Pregnancy nausea and sickness can affect women at all times of the day, which is why discussing it in terms of morning sickness is so misleading.
When I was newly pregnant, I decided to watch a late-night talk show for fun. As the host started his monologue, my nausea began to get worse and worse until it felt like a whirlwind of emotions was swirling around within me.
This article is not an attack on Conan O’Brien or his show. To my surprise, I actually enjoyed The Tonight Show for quite a while, only to soon realize that it was making me feel dizzy and nauseous. When it happened the first time, I barely made it to the bathroom in time because these symptoms hit me so hard. It took me about an hour to recover from vomiting after that.
The next day, I felt a little nauseous in the morning and had some morning sickness symptoms pop up throughout my day, but all-in-all, I was feeling pretty good again. I had also made it through dinner without incident and decided to have a piece of chocolate cake while watching Friends.
I did not make it to the end of the intro song this time and I almost vomited. It was terrible. Once again, I felt nauseous for some time after that but this time there were a few vomit incidents in between as well. The next few hours were tough. For a moment I thought maybe the nausea would stay with me longer since it was more than the night before, but thankfully that wasn’t the case and I went to sleep not long after midnight feeling much better than when I got home earlier than expected.
While I was pregnant with our child, I noticed that I had been craving a particular food item – pasta with marinara-based sauce. This made me feel very nauseous eventually. When I thought back on the meals I’d eaten that week, they were all pretty high in calories and carbs and it seemed likely that was what got to my tummy. So, the next day — being mindful of how heavy my meals are — I decided to cut down on how many carbs and calories go into each dish/serving as this was just too much for me to handle at the time!
I’ve been fighting off morning sickness pretty much nonstop. Thankfully last night wasn’t as bad, but I had some severe abdominal pain which woke me up in the middle of the night. At this point, all I can think about is what harm it’s doing to my baby if I throw up so frequently and how worried I am that the contractions might cause labor prematurely!
The first time I suspected that something was not quite right with my child was when my previous baby exhibited some symptoms during lunchtime and then completely seemed fine once dinnertime rolled around. However, things were different this time around and I really couldn’t figure out exactly what the problem was.
Yesterday morning, I made an appointment to see my OBGYN. I went for the consultation feeling worried about the side effects of pregnancy. After being examined and asked a few questions, my doctor concluded that everything was fine and healthy. She told me there’s nothing wrong with morning sickness and that as long as I can keep liquids inside and food in during the day, my body will absorb what it needs for the baby to grow. In case any of the symptoms worsen again, she gave me her number to call.
Although I was embarrassed, panicking about becoming ill at night is natural. Read this story to find reassurance that puking your guts out when pregnant is normal. But if you are worried, you should call and let your doctor know.
