Morning sickness and work

[AnnieAn]

Question to mums and mums-to-be - how do you cope at work when you have morning sickness? I'm been getting it pretty bad for two weeks now - it's mostly nausea but it lasts during the whole day pretty much non-stop and makes it difficult to think about anything else. I took a day off work last Friday and just said that I was feeling sick. (I'm only 7 weeks and having had a miscarriage before feel that it's too early to share 'the news' at work).
Is it normal/acceptable to take time off work when morning sickness is particularly bad or do you just plough through it? What do you ladies do?

Having this debate with myself now! I’m nearly 7 weeks and feel crap. I’ve also had a prior miscarriage so understand the worry about mentioning it- however, I’ve decided I’ll tell my line manager because it is affecting what I can manage day to day. I work a very busy stressful job, with limited time to rest (or eat or drink!) and think unless I make sure I do these things I will really struggle. My pregnancy is my priority and whilst I don’t want to miss work, I’m hoping it I raise it I can negotiate a little flexibility in what I’m doing.
It is really tough to know what to do and how to manage it! Rest as much as you can, when you can.

I had 2 weeks off in the first trimester with both pregnancies. I did as much as I could but just hit a wall. With my first could avoid being sick if I stayed really still, eventually discovered it was reflux and antacid helped. With second I just couldn’t even keep water down at one point, I was so ill. Thankfully the second time I started feeling better at about 14 weeks. First time I was sick until I gave birth.

i had also had a miscarriage, but figured if that happened I’d need time off as well so just spoke to my manager.

I was honest and told work pretty much as soon as I found out I was pregnant and started feeling sick. I understand why you don’t feel ready to share, but it really does help them to understand.

Most days i muddled through, both my pregnancies I was fortunate to be able to go to less used toilets for a bit of privacy. But I took sick days as well when it was too much.

Medication helped enormously, have you spoken to your GP yet? There’s a range of safe antiemetics for pregnancy now.

I told HR and my line manager then took as much sick time as I needed, even if it was just doing shorter days or taking a three-hour lunch break or whatever, safe that it was officially pregnancy-related sickness. Tell them, on the understanding that it’s confidential and you’re only sharing early because the sickness is debilitating and you need time off.

I ended up telling my line manager at about 7 weeks as I kept having to excuse myself to vomit and was totally wiped. They adjusted my workload and I didn't feel so guilty at being a bit of a flake. If it's bad you can ask for sickness meds, and in a really unhelpful way, my stepmum told me that the sickness is a sign the baby is getting what it needs. Which is true (but doesn't stop you feeling horrendous).

I’ve found ways to manage are to constantly sip lemony drinks either still or sparkling , never get hungry - I snack almost constantly, and when I can’t snack I suck sour sweets or mints. I’ve also been having the “expert midwife” remedies and finding them excellent.
It’s completely normal to have to tell your manager who can’t break your confidentiality, I did this at 6 weeks for various reasons. If you want time off for your booking appointment and scan you’ll have to tell them anyway and if you miscarried they’d also know when you have time for that.
my closest colleague and manager knew before any other friend or family member.

I found that picking at food stopped me from feeling sick as much. I kept a pack of Ryvitas next to my desk and would pick at them every time I started to feel sick. Lemon tea helped too although now I cant bring myself to drink it as it just reminds me of feeling sick 😆

I hope the sickness phase passes soon!

Thank you so much for sharing and for your advice 😊It actually feels really comforting and supportive to know that we're all on a similar journey here and I'm not alone in these feelings/worries. I've actually asked my GP for anti-nausea medication now so will pick this up soon. The tip on sipping lemony drink is actually working! And I'm trying to keep snacking little but often.
I'm feeling a little better today so keeping my fingers crossed that this is a sign of the morning sickness passing. With work, I'm going to give it until the end of the week and tell my manager next week xx

I was so ill and had to drive an hour each way.
I was signed off sick for 9 weeks - I couldn't keep a thing down.
As things improved and I was only being sick in the mornings I used to go in at about 10 30/11.
Back to normal at 20 weeks when the sickness stopped.

I’m 5 1/2 weeks and have been having waves of bad nausea - yesteday I felt horrendous all day and couldn’t make it into the office. I decided to tell my boss who is keeping it quiet for now but I feel so much better for telling him. He was great and I can work from home more if I’m having a rough morning etc!

If eating helps - try and find some snacks that make you feel better and take a load to work and have them nearby if you can! I’m finding crackers, sour sweets & ice cold drinks are helping me.

Oh wow MrsMaverick, that sounds like it was a very tough first 20 weeks. Well done for getting through it xx

Thanks SJ1994, well done for telling work. I agree snacking seems to help. Although my 'safe' food changes every few hours it seems 😅cooked chicken breast (lean meat) was my best friend this morning, now I can't even look at it.
Such a rollercoaster.

I've just been googling advice so this thread is great! I've just picked up some anti-nausea wristbands on advice from my midwife because I've been having horrible nausea and it's been getting me down. No idea if the bands are a placebo or not but they seem to be helping so far. I've heard boiled/hard sweets are also a good one as a PP has said.

With snacking had anyone been concerned about putting on weight with constantly eating? I'm not the fittest as it is and I've not been getting to the gym because of feeling rubbish most of the time so I'm worried about eating all day.

@Chantal90 I was worried about putting on weight so thats why I snacked on Ryvitas. They werent the most exciting of snacks but had less calories than biscuits and crackers, which also helped with my sickness.

I felt truly awful weeks 6-10 I really should have taken a few weeks off work, I did tell my manager at 6 weeks so didn't feel bad not getting much work done. The only things I found helped were fizzy flavoured water, tangfastics and those intense ginger little ginger shots you get. Sipping on the ginger shots really got me through the worst few weeks even though I hate ginger!

@totallyaddictedtocheese ooo good idea! I might have to snoop around the supermarket and see what I can find on that front. The only healthy thing I've been tempted by is grapes so far which is okay but too many might be a bit of a digestion disaster so maybe something like Ryvita would be alright without me becoming a ball.

thankfully even back when I was pregnant with my teen, wfh was an option for me, so I did that as frequently as possible. I had hyperemesis and got sick typically multiple times a day, every day until she was born. When I had to go in, DH drove me and picked me up because it wasn’t safe for me to drive since I was throwing up so often. As for at work, I kept my trash can close just in case. I had a private office so that helped. I have no doubt that people figured out I was pregnant because if I wasn’t I had some horrible disease, but no one said anything because people know better than to ask.

OP, wait til you go off water and bread We now have a kitchen cupboard where all my once-safe food lives, I had to stop DP bulk-buying my cravings foods as I turn against them so quickly.

Tangfastics, sour sweets, ice cubes, Diet Coke, McDonald’s, Greek yoghurt, salt and vinegar crisps, and spicy tacos, though, have never let me down. I’m not worried about weight or health: just eating enough to have energy to get me through the day. First pregnancy was the same and tbh I threw up enough to even out the calorie intake

Does anybody know the rules about pregnancy related sickness and if it should affect your sick pay please?
Any information would be greatly welcomed 🙏

My work place have said pregnancy related sickness is still classed as norm sickness and will affect your pay but you cant get marked down as normal sickness and recieve disciplinaries.
Has anyone else had this issue?