The first half of my pregnancy with my daughter was Queasy City. When the morning sickness got going, it was like the walls of my stomach would just quiver like jello on a train. It was not a pleasant feeling, especially when it would go off and on ALL DAY. That low-level nausea is annoying at first, then distracting, then just exhausting. Some days I would barely eat, afraid that I would hurl or I was just tired of a wavy stomach.

But the smell of many meat took my nausea to new levels…and to the toilet. Needless to say, cut down a lot on meat and my husband, bless him, did a lot of the cooking. But Thanksgiving at my sister-in-law’s was horrible. We traveled just under 2000 miles so it wasn’t like I could just go home. The aroma of the turkey and ham and gravy that Angie was cooking–things I normally love–sent me retching in the bathroom. Angie, her sister and her mother spent the evening trying to help me out. I tried to nibble crackers, sipped tea, iced the back of my neck, elevated my feet, everything they’d ever hear of to calm my stomach. Nothing worked. I ended up holing up in the basement bathroom, as far away from the ‘fumes’ as I could get, alternately dry heaving, crying and napping on the floor.

Eventually, Angie’s Aunt Georgia came over. Thank you Aunt Georgia. She came downstairs with a handkerchief bulging with something and said “Hold this over your nose and mouth, honey”. “What is it,” I asked. “Just lemon peelings. Just breathe through it and see if that stops the smells.” So I did.

My stomach was still quivering, but I ventured out of the bathroom. At the base of the stairs I got a little meat whiff and the stomach started to roll over. I mashed the lemon scarf against my face, breathed slow, and…the stomach stopped rolling. Eventually, it even stopped quivering, and we got it down to periodic trembling. I could live with that.

I kept that scarf smushed to my face all evening (as I watched TV laying in the den–there was no way I was going to risk sitting at the table), until I convinced my husband it was in his best interest that we stay in a motel that night.

My daughter is now 6 years old, so it’s been a while since I’ve had to deal with morning sickness. But I thought of this story when talking to my cousin who is pregnant with her first and having the worst time with nausea. She’s tried the teas and crackers too. She even tried the lemon I suggested, but that didn’t help. When she told me she was desperate and actually considering medication like Zofran, for help.

I showed her a book I found some time ago called End Morning Sickness Now with natural remedies for morning sickness for her to try. We both are of the mind that medication is good and well, but as a last resort, during pregnancy at least. And she found a remedy that worked for her, one that neither of us heard of or would have thought to try. But out of respect to the author, I have to leave it in the book.

Some natural morning sickness remedies are old wives tales of nonsense, but many others do work. And there is a reason why natural cures work. Sometimes we know the chemistry and anatomy behind why they work. For instance, some studies show that citrus scents like lemon, send completely different signals down the olfactory tract, a direct connection for sending smells to the brain and sympathetic nerves, nerves that respond to things like stress. Sometimes we don’t know exactly why a remedy works, we just know that is works for many women.

If you are suffering from morning sickness, if you can, try natural remedies first. They are not harmful for the baby, usually don’t have side effects for you, and are mostly cheaper than any prescription.

Technorati Tags: early pregnancy symptom, First Trimester, Morning Sickness, morning sickness remedies, morning sickness remedy, natural remedies morning sickness, nausea, nausea pregnancy, pregnancy

When you are suffering from nausea or vomiting, you want relief. But you have to be careful. Some nausea remedies may be unsafe for your growing baby.

When trying remedies for morning sickness, start with natural remedies that are simple (and safely) with methods you can do at home. Check with your doctor is you are unsure, but many of these remedies are not only considered safe and are popular cures.

Habits

• Stay away from pungent smells and stong tastes like spicy food. The smell doesn’t have to be stinky to make you sick, just rich and full of aroma.
• Avoid lots of abrupt movement (a jerky, fast driver for instance) as that may may morning sickness worse.
• Get out of bed slowly in the morning.

Eating

• An empty stomach can aggrevate morning sickness.
• Eat light meals or graze during the day. Several light meals is better than 3 heavy ones.
• Keep a snack in your purse or glove compartment for an “emergency snack” so you don’t go hungry.

Good foods

• Foods that are less likely to irritate: crackers, ice, peppermint, broth, plain rice (white or brown), plain baked potato.
• Eat simple, healthy foods.

• Ginger and peppermint teas (without caffeine) tend to quell queasiness.

Cooking

• Cook with the windows open or turn on exhaust fans.
• Try cooking in the microwave as it will produce less odors.

Physical

• Try acupressure like a “acupressure” wrist bands (boat passengers sometimes use them for off sea sickness).

Look for more remedies in the ebook End Morning Sickness Now.

Technorati Tags: First Trimester, Morning Sickness, nausea pregnancy, queasy pregnancy

Weeks 1 – 2 You’re not really pregnant yet. It’s at this time that the sperm and egg unite in one of your fallopian tubes to form a one-celled entity called a zygote.
Week 3 The zygote is no longer one-celled, but about 500 by now and is called a blastocyst. It has made its way to the uterus and burrow into the uterine wall for nourishment. The placenta, which will nourish your baby throughout the pregnancy, also begins to form. You may be looking at a positive pregnancy test at this time.
Week 4 The blastocyst is considered an embryo. The baby (now 1/25 of an inch long) is starting to form the brain, spinal cord, heart and other organs.
Week 5 Now your baby’s heart and circulatory system are becoming one, functioning system. About now, your baby’s heart will begin to beat. An ultrasound could even pick up the motion of your baby’s beating heart.
Week 6 Your baby is now about 1/8 of an inch long. The digestive and respiratory systems are beginning to form. Facial features also begin to appear including an opening for the mouth and passageways in the inner ear. This is beginning of the buds will soon grow into arms and legs.
Week 7 The embryo is now considered a fetus. Dark spots on his or her head indicate where the eyes will be forming and pits mark the upcoming nostrils and ears. Your baby’s brain is developing rapidly, and limbs and facial characteristics are now forming. The esophagus and trachea are developing into separate tubes, with lungs positioned on either side.
Week 8 Your baby is no longer a mass of cells, but he’s looking more and more like a miniature baby-to-be. Your baby’s face is becoming more defined: her nose is beginning to protrude, her upper lip is taking shape, and eyelids have formed. Fingers and toes are starting to develop from her arms and legs.
Week 9 Your baby is now nearly 1 inch long and weighs a bit less than 1/8 of an ounce. Your baby’s head — which is nearly half the size of his or her entire body — is now tucked down onto the chest. Hair follicles begin to form. Your baby’s pancreas, bile ducts, gallbladder and anus are in place. The internal reproductive organs, such as testes or ovaries, start to develop, but not the external organs, an ultrasound could not yet tell your baby’s sex. Your baby may begin moving this week, but you won’t be able to feel it for quite a while yet.
Week 10 Your little one weighs in at a hefty four grams! Your baby’s vital organs have a solid foundation and the bones of your baby’s skeleton begin to form. Your baby has fully separated fingers and toes. Both the external ear and upper lip are complete, and tooth buds are forming as well. The beginnings of external genitalia appear and if your baby is a boy, his testes will start producing the male hormone testosterone.
Week 11 Bigger changes are starting about now until your 20th week (the halfway mark of your pregnancy). Your baby will increase his or her weight 30 times and will about triple in length. The blood vessels in the placenta are growing larger and multiplying so your baby will get enough nutrients. By the end of the week, your baby’s external genitalia will develop into a recognizable penis or clitoris and labia majora.
Week 12 Twelve weeks into your pregnancy, your baby is about the size of a softball. Your care provider will be able to feel your uterus during an abdominal exam. Your baby’s head is nearly half the size of his or her entire body. This week marks the arrival of fingernails and toenails. Your baby’s chin and nose will become more refined as well.
Week 13 Week 13 marks a milestone for your baby-to-be. He’s looking—and acting—more and more like a baby every day. She appears to be resting because her eyelids have formed and are fused together, but her arms and legs move and twitch (although you probably can’t feel it … yet). She can suck her thumb, too.

Technorati Tags: baby, early pregnancy, fetus, First Trimester