I am hoping that the morning sickness is peaking for me this week, because it's the most intense, consistent and intrusive it's been thus far, and at this moment I can't imagine how awful life will be if it gets much worse.
Still no vomiting. Just a raw, acidy feeling in my stomach, that starts out being just annoying and icky in the morning, but by nighttime is pretty much hell. For the last couple days I haven't even had a few minutes of break from it... instead it's just always there, making me feel crappy, and I have to figure out how to smile and chat with my staff and my boss and my clients as if I'm not desperately wishing I could either puke on their shoes or curl up in a ball at their feet and nap.
Sigh.
Liquids are still the hardest, that awful seasick feeling after just a few sips. Yet water tastes so good... I WANT it, I know my body wants it, but as soon as it's in my stomach it magnifies the queasies by a hundred.
I'm actually feeling so awful today that I'm seriously considering going home. Just trying to decide if I should take my lunch hour to nap on the floor in my office, and then leave at 3 (I worked enough flex time on Monday and Tuesday to cover it) or just go home at noon and use a half day of sick time. Trying to save up my sick time for maternity leave. And I feel a little silly for leaving work sick when I know I'm not going to feel any better tomorrow, and it's not like I'm contagious or throwing up or anything. It's not exactly something I can just sleep off, either.
I think the nap / leaving at 3 plan is the wiser way to go, if I can make it that far. I slept like a rock last night and still woke up exhausted; also I'm having a lot of vivid adventurous dreams (there was a big black werewolf!) and wondering if that is contributing somewhat to how tired I feel when I wake up. I know if I go home I'm just going to go to bed and sleep, which is probably good for me, but I also have to make it through the hour-long commute to get home. Yesterday the drive home was particularly bad - stop and go traffic in rush hour for almost an hour and a half, and by the time I got home it felt basically like the worst hangover I've ever had.
Ugh.
The internet seems to agree that weeks 9-10 is the average "peak" time for morning sickness, so right now I'm just really hoping that I'm getting through the worst of it and things will start easing up next week.
Anyway, so far here are the things that HAVE helped (sort of):
ginger ale
saltines - though now I have to eat them with cheese on top, because the saltine flavor by itself makes me nauseous
jolly rancher candies - no idea why these are effective, but they seem to distract my mouth/stomach from feeling gross
hummus and pretzels
pickles, and pickle juice
tortilla soup
Adding extra salt to my food
the smell of our laundry fabric softener (it smells AMAZING. Like, AMAZING. I want it under my nose ALL THE TIME.)
SLEEP. Sleep, more than anything.
And these things do NOT help:
eating before I get out of bed - this makes it worse; I can stave off the worsening of the nausea longer if I wait until 9-10AM to eat anything
ginger chews/candy - makes it a LOT worse
anything mint or peppermint - UGH
drinking more than a few sips of water at a time
drinking anything other than water, except ginger ale which is sometimes ok
flavoring water with anything
Vitamin b6 - I'm still taking it daily in the hopes it will do something, but it doesn't really feel like it has any effect
exercise, even just two minutes of slow walking, makes it worse
potato chips (I can't stand the thought of them - and they're usually one of my favorite vices)
cookies
yogurt - something about the texture I just can't handle
the nasty sugar aftertaste in my mouth after eating anything sweet or high in carbs - I basically have to wash most food/soda/candy/crackers down with pickles or a bit of salt licked right out of my palm, otherwise I feel like a kid with a stomachache from eating sweets...
salad dressings or other foods with high oil content
unexpected sweet flavors in savory foods (like a sweet sauce on a hamburger)
the smell of hairspray, other people's food, and the lingering smell of our dinner after I've eaten it
lack of sleep
Now, I have always preferred salty foods to sweet ones, and I've always felt nauseous/queasy when I don't get enough sleep, so I can't really blame those entirely on morning sickness. But, it does seem like they're worse right now. I have to be careful with the ginger ale and jolly ranchers so that I don't over-sugar myself, but in moderation they help some of the symptoms.
Tell you what, this first trimester crap is not nearly as fun as they make it look on TV. :P You always see the pregnant lady throwing up (once) into a toilet, and go "AHA, that character's pregnant!" and then the storyline goes on with all the pregnancy drama and pretty much never shows our heroine turning green and taking naps and generally being miserable for the rest of the story arc. Pffft.
Just another reason to be looking forward to the second trimester, when (*knock on wood*) things are supposed to actually get more fun.
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