Healthy Fit Pregnancy: How to Cope with Morning Sickness.
Morning sickness is a common phenomenon in early pregnancy, more than half of expecting mothers experience this early pregnancy symptom six weeks after conception. Discomforts associated with this early pregnancy symptom include loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, tiredness etc. This symptom usually lasts 2 to 3 months and will disappear gradually until it has little effect on pregnant women and fetuses. However, exceptions do exists, some expecting mothers continue to experience intensified symptom such as frequent vomiting even after 2 to 3 months. In addition to vomiting food, it sometimes mixes with mucus, bile or even brown blood. In extreme severe cases, expecting moms can not eat or drink which may eventually lead to nutritional status disorders, electrolyte imbalance, weight loss, positive urine ketone and even liver and kidney damage known as hyperemesis gravidarum.
Moms-to-be who experience severe or very uncomfortable morning sickness should go to see a doctor. Once the pregnancy news is confirmed, routine urine examination can be carried out. If the examination result reveals a negative urine ketone which indicates a relatively light morning sickness symptom, special treatment would be unnecessary. If the results reveals a positive urine ketone which means hyperemesis gravidarum, then you should be hospitalized and undertake further check-up such as blood/urine chemistry test, liver and kidney function tests to determine the severity and the possibilities of multiple pregnancy, hydatidiform mole and hyperthyroidism. When there are signs of nutritional disorders, there is a need to check the possibilities of hepatitis, cholecystitis, pancreatitis, peptic ulcer disease, brain tumors and other diseases.
Patients with relatively mild morning sickness can be treated by psychological, lifestyle and diet adjustments to ease the discomforts. Studies have shown that psychological stress and unstable nervous system of pregnant women prone to more severe vomiting symptom. Therefore, family members of morning sickness sufferers should give them necessary comfort and encouragement to help them maintain happy, stable and relaxed both emotionally and physically.
Lifestyle adjustments include the following: eat foods when you feel good or hungry. If you can not stand the smell of hot food, you can eat when it turns a bit colder. Try to avoid sudden activities or stimulations when you feel nausea. You can choose a diet that is high in carbohydrate and vitamins, low in fat, light and digestible. You should take small and frequent meals and make sure to avoid greasy, spicy foods. Do not stay hungry for a long time. You can eat some digestible foods that are high in carbohydrate and protein before bedtime. When you have nausea problem and feel like vomiting, snacks that contain ginger can help to ease the discomforts.
In general, ketone test of patients who have hyperemesis gravidarum is over "++". In this case, the patients need to be hospitalized and treated with intravenous rehydration and antiemetic therapy. In treatment of some severe cases, patients need to fast during the first few days of hospitalization. Intravenous rehydration can provide enough energy and liquid to the body so as to achieve the correct dehydration and acid-base balance. Often, vitamin B6 will be added in the intravenous fluid to stop patients from vomiting. It has been proven as the safest and most effective antiemetic drug so far. Moms-to-be can try to eat foods when vomiting is stopped by following dietary adjustments. However, you should not be prematurely discharged from hospital otherwise the symptoms may relapse. You can only be discharged only the daily activities resumed.
In most cases, hyperemesis gravidarum can be treated with good prognosis under a doctor's guidance. So there is no need to worry or feel nervous about it. You can definitely go through this difficult period under the guidance of a doctor.
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