full of limes and god forbid you forget that bag in a jacket pocket for a month.

CRACKERS: All the old wives tales are true on this one. A simple saltine cracker can help get you out of that bed and up on your feet. It isn’t quick and those crackers sure are dry but it works, boys and girls, it works. Every morning before I even dared pick up my head, I reached for a cracker and ate it. I kept limes and crackers and magnets in my purse at all times. If you found it you’d think it belonged to a crazy person or a little kid. The downside? Crumbs in bed. Lots of crumbs in bed….

SEA-BAND: This is a wristband for motion sickness that uses pressure points to help you control it. It wasn’t a cure all but it did help. They are pretty cheap and I bought three pairs that lasted my whole pregnancy. The downside, they are ugly as all get out and only come in a baby blue. When I wore them I felt like I needed to be sweating to the oldies with Richard Simmons somewhere.

MAGNETS: Like the Sea-Band, you place the magnets on your wrists and lay there. You’re kinda stuck there, unable to do much but at least your head isn’t in a bucket.  I remember the cable guy coming into our bedroom to find me laying on the bed with my wrists weighted down and trapped by giant magnets. He took one look at me and gave us the tip about the limes. The downside, where do you find giant magnets and how much do they cost? My husband just happened to have some lying around from an old pair of speakers. It appears he is still a ten year old boy because he thought they were too cool to throw away and he figured he could use them to destroy or (at the very least) blow something up.

PEPERMINT OIL: A friend suggested this. You take peppermint oil and rub it under your nose. The peppermint smell is very refreshing and clean. It’s also so strong it aids in blocking out most other odors. I found this most helpful at places where food was cooking or stores with heavy scents. The downside, come Christmas time you won’t want to even look at a candy cane.

PROMETHAZINE (Phenergan): When all else failed I broke down and took the medication offered by my doctor. Without it I spent the whole day feeling like I was nursing a hangover on a rocky boat full of hot garbage. I mean, I carried plastic bags in my pockets, threw up at stop lights, threw up in my trash can at work (non-stop) and wanted to cry because I was so very hungry. I was losing far too much weight and struggling to hold down crackers and water. There was no way my stomach could handle the intensity of the pre-natal vitamin. Not to mention I was scheduled to hop on a 12 hour flight to Paris (in coach) when I couldn’t even handle driving to work. I had to give in. The downside of this? Suppositories. I was so sick there was no way I could keep down a tablet. All I could think was how can sticking something in my bottom possibly makes me feel LESS nauseous? It was disgusting and horrible and made me crummy at first but it worked. Eventually I was able to move on to the tablets and regain a small scrap of my dignity. Of course, this is something you and your doctor should discuss.