Enduring "morning" sickness - the biggest success of my life :)

[antiv03]

Haven't posted here in a while because I've been through a LOT in the past year (not good) but I'm convinced that it has been for the best, and only increased my determination to beat the evil that is emetophobia....I always enjoy the positive posts here, so here's my contribution to those

Because of my phobia (fear of self/others v*ing), I was not sure if I would ever be able to be pregnant. I also worried about being able to work/keep a job with morning sickness. After 2 years of worrying, I went to therapy for 6 months, which helped. Last May, I got pregnant, and felt scared about the sickness to come. But the sickness never came - at almost 6 weeks I had a miscarriage. I collapsed on my bed, sobbing for the entire day. The experience convinced me that my worries about "being sick" were so very trivial in the grand scheme of things. And that no stupid phobia would get in my way of having a child...

Fast forward nearly a year. I am now 8 and a half weeks pregnant!!! For three weeks I have endured "morning" (or shall we say, morning noon and night :P) sickness, which for me has been lingering moderate nausea. However, despite my fears, I have coped through self-care. In the middle of the night and early morning when I wake up nauseous, I have a small snack of saltines and ginger ale. Yes, I've had 2 close calls (to v*ing) but emetrol and toast and jam worked wonders! AND I have not missed a single day of work/needed to leave my job (one of my biggest fears) in spite of it all - I even just got back from working on a Sunday (!!!).

More than a year ago, I would never, ever have imagined being able to do this. The experience has shown me that we emetophobes do not know what we are truly capable of until we just let go and go for it!!!

[chocolategirl]

Great job! and congrats on the baby!

[chickman]

aw that's so great. gives me hope for that in the future. i'm sorry for your loss as well, but i'm very glad you are pregnant again! keep us updated!

[angela reece]

congrats!! i am very happy for you!!! i hope you get to feeling better!! good luck

[derm_st]

I totally agree. I was told I would never have children and here I am with a son Colton who is 15,..a daughter Hope who is 9 and a suprise baby Josie SinClair who is 4. I made it through all 3 pregnancies and C- sections without getting sick. I have Zofran to take though and I took it more at times than others.
We are not the weak ones that most of the people in the world think we are. If many of then lived with what we live with,...they would not have survived. We are fighters!! We are warriors!!!
Congradulations on your pregnancy and I will say a prayer for God to do for you what he has done for me. He is no respector of persons. Gods grace is enough!!

[antiv03]

Thanks everyone!!! The support here during 1st trimester/morning sickness time really, really helps (especially since I am holding off on telling people this time around after what happened last year). I will be 12 weeks pregnant tomorrow! Dr heard a heartbeat at the appt last week and said there's now <1% chance of miscarriage For those who are thinking about pregnancy but unsure due to the fear - you can do it!!!

[kellybeth]

Wow. That is awsome news. I want so bad to have a baby. But I am worried about the morning sickness. I wouldnt be so worried if I were able to stay home but since I have to work every day, well thats what scares me. I hate to throw up but it would be 100% worse if it were to happen at work.

You truely are an insipration!!

[kmca9240]

Hi,

I've been coming to this site for years....you guys have really helped me through some tough times. I too am 8 weeks pregnant and I tell you morning sickness has been a challenge. And you are right! It comes at anytime of the day. It is so nice to hear others are going through this as well. Overall I feel great (and nauseous at the same time) but all you can do is power through it....and figure out what it is you need to do to feel better......which for me is 100% possible. I tell you though, I will be very excited to move onto the second trimester. Congratulations to all you soon to be mom's. It's a rough road but one that is worth (and surprisingly not as difficult as I thought) walking.

[antiv03]

kellybeth - reading your post is all too familiar, because working while pregnant with morning sickness was perhaps my biggest fear. However, once you discover ways to best curb your nausea at work it really is very manageable! What helped me most was opening windows for fresh air, having breath mints (when I couldn't be near an open window)sipping ice cold water, and sitting down whenever I could. I also made sure to eat small meals every 2 hours so I didn't get too hungry/nauseous. And believe it or not, I felt better at work than I did at home because it was a distraction from the nausea!!! (In fact, a friend who was not working last year when she was pregnant told me that she wished she had been working to distract her from the nausea )

kmca9240 - what you said about figuring out what you need to do to manage your nausea is SO SO true - once you figure it out, it really is very manageable! (well, the first nauseous week or two where I was still "learning" what to do was a bit rougher, but once I figured out what helped it was much more manageable ) It also helped me to remember that most women start feeling better by 12 weeks (many lucky ones feel better even before this point) and then enjoy a nausea-free 2nd trimester CONGRATS to you on your pregnancy...and we are all way stronger than this phobia!

[vlbecker84]

that's awesome that you are doing so well!! i have a fear of getting pregnant too but after having noro last week I feel I've overcome my phobia a bit so I'm not as scared as I was. It's nice to hear success stories on here. You should be so proud of yourself that you overcame this!! Good for you!! And also I noticed some people on here put they took zofran during their pregnancy...i don't know much about these things but is that one of the drugs you can take safely during pregnancies? because that would be great. anyway congrats again!

[andee]

Great job!!! Yes, morning sickness scared the heck out of me. I had my share with my two, was only sick once, but then learned never to let myself get too hungry. I also used phenergan and that helped. It is SOOOO worth it...I now have one of each and don't know what I did without them. Best of luck to you, take care of yourself, eat whatever you crave, and enjoy the anticipation of it all!

[gretelmonster]

Congratulations! I have had 2 babies and had morning sickness both times. I found it really difficult to cope and got quick depressed and very anxious. I took Maxalon, and sometimes Phenergan, all the time, which didn't help the nausea but meant I didn't v*. I also had reflux during my 2nd pregnancy....worse than the morning sickess, let me tell you!
Now I have 2 littlies who do sometimes...v*
I struggle with this every day and I feel angry that I have this phobia as I miss out on enjoying some things with my kids, but I am sooooooo grateful that I have them.
Being in a family is difficult with emet - I sometimes want to hide...especially when there is a bug going round. My husband thinks its good v* when unwell and I just have to hide out till it's all over.
Re morning sickness - as soon as I worked out that eating actually made me feel better, I got along ok. And sleep glorious sleep! Get as mush as you can!!!