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[starrigyrl]

Bad timing on my part- rotten first trimester nausea & fatigue, coupled with starting a new job. Advice?

[wilbrish]

I had it for four months.  My advice is, try everything and something will probably work.  I could not keep food down, but at the same time hunger made it worse, so it was a balancing act. 

[lemonbar]

I could keep food down, so for me what worked was making sure I never really got hungry. Or, if I did, eating a lot quickly. I also always got morning sickness at the same time every day, so I could try to plan around it (i.e. avoiding agreeing to meetings at that time of day etc.).

Remember that this does not last forever. Most women don't have morning sickness much past the first trimester. Mine went away completely during the second trimester, but returned a little bit in the third (but it was never as bad as in the first).

[macaroon]

Those motion sickness accupressure bands really work.  They're called "travellers ease" or "sea bands".  You should be able to pick them up at Walgreens or CVS.

[dr_seuss]

Can you somehow schedule a nap into your day?  The fatigue thing really is a bear in the first trimester. 

I agree with other posters that the nausea is generally made worse by hunger -- try to make sure you never have a completely empty stomach.  And if your pregnancy sickness is really awful, try to eat and drink things that won't taste too awful on the way back up.

[new_bus_prof]

Having been cursed (blessed) with morning sickness that lasted the complete 9 months and required medication to avoid hospitalization for all my children, I will run down the suggestions.

To reduce fatigue, try taking a Tylenol PM before going to bed to make your body actually get a complete night's sleep. Ambien is another sleep aid approved for pregnant women. Remember to prop your feet and have a travel pillow handy to allow your body to relax while at work.

To help with the nausea there are a number of items that can help:
- first and foremost remember to eat something, even if its just toast or crackers
- drink water throughout the day, alternative drinks are best avoided until your stomach is settled, but juice, herbal tea, or vitamin water may help
- ginger ale, magnetic bracelets, "seasickness" medication, Prilosec/Pepcid AC/Tums, are all recommended items to help eleviate morning sickness but vary in results
- avoid acidic/spicy foods (as much as possible) and remember several small meals and snacks spread throughout the day is best
- smells can make you sick as well, so limit exposure to smells
- don't brush your teeth immediately after eating (rinse with water) then wait 30 minutes to brush your teeth (or brush before eating)

If you are unable to keep down water, or are starting to show signs of dehydration, go see your doctor (OB) immediately to get medication that will help.

I hope you feel better...and congratulations.

[scheherazade]

I agree that you need to keep food in your stomach at all times.  I used to keep saltines or oyster crackers in my bag and munch on them throughout the day.  Also keep yourself hydrated.  This is a catch-22, of course - the more you drink, the more you'll need to pee, and that's already an issue.  However, you need more hydration now that you're pregnant, and dehydration headaches aren't fun.

There's not a lot you can do about the fatigue.  I would try to get 10 hours sleep (yeah, can you imagine?) and I was still bone tired.  It's just part of early pregnancy.  The good news is that the fatigue pretty much always goes away by the second trimester.

I stayed away from anything stronger than Tylenol during my pregnancies.  I know some take stuff like Tylenol PM, but I didn't want to risk it, especially early in the pregnancy.  Besides, I was always so tired I didn't exactly need a sleep aid.

You are probably going to have crazy cravings.  Indulge them.  With one pregnancy, I wanted gallons of orange juice.  I would drink an entire pitcher before work.  With my second pregnancy, I came home craving pico de gallo, so I made a huge batch and ate the whole thing with tortilla chips.  Indulging my cravings helped me keep eating well, despite my nausea.

As has been said, you've probably noticed there are some things and smells that will make you completely ill right now.  Sometimes these change from day to day, sometimes they last the whole pregnancy.  Stay away from that stuff.  Don't go into a restaurant if the smell makes you ill - just tell people the smell is making you nauseous because of the pregnancy.  They'll understand.  If you normally cook fish twice a week and now you can't stand it, your partner will have to suck it up.  As with the fatigue, this usually passes by the second trimester, too.

I found light, minty teas often helped my stomach.  You could try that, as well.

Oh, and cut down on your schedule a bit.  Give yourself a break.  Like I said, this is only going to last another month or two.  Don't make yourself miserable.  The journal article can probably wait another couple weeks, and the powerpoint doesn't have to be so involved.  Figure out what can be adjusted in your schedule until the second trimester.

[volfan]

I found that saltines, candied ginger, and Preggie Pops (very sour hard candies you can buy at Babies R Us or Motherhood Maternity). Keeping well-hydrated was also really important. Decaf peppermint tea often soothed my stomach.

[starrigyrl]

Thanks for the suggestions! I think the hunger thing has been sneaking up on me- vicious circle- I feel yucky, so I don't want to eat, so I get hungry, so I feel yuckier, etc. etc. But mint tea is doing the trick in the am, along with dry cereal, so I'll keep that up for now. Just hope those prenatals are making up for the nutrients I'm not getting from all the foods I find disgusting right now (I have to admit this whole morning sickness thing seems pretty maladaptive). And as some of you pointed out, the fatigue is killer! I'm used to bouncing out of bed in the am, and now I'm complete slug-o-rama. Oh well, might as well get a jump on the career destruction thanks to baby (kidding-sort of). It's worth it.

[volfan]

When do you take your prenatal vitamins? I found that taking them at night helped, because I could sleep off any nausea that might occur from them.

[dr_seuss]

One thing I forgot to mention.  If you're lucky enough to have a health plan that includes prescription drug coverage, ask your doctor for a prescription for Premesis -- it's a kind of prenatal vitamin that has B-vitamins for energy and is supposed to help with nausea.  It doesn't smell or taste funny like ordinary prenatal vitamins, either. 

[collegekidsmom]

Have you told your colleagues you are pregnant? I can imagine having morning sickness would be much harder with the stress of keeping the pregnancy a secret from colleagues. It can be helpful if people know what you are going through.
I had always heard that morning sickness was a sign of a healthy pregnancy, but certainly many women don't have nausea, and go on to have healthy babies. Many only have morning sickness and fatigue for a short period of a few weeks-maybe that's the way it will be for you. Don't worry about losing weight, or not eating enough-everything will be fine once you feel better.
Best wishes on your pregnancy and new job-both good things-

[hennypenny]

congratulations!

re: the nausea.  Candied ginger for snacking and ginger "tea" (grated ginger in boiling water) worked wonders for me. 

Also, I eat a pretty varied and fresh diet normally, but the first couple of months all I wanted was over-processed, highly salted foods.  That may have helped, too.

good luck,

hp

[scheherazade]

Go easy on the ginger during pregnancy, especially in the first trimester.  Studies conflict on its safety - some say it is perfectly safe; some say it is linked to birth defects and miscarriages when used in large amounts.  Small doses should not be an issue, but I wouldn't be eating candied ginger and drinking ginger tea constantly.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/ginger/NS_patient-ginger
http://yourtotalhealth.ivillage.com/pregnancy-safe-consume-ginger-while-pregnant.html