24 Weeks and Still on Zofran: Tips for Dealing With Morning Sickness

24 Weeks!

Ok, so who in the world came up with the term "morning sickness"? It certainly could not have been a pregnant woman. It must have been a man! =) I think a more accurate term would be "all day and all night long sickness". Anybody feeling me? How wonderful it would be if "morning sickness" was only actually in the morning!!

My "morning sickness" this time around has been a lot worse than it was with Isaiah. But I know there are women who experience it much worse than me... not being able to keep anything at all down, being sick all 9 months, hospitalization. IV's, bed-rest, etc. There are also women who sail through pregnancy without a hint of nausea (lucky!). This time around I've been somewhere in the middle. I'm thankful it's not as bad as some but it's still bad enough that I've sought out anything I can to help me feel better!

My morning sickness started around 6 weeks with a vengeance! At 24 weeks I am just now starting to feel back to normal and can even go a day with taking a Zofran {amazing!}! I still feel sick most days but I can tell that little by little it is finally going away.

Here are the things that I've found have helped me feel better in the midst of "all day and all night long barfing my brains out sickness":

1. ZOFRAN! 
I was so thankful my doctor put me on this when I was just 7 weeks along. I was never sick enough with Isaiah to need anything so I wasn't even aware that there was something I could take to help me feel better during this pregnancy. Thankfully my doctor prescribed Zofran right away this time and it made a difference. At first she had me on 4 mg a day but that just wasn't cutting it so we upped it to 8mg and that seemed to be enough. From 6-20 weeks, when my morning sickness was at it's worst, the Zofran would keep me from throwing up but wouldn't do much to help my nausea. It was enough for me, though, to just have something that would help me keep my food down! Now the Zofran keeps me from throwing up and takes away all my nausea. I'm still on 8mg a day but can now skip a day here or there and feel ok and am hoping I can wean off of it in the next few weeks.

2. Crackers Before You Even Get Out of Bed
Nausea has this amazing ability to make itself known even before you open your eyes in the morning! Not so much now, but earlier on, I would wake up in the morning and feel the morning sickness before I even rolled over and got out of bed. I found that keeping some crackers on my nightstand and snacking on a few before I even got out of bed really helped to settle my stomach and set a good precedent for a day with less nausea!

3. Unisom and B6
My doctor also recommended to me that I take a Unisom sleep tablet each night before bed and 50-100mg of vitamin B6 during the day. I really do think that this has helped. I still take a Unisom and B6 every night before bed and usually have a much "sicker" morning the next day if I forget to. I take the generic version of Unisom from Costco and it works just fine. Just make sure that whether you take the Unisom brand or the generic version, you are taking the kind with the active ingredient "doxylamine succinate" in 25mg tablets. Other forms contain "diphenhydramine HCl" and are not as safe.  I am hoping to wean off the Unisom by the time I reach the 3rd trimester as there's conflicting views on how safe it is during the last three months of pregnancy.

4. Get Enough Sleep
I have found that I tend to feel a lot worse during the day if I haven't gotten enough sleep at night. A good night's sleep can make a big difference so do all you can to make sure you get at least 8 hours! Naps can help too! I've taken more naps this pregnancy than I have in the last 25 years combined! (Maybe not, but it feels like it!).

5. Drink Lots of Water
I know, I know. It's hard to drink enough when you are scared to swallow anything for fear of how it may come back up minutes later! I cannot tell you how many times I have woken up this pregnancy and drank a big glass of water only to vomit it up within a half hour. It's not {fun}. But drinking enough fluids is so important! The more dehydrated you are, the more nauseated you will feel. Thankfully, I've always been a "heavy (water) drinker" so I've been able to keep up with getting plenty to drink. It really does help!

6. Change the Timing of Your Vitamins
I take my prenatal vitamins at night and always with food. I find that if I take them in the morning they cause me to feel much sicker throughout the day but at night they don't bother me. Could just be coincidence for me but I do anything I can that seems like it's helping. =)

7. Eat Small, Bland Snacks Throughout the Day
Life gets busy as a mom of two and sometimes I don't get to eat right when I need to/want to. Sound familiar? Keeping your belly full can help ward off the nausea by stabilizing your blood sugar. But I've found that if I let myself get too hungry I get to a point of nausea that there's no turning back from even after my food has digested. It's better to not let yourself get too hungry. Try to make sure that you're always semi filled up with small, healthy, protein packed meals that are not too spicy, fatty, etc.

Hope some of these tips can help another mama out! I'm just thankful that I'm on the horizon of feeling better and can't wait for the day I wake up and realize I feel completely "morning sickness" free again! =)