How did you survive/manage morning sickness with work

[Needallthesleep]

I’m just over 7 weeks pregnant with my second child, and have nausea all day, sometimes being sick. Appreciate this is fairly mild on the scale of awful with morning sickness!

I’m in an intense job, leading a team. My days are long and I have meetings 8 - 5 most days. It’s got to the point where I am really struggling. I’ve told my manager who has been understanding, and has told me to work from home where possible, but that’s only once per week where it is realistic. My team are picking up a lot of the slack and I feel terrible about that (they don’t know at the moment).

I know this will only last another couple of weeks, but does anyone have any ideas about how I can cope between now and then? I’m debating taking some annual leave, but that still means the work isn’t getting done. Anyone been through this?

I had to be signed off work for nearly 3 months in the end with my first (18 years ago so drugs not so widely available).

I felt sick 24/7 and was throwing up multiple times. Even on the drive in I had to stop a couple of times to throw up.

I was a SAHM for my second, and by that time the GP was willing to prescribe medication which was a great help. Try speaking with your GP to see if they are willing to prescribe anything.

OMG this is a nightmare. I had constant sickness too then got sacked for being pregnant. (This was back in the days when women got sacked for being pregnant.)

So advice but good luck with it!

Both times I was signed off around 9 weeks pregnant due to vomiting multiple times a day. When I did go to work, I made sure to eat little and often, I had a scarf with perfume I didn't mind on it that I could sniff when other people were eating and I took it as easy as possible (I'm a teacher so that was quite tricky tbh). In my first pregnancy I had HG so it didn't really stop until the third trimester. My second pregnancy I didn't have HG, just normal morning sickness, and it lasted til 16 weeks. So you could have a way to go yet. Make sure to see your GP if you aren't coping!

Working while feeling constantly nauseous is awful! I used to suck sweets, eat little snacks once an hour and drink small mouthfuls of sugary drinks. It was the only thing that kept the nausea at bay.

I was in a similar situation both pregnancies and had to get signed off when it was really bad. Felt guilty but it's unrealistic to try and lead a team while feeling so ill and vomiting.

I was prescribed metoclopramide which I didn't want to take every day but used for important meetings. I worked from home when I could. We are able to hot desk in my office so on quieter days with less meetings I moved to sit next to the toilets.

Remember pregnancy related sickness can't be used against you at work or put on your sickness record.

Is there anyone in your team who would enjoy the chance to step up and take on more responsibility? Rather than seeing it as your team picking up slack, frame it as an opportunity for them to take on more leadership skills.

I remember puking in my car as I drove to work and just carrying on like it was normal! Running to the loo from my desk ..awful!
Hopefully it will subside very soon.
I found fat coke helped.

nibbling plain crackers and sipping flat ginger ale. Was in fortunate position of having own office, so used to shut the door at lunch time and lie flat on the floor. Refusing any kind of lunch meeting .

God, the smell of the Tube :/

I used to wear sea bands at work as was winter time so no one knew, I assume you could do this too if your office isn't hot? Also I used to eat small amounts, often. Things like blueberries, satsumas, that kind of thing. My nausea did vanish after about 10weeks, so I didn't have to cope beyond that but I remember it well! It's a really crappy feeling!

I got signed off and sorry to say that for me the sickness continued until 22/23 weeks. And returned at the end. You wouldn’t expect to be able to work with a stomach bug; for me pregnancy made me ill and I could not manage. I hope you feel better soon, but don’t feel guilty about being ill. You can’t help it.

I had HG with both mine. The first one I was on my feet all day so was off work for 3 months and then went on Mat leave early. The second I actually worked in a setting where midwives had daily clinics, it was a desk job and I stuck it out. I resigned myself to vomiting a lot at work, GP prescribed some sickness tablets. It was much easier once everyone knew and having a supportive team makes all the difference. Midwives at my place recommended snack a jacks for settling the stomach preferably the sweet or salty ones, fizzy water with squash in and avocado for fat, eating little and often helps. I rarely kept any of these things down but they worked for other mums I spoke to. It’s awful, I hope it stops soon for you.

I sat slumped over my desk and periodical running to the loos for a few months.
It was hell.
I did find that eating breakfast before 9am made it worse, as did tea on an empty stomach or anything acidic.
I basically lived off mashed potato and chocolate milk.

I'm on week 14 now and still suffering. I had HG with my first and it was savage, sick 15 times a day until 20 weeks. This time around it's been technically easier, sick once or twice a day with all day nausea and gagging.

Struggling this time, with a toddler... there's no respite. But last time I woke up once day and it has just disappeared... fingers crossed that happens again... and soon!

You have my sympathies, it sucks arse and no one can understand if they haven't had it!

Thankfully mine wasn't bad but I nibbled rich tea biscuits, unsalted nuts and carrot sticks. Worked for me.
Hope the situation improves for you soon.

I was a district nurse. Signed off sick for the first three months then used to drive round with a plastic bag and heave periodically.
It was awful.

I ate little and often too. As long as I didn’t leave it too long between snacks I could usually avoid actually throwing up. It was bloody grim though, you have my sympathies.

Refreshers.

Nibble on plain rich tea biscuits through the day. Try sucking crystallised ginger whilst driving. Sucking small ice cubes also helped & was another way to take in more fluid without feeling waterlogged.

I had travel a lot when I was pregnant with DS1, I famously filled about 20 sick bags on a flight to Belfast from Edinburgh (with male colleague), funnily enough he didn't sit with me on the return flight later that day ( hit 30 on then return )

Threads like these actually make me angry because can you imagine a man vomiting 20 times on a flight and still being expected to do his job and simply carry on as normal as soon as the plane lands?! It's incredible and admirable how much women have to put up with.

I was flat on the sofa for 2.5 weeks but managed to work after that. Lukewarm fennel tea and salty crisps were lifesavers. Always had a bag of Walkers crisps or mini rice cakes in my bag. The nausea gets worse if you get too hungry and you may not always feel well enough to eat. So it was a militant strategy of monitoring how I felt every few minutes and the moment I felt I could stomach something, I would eat something. This helped quite a bit and I could get through longer days.