Mami & Me: Tips that really work for morning sickness

Looking back, I didn't know a lot of things about motherhood when I was pregnant. As a first-time mother I thought I would start morning sickness as soon as I knew I was pregnant but that was not the case for me. 

Morning sickness symptoms include nausea and vomiting. Typically the worst time to have these symptoms are in the morning, that's why it’s called “Morning Sickness.” But for many moms morning sickness can happen at any time during the day or night. After educating myself more I learned that a woman's morning sickness usually begins around the fourth week of pregnancy and resolves between weeks 12 and 14.

Based on my experience my morning sickness was all over the place. I started around the second month of my pregnancy. I would have headaches and nausea and I think a lot of it was associated with the hot weather in Bakersfield.

Most evenings I would spend in the bathroom vomiting and just trying to get to the end of my day. It totally makes you feel miserable. According to UCLA Health, morning sickness can even be worse for other moms causing them to get diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum, which takes a toll on thousands of moms and eventually leads to hospitalization and pregnancy termination.

While I was still working full-time, my morning sickness came back when I was about 5-6 months pregnant. It felt like it was even worse from the first time because I was now constantly in the restroom. Even my boss gave me my own personal restroom key, it was really bad. Some of my morning sickness triggers were toothpaste, the smell of garlic and even grilled chicken. For the life of me I could not smell or eat chicken throughout my whole pregnancy. I was disgusted. 

I recently spoke with nurse Stephanie Speake Castro from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, on what are the most common triggers for morning sickness and mentioned that having an empty stomach is one of them. “ It's important to eat small, frequent meals throughout the day so your stomach is never fully empty and try not to skip meals during the first 12-16 weeks when morning sickness is most prevalent,” she said.

Speake Castro also said that the reason why most women feel it worse in the morning is because they wake up to an empty stomach, which causes morning sickness. “It’s important even if you’re feeling sick in the morning to still try to eat something like crackers. It’s good to keep a stash in your nightstand so you have them at hand,” she said. 

Also while being pregnant you are highly recommended to take prenatal vitamins. Here is a not-so-fun fact: Some prenatal vitamin pills can actually make you nauseous if you take them on an empty stomach. The following are some methods that I tried while dealing with morning sickness. It may or may not work for you but it’s worth the try.

Eating Ice - Eating ice throughout the day helped me a lot. It kept me hydrated and cool and would help with my nausea as well.

Eating salted crackers -  In the event of an upset stomach, but needing some food in your system, salted crackers are a great option.

Peggy Pop Drops - They are morning sickness candies that help ease the nausea. They don't taste bad and they come in different flavors. I had mine ordered on Amazon.

Stay hydrated - Drink lots and lots of water specially if you live in a hot weather city.

Keeping a positive outlook proved to be the most helpful to me even in the worst of times. You will not regret it when you are at the end of your pregnancy and carrying your newborn without having a worry in the world.

​​If there is anything I can help young mothers and fathers with, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me at amairani@latinomedia.org. Follow my Mami & Me column here.