This question is especially directed at ladies who were working when they got pregnant. I am pregnant with my first baby and am almost 6 weeks now. The nausea I have been getting is so severe for the past week. I took 2 or 3 days off work so far. I have been to the doctor and got medication which I am now taking. I’m still barely functional. I don’t actually throw up but there is severe nausea and I keep retching all day, different smells throw me off and have me retching uncontrollably including going into the work washroom.
Firstly, I feel bad about taking the meds and am currently taking two pills at night as directed by the doc. I do not want to increase the dose more that that. Work is tough, even just staying home without meds was really tough. If anyone else went through the same thing how did you cope? My morning sickness lasts all day and all night. Even when I get up in the middle of th night for a few minutes I have it. It’s sapped all my energy and happiness. Any advice is welcome!
A couple more things - I have not told work yet and was hoping to tell my manager after the 3 or 4 month mark. But with how ill I feel I think I might have to tell work a lot sooner. Anyone have any experience to share regarding that?
I threw up in work car as soon as one of my male colleagues brought in a tuna sandwich from Subway on our way to the meeting!
I threw up in the hallway since I couldnt make it to the bathroom!
It was tough, embarassing and painful to say the least.. I was constantly on zofran..ended up in the hospital a few times for severe dehydration.. but my boss and colleagues were SUPPORTIVE.. yes in caps!!! most of my colleagues have nursing background so they understood (i work in public health) and they were there to help me through it! I threw up for 17 weeks.. but i didnt want to quit, there was no disability unemployment in my state (you can check in your state) and we needed money so I continued to ocme in to work! if I had a choice, I probably would have quit!
Regardless, I told my boss as soon as I found out.. I had been TTC for almost a year and she knew about it.. I am not sure how your relationship is with your boss but we have a good support system and a wonderful boss at work so I shared the news right away.. considering I was throwing up even before I found out about pregnancy.. it was just the right thing to do!
how much sick time do you have? how is the maternity leave at your work? and lastly, how important is it for you to work?
also, keep drinking water.. you dont want to be dehydrated.. you will be poked and probed like there is no tomorrow!!!
I hada horrible pregnancy, not so great labor, and my doc told me that I will have an easy baby.. I sure did, alhamdulillah!! my newborn was the easiest newborn ever mashaAllah.. but yeah he is making me realize I wasnt promised an easy toddler
Gemini - thanks so much for sharing. I’ve been feeling all alone in this. I know most women get morning sickness but I didn’t know how severe it could be or how it could feel. I guess I am lucky that I don’t actually throw up and can keep my food down. Drinking water is hard as it doesn’t taste that great but I am trying.
I live in Canada and we get 1 year mat leave here. I work for a bank and can possibly get up to 6 months in short term disability but don’t want to use that unless I really have to. Trying to see if I can just get by and get through this for now. I’m not a big fan of my boss so didn’t want to tell him too early. I guess I gotta play it by ear and see how things go. I know I do have to work during the pregnancy to get my mat leave (or atleast as far as I know).
oh honey, forget the taste, nothing will taste the same ever again!! you pop a kid and lose your tastebuds.. at least I did!!!
I had a metal taste in my mouth that didnt go away until after I delivered the baby.. I always felt like I was chewing on pennies.. worst thing ever! I was also told to drink gatorade or any flavored water.. I couldnt keep anything down but I tried my best to drink watever I could.. I used to throw up at the smell of tea.. no one was allowed to open fridge in my house if I was around! but I loved watermelon and carrots!!! try watermelon.. it will keep you hydrated and may help you with nausea too!
I dont know about maternity leave in Canada but if you are eligible, do take short term disability… first trimester is not fun!
Im currently 32 weeks pregnant with my second baby my daughter is only 13 months!
I was also working full time whilst expecting with her and had severe nausea i was sick also but mostly nausea nothing would help, i couldnt eat alot of things for the first 16 weeks but after the 4th month alhumdulillah was feeling a little better! I told my manager wen i was 8 weeks only becuase i couldnt cope with my work load(my jobb is local authority so had to be out to visit people at home and carry out interviews) i was struggling with the driving as i just wasnt well! I wasnt sure how she was going to react but alhumdullilah best decision was to tell her they used to sometimes send me home but i do remember being off sick alot during that pregnancy! I did feel bad but u shouldnt we are entitled to it so y not use it when u need to!
This pregnancy i was off work most of the time as i was on mat leave frm previos baby i did have slight nausea and sickness and someone told me to try suckin on a fresh lemon n u know it actually works, u should try it i was gng tgrough a few a day but it would gice me instant relief!
I had severe nausea in my first trimester as well. It was so bad that I lost 10 lbs in the first 13 weeks (well actually from week 6 to 13). I couldnt think about eating, it would make me retch and dry heave. Surprisingly I only threw up a few times, but just had constant nausea. Cooking was the worst, but I had to do it, because me and my husband live on our own far away from family, and there are no halal restaurants in our town.
The only thing that I found that helped - you may think its counter productive - but eating actually does help your nausea. Eat anything that seems good to you. In my first trimester, the only thing I wanted was COLD grapes. That is the only thing that I could eat. Try to find something that you will enjoy, and make sure to keep it handy at work, at your desk/fridge. I found from most people, that really cold fruit usually helped them. So try different fruits.
In Canada, you do have to work at least 6 months (certain number of hours - I cant remember now) before you are eligible for mat leave. And if you take short term disability, make sure that you still have enough hours at work in the 6 months before your baby comes or you wont qualify.
I was the same as well…I also had low hemoglobin..I used to almost faint so many times in the buses, taxis, at work at my desk…and I had morning sickness as well…I had to tell my boss much earlier coz I was calling in sick and I didn’t want him to think I was being a slacker.
He was VERY SUPPORTIVE…I use to even go to the sick room on the days I made it to work so i could lie down for a 1-2hrs…I am also in Canada, and am also working for a bank. Am on mat leave right now. You can go on mat leave 11 weeks prior to your due date…depending on the province. I wanted to do that at the end, coz my dizziness was getting too much…and the iron pills were not helping…but my managers told me to go on short-term disab. So I was lucky…got a doctor’s note and got it approved.
I know girls at work, where the first 3 months they were on Short-term disab, and some on the last 3 months…so check with your province on how many weeks you can stay off work and be qualified for mat leave.
You didn’t mention where you live! but I know in the States, there are these lollipops called Preggy Pops. They might not taste the best but every time you experience morning sickness and you eat one, the nausea stops. It is not medicine and does not have any side effects.
I hope these are available where you live. Try a pharmacy or large grocery store.
I had the worse nausea too. In fact, I was diagnosed with hyperemesis at the same visit when I found I was pregnant.
Zofran (ondansetron) was incredibly helpful. Although I lost alot of weight and had horrible nausea and vomiting until my 21st week, I think this helped me to keep some fluids and food (mostly green apples) down. I was nervous about taking the medicine, but I think it’s been utilized for a fairly long period of time and is considered safe by OB’s
In fact, there was a recent large scale study that was published about it: (although retrospective) MMS: Error
With respect to my work, I was lucky in that I was able to get some time off and work from home, which was really helpful.
i also had significant nausea during first trimester and work in a hospital … so smells of poop, urine, medications, not to mention certain foods were intolerable.
I use zofran initially … it helped but but enough. I was still nauseous and retching. I switched o reglan … that did the trick.
I was able to work through the pregnancy after that.
Its my 26th wk now and I am having the worst nausea ever. I throw up even now in 26 wks sometime but it is a lot better. Due to my nauseous condition, my boss was clever enough to realise tht I am pregnant on 6th wk. I could not manage working hence took a 15 days off. Those days were worst! I dont want to recall them! but then I started taking anti nausea meds and now I only call in sick when I know I just couldnt bear. Otherwise I go to the office and vomit there. YES!!! whenever I have to!
I think it is better if you tell your boss beforehand and just accept that someone people like us have rough pregnancies!! All the best!!
Pick up a copy of ‘Today’s Parent Guide Pregnancy’ edition at a Thyme Maternity location, I believe you get one and some other magazines with a purchase
It has a very detailed article on when to tell your employer about pregnancy/Mat leave preps and such.
Thank you ladies for all your feedback! Will try a few of these things. Inshallah I hope everyone has pregnancies which are as easy as possible and healthy, happy babies!
One other thing I have also noticed is that I always feel very hot / overheated inside. It’s especially the area around my chest which always feels very hot. I mentioned this to my doctor and she said that it’s because of the preg hormones. I’ve been trying to drink cold milk and water and smoothies etc which help for just a bit and then seem to turn into hot slush inside me. I’m guessing this feeling of ‘garmi’ is common in pregnancy too? I’ve been off nuts, tea, coffee, chocolate and any other ‘garm’ natured food I could think of. What are other ladies experiences with this?
Royal Gala - I am located in ontario (Milton) and work in Toronto. There is a Thyme store near where I work. Will look for that magazine you mentioned. Thanks!
^When you go to Thymes get their stretch mark cream…it is really good…I used it…I don’t even have ONE mark on me…and their clothes are really good as well…
Yup…it is common to feel hot all the time…I was like that too…I also forgot things all the time!!! I suggest if you become like that, get a little notebook and write stuff down…like your to do lists…that will help.
I had the severe nausea too. I threw up only once or twice a day and that made me feel better but the nausea was even worse than throwing up. I was not working at that time, but I think if I were I could not have gone to work at all. I felt better in the 22nd week.
First, congratulations! I remember your Weddings posts and now lookit, mummy time!
Second, yup, I hear you. Like gtg, I threw up daily, several times a day, for 17 weeks. Are you on diclectin? That’s the only thing that helped and i took as many as I needed. Dont feel bad about it- its a highly researched drug, designed especially for combatting pregnany nausea. Take it as you need it- it will help.
For me, it didn’t stop the barfing, but reduced the frequency. I barfed all over Toronto lol- car parks, drive ways, malls, the side of the 401- you name it, I barfed there. My coworkers were almost all women so they picked up on it really quickly and were very supportive. I didn’t call in sick but some days I had to leave early because of sheer exhaustion. The ladies closest to me quickly picked up on the smells that threw me off and would eat away from their desks. But for a while my ritual was to run into work, drop my bags by my desk, and race to the bathroom to barf.
Just hang in there! This, too, shall pass. Many people say the stronger the nausea, the healthier the baby because of the sheer amount of hormones in your system. I don’t know if its true, but I went on to have a very healthy 9.5 lb’er mA. And if you can, tell your boss. I know it’s not ideal but it really does help to not constantly be stressed about what your boss/co-workers are thinking.
SGC, OMG that’s exactly what happened with my first one, I was on diclectin for many months as well, and now that I can remember it really did help with the frequency of wanting to ‘barf’ I had it really bad, I couldn’t even stand my husband’s cologne/deodorant…he would keep these things in his car
Summerbr - It’s gonna be at least tough for first 3 months, but hang in there - you WILL feel so much better once you are in your second trimester iA
