Morning Sick
We just got back from visiting Rome and my parents joined us. (Insert comment here about having no sympathy for the Italian traveler no matter how sick she is…) I spent my fair share of time with a barf bag in hand in anticipation for our next food pit stop. I enjoyed a few moments of relief only to be overwhelmed with exhaustion. From what I gather there are those of you who have had a much harder time with morning sickness than I could even imagine. I seek your stories of how you coped and how you kept from feeling resentful. Comments from the dads would be helpful too, as I know you experience the backlash of it all and you are not to be forgotten.
My daughter is five and my son is almost two. I was pregnant with my daughter while living in Germany. This proved to be difficult as we found out the very shocking pregnancy news late the night before we left the States. I bought a pregnancy book in the airport during a layover. I had to discover new comfort foods and they were few and far between. As a long-time vegetarian, I was surprised at my cravings for meat. Germany was accommodating in that sense, but lacked the other staple morning sick foods such as Lucky Charms and Taco Bell.
I was pregnant with my son during a time when my newly employed husband was largely absent physically and mentally. He admits hardly remembering my waking up at 2 and 3 in the morning to puke up nothing but yellowy-green stuff, my inability to eat anything but Top Ramen, of my suffering complaints of throwing up on the side of the road while traveling home from work. I was also new in my ward and didn’t have any ladies to talk to, since my normally outgoing nature was replaced by lethargy and borderline depression.
This time I am again outside the States and there are no Lucky Charms on the store shelves, nor are there Taco Bells. I’m anxious about feeling this way for weeks on end and dealing with the guilt of running on only two cylinders with my husband making up for my slack. In the expatriate world of government employees and international NGO’s, I’m a freak for having a third kid. Everyone in my social circle has their one or two kids and has been finished for years. Even the members of my branch (typical Albanian) have no more than two kids and my two year old is by far the youngest member in the branch.
So how did you do it? Any ancient Chinese secret remedies? Suggestions for keeping up moral—me, dad, kids?
April 4th, 2006 17:33
I was so sick with Katy my first trimester that I couldn’t even keep down the old standby of 7up and soda crackers. I lost 11 pounds. I just laid face-down in a dark hallway outside the bathroom door. Ugh.
It wasn’t anywhere near as bad for me with Bobbie. Maybe it’s a girl/boy thing; I don’t know. I have a recipe for an herbal tea to help with it. I’ll have ot look it up, but I’ll post it later.
You need any of us to ship you some Lucky Charms?
April 4th, 2006 22:12
I have nothing to offer you. My pregnancy was really easy, and I was only sick for two weeks. However, the first thing I threw up was a banana and I still can’t eat bananas without getting queasy. I did break down crying near the end of the two weeks. I was sobbing to my husband that “I miss eating!”
April 6th, 2006 19:30
When I was sick with my first kid… Oh… wait… I haven’t had any kids yet. I think you’ll like this kid the best out of all your kids. Melanee says that she loves her first two, but now that she has the third, the other two entertain themselves and she just sits and stares at Simon. You should read Erin’s blog, lo que pasa aqui en el barrio, she has lots of stories about puking and could probably give you some excellent advice.
I love you!
April 8th, 2006 23:30
Although I have no helpful advice for coping with morning sickness, I can offer heartfelt sympathy and my hopes that you will soon feel perky again.
I do have a suggestion for dealing with the negative vibes you may experience when people learn that you are pregnant with your third (gasp!) child. When I was pregnant in England some years ago, pleasant interest often turned to hostility and scorn once people learned that I was expecting not my first, but my sixth child. I was repeatedly informed in no uncertain terms that I was selfishly adding to the pollution of the environment and contributing to the depletion of precious natural resources. The first time I was attacked in this way I was shocked into silence. In future encounters with indignant people charging me with irresponsibility, I responded with a brilliant smile that I was confident that my children would more than justify their existence. In a world full of problems, they would help provide needed solutions by becoming valuable, productive, contributing members of society. In this matter, as in many others, the best defense is often a good offence.