Feeling sick - pregnancy & work

[nikosmum2010]

Should I tell my employer I'm pregnant. I'm only 6 weeks but can't concentrate at work due to nausea. What should I do? Can I be sick?

How bad is it? Can you employ coping strategies? I didn't tell work first time and felt dreadful. But I coped by only working my hours, going to bed early and having proper snacks to head off the sickness.

If you have a good relationship with your boss it might be worth a word in their ear just to make them aware, they will hopefully be understanding of this fact then.

tbh I don't really want to tell employer at this stage and can't trust boss not to tell everyone in department. The nausea comes and goes and I have this combined with Stomach cramps which means I've hardly done any work today. I've already taken Tuesday & Wednesday off, back to work today and feel miserable.

Just do the bare minimum. It's that time of year when bugs are going around anyway? Maybe take tomo off?

I found that having 6 small meals a day helped and carried apples and water with me all the time. I avoided travel (I had to take the virgin pendolino once - never again when pregnant!) and took a proper lunch break for fresh air. Also a protein breakfast really helped (scrambled eggs usually) more so than carbs. And eat a biscuit or something as soon as I woke. Weirdly if I ate brown rice at dinner with minimal protein I'd feel a little better in the morning. And drink water.

speak to your GP and ask to be signed off if it is soo bad you can't work. I made the mistake of going to work whilst I had severe sickness and that caused my ill health. Once I told my work place at the last moment legally required they harassed me tell the rest of the departments - every tom, dick or harry in the area I worked. In hindsight and what I've seen other mothers do is they get signed off sick

I really feel for you. I went through this with my pregnancies and it is just awful.

If you can't tell your manager, is there someone at work you could tell - having one understanding person helps. You will probably find that if it's really bad, your employer will start guessing anyway and if you are already having days off here and there, it might be better to manage the situation proactively and take the fall out.

Re managing the sickness, it's all about keeping your blood sugar levels up. I found popping grapes helped. Also the doctor told me to sip flat lemonade instead of water (same as being on a drip) and eat something sugary every 30 mins (he suggested half a kitkat).

You can definitely be sick - of course! It's a very valid reason to be off!

I told my boss at 6 weeks and he was seriously awesome with me