MORNING SICKNESS

[Spring]

I've just spoken to a close friend who is suffering terribly with all day and all night morning sickness. It is her second baby (no sickness with her first), she is 4.5 weeks pregnant and it is so bad it is even waking her up in the night. At the moment she can't move from the bedroom/bathroom, when she stands up she feels dizzy and very sick. No food alleviates it and she can't bear the smell of any food, even tea. She is just sipping water. She asked if I'd ask my Mumsnet friends for any suggestions as she can't stand much more of it.

Anyone been through sickness like this, how did you cope?

It does sound like she has hyperemsia (sp). I had it with both of mine and it is a reaction to the pregnancy hormones. If she really is not eating/drinking anything, she needs to tell the midwife FAST and get her to check urine samples etc. I left it until 9 weeks with my 1st, as I didn't really nknow what 'normal' morning sickness was like, and ended up in hospital on drips for 2 weeks. there are anti-nausea drugs which can be given. Quite often, rehydrating the body will alleviate a lot of the symptoms. But please tell her to tell the midwife exactly what she is eating/drinking & what she is keeping down. If you tell most doctors/midwives that you are being sick, they'll just tell you it is a feature of pregnancy & will wear off, she needs to stress how bad it is.
Unfortunately, mine didn't really go until I'd had the babies, but on a positive note, I felt much better after the pregnancy than my friends who had sailed through!
Hope she gets some help soon, keep us posted.
Debs

Debsb is right, this sounds like hyperemesis. She does need to see a doctor right away and get herself checked over. The health profession could do with publicising it a bit more widely, as I've known three friends with it, and none of them went to the doctor or midwife quickly because they thought it was normal to feel that bad. All of them went on to have lovely, healthy babies, but like Debsb, I'm afraid they did feel sickish for the whole 9 months...

I had hyperemesis from week 5 of my pregnancy, part of which included very strong aversions to most smells (my husband couldn't wear deodorant, I couldn't go to the supermarket because fresh fruit and veg smelled awful and I would be sick). It may sound odd but the best times were when I was admitted to hospital as the loneliness of having to stay at home being so physically incapacitated was unbearable. I did have it particularly badly and went through most anti-nausea drugs (most of which had horrible sideeffects). The only one which worked is called Ondansetron : it's a drug commonly used in chemotherapy. It hasn't been trialled in pregnancy but they do use it for extreme cases in Aberdeen and it was a lifesaver. I came off it at 24 weeks and had a fabulous second half of pregnancy. I didn't put on any weight until about 22 weeks but they kept telling me not to worry - the sickness was a sign of a v healthy pregnancy and I had a lot of scans to reassure me that everything was ok. I now have an exceptionally healthy 8 month old baby so no harm to him was done at all. It's not conventional morning sickness and none of the usual remedies helped at all (ginger etc) - it does need proper medical intervention. It is miserable and please don't tell her that it will all be worth it - there were days when I didn't think that I would make it through the next hour let alone to the next day and far less an entire pregnancy. I think the level of sickness and debilitation plays with your mind and I wouldn't wish some of the blackest days on anyone. I can still remember it very vividly and it does make me think twice about going through another pregnancy. Now I can say I love my baby more passionately than I could ever have imagined but at the time of being ill it wasn't something I was able to focus on. It's not normal but it is quite common (AMH has several people in at any one time with it). Sorry, this has gone on a bit. The short answer is I didn't cope very well at all until I had the Ondansetron (v expensive but cheaper than being kept in hospital) (500mg dose, for reference).

Ugh - I feel so sorry for your friend. I had this with both of my pregancies and was in hospital on a drip both times. I found that mine stopped almost totally as soon as I passed the four month mark though. Munching on a ginger biscuit first thing in the morning, sucking glucose sweets, peppermint tea, stem ginger can have some effect (although didn't work for me)- all that I really found helped at all was lots of rest and eating and drinking what I fancied even if I was then sick -not that i fancied much when I'd lost a stone and a half and even my tights were too big! To be quite honest, with my second pregnancy, if they'd offered to cut the baby out and throuw it away I'd have probably agreed, especially after having an allergic reaction to the anti-sickness drugs in hospital, but once she'd arrived it's amazing how easily I forgot about it all! Hope your friend feels better soon.

Reading Harrysmum message brought it all back to me. Get your friend to go to the Doctors - I had sickness all the way through the pregnancy, although the first 16 weeks were by far the worst and I also lost a stone and a half in weight. I also got terribly depressed - I couldn't function and got no further to the bathroom from my bedroom most days (there were 3 particularly bad weeks). The sickness does go - you just can't see the wood for the trees at the time. I wasn't hospitalised but was given anti-nausea drugs. I even heard the opinion bandied about that morning sickness can be psychosomatic. I would beg to disagree!

I was told that hyperemesis can be a psychiatric thing related to not wanting to be pregnant. It's not really what you want to hear and I would completely disagree! Reading what Candy said - I actually went as far as asking about options for termintation after I started vomiting blood (it was the result of an oesophogeal tear from the frequent sickness); it was then that the hospital pulled out all the stops and started treating the condition agressively. I was kept in for a week and saw a psychiatrist, the dietician, the physio, an aromatherapist and had scans. That was the real turning point and they agreed that I should try Ondansetron (see previous message). Please don't let her get to that stage - it was awful.

Harrysmum, I too got to the same stage during my first pregnancy. It does seem to take a lot to make the professionals realise what you're going through. You're the only other person I've heard of who got to the throwing up blood stage though. On the bright side, I got a private room because the sound of my continual retching was putting everyone else off their dinner!

Going slightly off subject - Harrysmum, how did you feel when you heard that morning sickness may be psychological? Has anyone read any research on how this conclusion was reached? I can clearly remember feeling totally normal one day and the next day just being continuously sick (about 5.5 weeks into the pregnancy) and staying that way for weeks. I hope the second pregnancy is easier (whenever that may be).

Thanks for all your messages which I passed on to her, she is going to the Doctor's this afternoon so I'll let you know how she gets on tomorrow.

It was all a bit of a saga really - we didn't think that we could have children and so my being pregnant was a bit of a shock. It wasn't planned and didn't happen at a particularly good time but when all was said and done we were obviously quite delighted. To then read and be told that hyperemesis was a physical reaction to psychologically not wanting the baby was quite devastating. I hated the sickness, I hated the debilitation, I hated being told that it would be worth it in the end when I didn't think that I would last another day, I hated everything being taken away from me (e.g. someone being brought in to cover my job, someone else teaching my Sunday School class) - I felt like all that was left of me was this illness, and then the endless guilt that this was really my fault anyway because somewhere deep inside I mustn't really want to be pregnant. It got to the point where I did find it hard to relate to there being a baby and I did want to do anything to make it all stop and if that meant giving in and giving up the baby then it had to be considered. I didn't and the hospital support was great when it got to that point. I did see a psychiatrist once but that was because they were concerned that I was becoming depressed. The medical opinion here is that hyperemesis is an overreaction to the pregnancy hormones which I find much easier to understand than reading (mainly on the internet) that it's a psychiatric thing. It also correlates with the opinion that sickness is a sign of a healthy pregnancy. Remarkably few studies have been done (my husband is a doctor so we researched the medical journals quite thoroughly) and I really wish that some more would be carried out!

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Good news, the Doc told my friend that whilst she obviously had very bad pregnancy sickness it isn't Hyperemsis as she is not dehydrated or vomiting constantly. He told her that the nausea would be worse the more you thought about it and that she should try to eat something in small amounts, carbohydrates, every hour. So far she has done this and it has helped a litte.

Thing that puzzles us both is that both the Doc and her Midwife said that this is a good sign as it shows a healthy pregnancy/baby. Neither she nor I suffered sickness at all with our first pregnancies so were they then not as healthy?? As mentioned by Harrysmum I think that it is the body's overreaction to preg. hormones and your body won't react the same to each pregnancy you may have. Another wives tale is that the sickness is a sign that the baby is a girl? I'm sure a lot of you can contradict that too!!

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I had hyperemsis with my son. I had it from being about 6 weeks pregnant until the day i gave birth. I was in and out of hospital all the way through my pregnancy, having to go on a drip due to dehydration. The day after giving birth i was fine, cured. Even though i was constantly sick throughout my pregnancy i gave birth to a healthy boy weighing 8lbs 13oz. It obviously never effected my baby, so there is no need to worry as long as you don't become dehydrated.

There was a question on morning sickness in this weeks New Scientist.

www.newscientist.com/lastword/answers/lwa1353body.html

Sorry. How do you make links? Anyway look up www.Newscientist.com and search under 'morning sickness'. In a nutshell it says:

Statistically morning sickness reduces the likelihood of miscarriage, pre-term birth, low birthweight and death. No one knows why this is an advantage. The traditional assumption is that nausea and vomiting make pregnant women avoid foodstuffs containing chemicals likely to harm the foetus during the critical period of organ formation. An alternative hypothesis put forward recently is that starving the mother during the first trimester causes a corresponding increase in the size of the placenta. This ensures better nutrition for the foetus for the rest of the pregnancy, reducing the risk of miscarriage.

Kate71, that's very interesting. Logical extrapolation of either theory is that we should all be going on slimming diets in the first trimester of pregnancy? Can't be that simple, but the statistics would make me feel a tiny bit better about feeling sick anyway.

Me again - my friend has asked me to post for more advice (she's not on the net).

Her morning sickness has just about gone, she found that eating a very small amount every hour or so helped, also keeping her mind off how sick she felt helped her over the worst of it.

She's now 13 weeks and this pregnancy seems to be very different from her first (no morning sickness first time). Last time she didn't start showing until very near the end. THIS time she is so big so early she has had to tell work before she intended to. She says she looks like the picture of a 'Mrs 20-weeker' and she has gained the same weight in 13 weeks that she did at 26 weeks last time. Is this common she asks?

Her appetite has increased dramatically and she is worried she is piling on too much unnecessary weight that will be hard to shift after the birth. She has a 'petite' build and pre-pregnancy is very slender. Has anyone had two such different pregnancies and/or early weight gain?

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Spring, both friends on second babies are showing much bigger much sooner, so she should not worry.

Spring, same here.
I showed about 2 months earlier the second time around. Put on a little more weight, as well, though difficult to judge because my pre-pregnancy weight was over 1 stone lighter the second time round.

I ended up weighing about the same both times at the end. If your friend is putting on lots of extra weight, that might be a cause for concern.

I've a friend in her late 30s (all she will admit to!) who is expecting her second baby after a big gap and she is experiencing morning sickness for the first time. I've done a search on this site for remedies for her and yesterday she said she was going out to buy the lot! Ginger anything and lemon sherbets are just two of the ideas on this site! Thanks everyone.

My experience second time around was completely different (except for equal 10 days over due date urgh!). I showed earlier had seemingly many more 'symptoms' and the tiredness was overwhelming! No two pregnancies are the same.

I concur with Winnie. Last time around I didn't announce it until 16 - 17 weeks. This time, I had people asking me outright at 11 weeks. Also vastly more tired this around, especially after any phyical exertion.

I showed really early with my first pregnancy, It started to show at 11 weeks and then just got bigger & bigger very quickly! At 6 months people were alarmed at my belly size because everything else (arms legs & face etc had not got very much bigger) people often said "you're gonna have to have it early you will explode!" but then at about 7 months it all seemed to just slow down, baby was still growing/moving but my belly size just seemed to stop - seemed baby had enough room....However if you are all saying that you get bigger second time around then i'm a bit concerned .......

For my first pregnancy I bought my first maternity clothes at 16 weeks but this time around I was wearing the lot at 12 weeks and glad I could announce my pregnancy because I was bigger faster. However I am 37 weeks now and probably same size as last time at the same time. I have always heard that second pregnancies show faster earlier on because your uterus is use to getting larger. And I also heard it is even "truer" for 2 pregnancies close together - mine are 20 months.