Morning sickness typically ends by the 14th to 16th week, or in between 3 to 4 months.  Some unlucky women have it last longer, until the end of the second trimester, (6 months) or even into the third trimester.  In rarer cases it can last the whole pregnancy.  Some women get it so severely that they can’t keep food down and loose weight.  Your doctor will be able to tell you your options if this is the case for you.

An old wives tale is that morning sickness is a sign of healthy pregnancy, not all women get it and obviously lots of babies are born to women who don’t get morning sickness.  It’s just the luck of the draw whether you get it or not.  Some women will get it in their first pregnancy but not their second, it’s different for every pregnancy.  So, if you don’t every have morning sickness consider yourself lucky and enjoy the first 3 months of your pregnancy.

Home Remedies for Morning Sickness: Things That You Eat.

Eat candied ginger for morning sickness

One of the probably causes for morning sickness is a drop in blood sugar.  As such, eating things that bring the blood sugar back up can help.  Saltine Crackers, and goldfish crackers are simple starch which is easily converted into sugar.  Sweetened drinks like ginger ale can also help, the carbonation is also a factor of the relieve.  Make sure they don’t have any carbonation.  The over the counter nausea remedy Emetrol contains high concentrations of sugar and phosphoric acid.  You can get almost the same combination from fruit flavored candy.  Many women report lemon drops, preggie pops, Life Savers, or Jolly Ranchers working for them.  Preggie Pops are basically Jolly Ranchers.  Peppermint or spearmint candy can be effective too.  Actual fruit sometimes works too, like citrus, apples, or watermelon.  Look for the sugary/acidic combination.  Some women also report relief by eating food high in protein before going to bed, like milk, cheese, or other dairy or lean meat.  Ginger has long been known as a folk remedy for stomach ailments and their is some science to back it up.   Most ginger ale doesn’t contain any real ginger, although there are some specialty brands that do.  It can be very spicy though.  You can use actual ginger root, candied ginger is probably more palatable to the average person than fresh ginger, plus it’s got the sugar in it.

Home Remedies for Morning Sickness: Things That You Avoid.

Many of the things that fall into this list are common sense things you would do to commonly avoid nausea.  Avoid spicy, oily, or greasy foods.   Avoid smells that trigger nausea.  Unfortunately things that you liked to eat before pregnancy can nauseate you when morning sickness strikes.  A common nausea trigger for many women is raw meat, many times they can’t stand the sight or smell of it, yet can eat it with no problem once it is cooked.  If smells bother you, you can use a paper towel soaked in peppermint oil to breath through to avoid the smells.  Some women report holding lemon or citrus peels to their nose also helps.

Unfortunately morning sickness doesn’t always occur in the morning, and it doesn’t always go away by the third trimester.  It’s also hard to find something that consistently works.  Many times women have to keep changing their strategies, or using a combination of several things.  Hopefully you can find some home remedies for morning sickness that will help get you through the day.

• An increase in the level of the estrogen. 
• Low blood sugar.
• An increase in progesterone relaxes the muscles in the uterus but may also relax the stomach and intestines, leading to extra stomach acids and acid reflux.
• An increase in human chorionic gonadotropin
• An increase in sensitivity to odors.
• An increase in bowel movement.
• The body’s effort to detoxify the body. There is evidence that the liver and kidneys become more active than normal at the start of pregnancy.

There are lots of remedies for morning sickness, but what works for one person may not work for another.   Sometimes the obvious like ginger (ginger has been long know to help stomach upset) works, sometimes things like goldfish crackers for nausea, or even atomic fireballs help with nausea (it’s a type of cinnamon candy). Unfortunately morning sickness remedies that work for you one day may not work the next.  Sometimes foods that you loved before your pregnancy will make you sick with just their smell.  Sometimes you’ll want to eat things that you hated.  The fact that there isn’t one single reason for what causes morning sickness and the fact that doctors aren’t really sure what does cause morning sickness is what makes it so difficult to treat in so many people.

My morning sickness with both children before the pregnancy test was positive and up to only a few days before childbirth. And unlike some people who only complained of nasuea, my condition was actual vomiting 5-10 times a day.

Solutions and non-starters for morning sickness:

Works all the time for me:
B6 vitamins – in prescription level doses
Prescription prenatal vitamins in prescription level doses

Works for some people, but not for me:
Ginger capsules
Ginger ale
Saltines

Doesn’t work for me or most of my friends:
Red raspberry root
Lemon water
Complaining about it to your significant other
Complaining about it to anyone else
Prayer

Morning Sickness Relief - Comic Relief, That Is.

It was more severe with my firstborn (a daughter), due to her being a girl. In many ways, it was worse with my second child (a boy), because I had a toddler under foot. Thus I couldn’t just lay down and recover, but had to get up and go be a Mommy while still feeling bad. And my daughter was almost two when I was pregnant, so I had all of a toddler’s questions and none of the understanding.
Shortly before her second birthday, I asked my daughter if she wanted a baby brother or a baby sister. The prompt reply was, “No!” I wondered if she understood the question. “Renee, do you want a baby brother?”
“No.”
“Do you want a baby sister?”
“No.”
“Do you want a baby bear?”
“Where?” Then she found one of her small “baby” bears and cuddled it. OK, we understood the concept of baby.
“Mommy is going to have another baby. Are you going to love the baby?”
“Huh?”
I then proceeded to try to explain that the new baby was in Mommy’s tummy. She lifted up my shirt and pointed at my stomach. “Belly?”
“That’s my belly.”
“Belly bu.” For belly button.
“The baby is in my belly.”
I don’t think this answer quite computed. “Are you throwing him up?”
But within a week, if asked where Mommy’s new baby was, she would reliably point at my stomach. She also began cuddling with her new cabbage patch doll, feeding it, carrying it, and carting it around. She’d also throw it on the ground and toss it about extensively. When I told her she’d hurt the baby, she’d pick it up, rock in her arms, and say, “Poor baby” in a sympathetic tone.
The more embarrassing part was morning sickness relief. Most mornings, I delayed eating until after I’d dropped my daughter off at daycare. One morning, it kicked in before we’d left home. My daughter came into the bathroom looking for me, thinking it was another round of hide and seek. She stared in confusion for a while. Then she pointed at me and asked, “What’s that?”
“Renee, Mommy’s sick. Go play with Daddy.”
“What’s that?”
Mommy being sick was a new experience, and hence far more interesting than playing with Daddy. “Mommy doesn’t feel good. Go get Daddy.”
“What’s that?”
The disadvantage of a toddler is that they’ll keep asking the same question until they get an answer that computes. She wanted a name of an object or action, and I was giving orders. “It’s a toilet.”
OK, a new noun was provided. She then raced off to find a toy to play with.

My most embarrassing moment with my daughter in public was while she was toilet training. Her teachers sent her to the potty. She then leaned over and spit in it before using it. The teachers asked why. “That’s what Mommy does!”
After two weeks of this, the teachers then asked me why I spit in the toilet. “I don’t!”
“Your daughter says you do it all the time,” I was challenged.
“I have morning sickness, and she can’t come to school until I’ve found morning sickness relief. Then the force of that makes me have to use the bathroom. She’s probably imitating me.”

By Morning Sickness Relief

Anyway, things that work change for her weekly, and pre pregnancy remedies don’t always work like they used to, but her newest nausea remedy is Goldfish Crackers. Yes, Goldfish Crackers for an upset stomach. I don’t really get eating when you’re sick but, I guess it goes along with the whole crackers and sprite thing, so it sort of makes sense. She tells me that her pregancy nausea is different than “usual nausea”.   I guess since low blood sugar can cause nausea in pregnancy, then the cheesy crackers help with that.  I guess that if goldfish work then Cheese-It’s would work too.  Usually when you’re sick you don’t want to eat anything but she says that eating something calms her stomach. So now we have a cupboard full of Goldfish crackers for morning sickness.

Ginger - (tablets, chews, tea, ginger ale with actual ginger in it) - this is a well known natural remedy for upset stomach.
Peppermint (candies, tea) - also well known for soothing upset stomach
Lemon (lemonade, lemon flavored candy, lemon flavored italian ice) - not sure why this works
Eating something with protein in it before you go to bed at night, and eating more protein in general - some say a lack of, and need for more protein during pregnancy causes the morning sickness
Eating small meals often rather than a few large meals - keeps the stomach full
Saltines - absorb stomach acid
Goldfish crackers - not sure why
Jolly ranchers (or other hard candy like flavored life savers) - in case low blood sugar is causing the morning sickness
Preggo pops or other pregnancy candy (same as above, but these are usually all natural)
Watermelon - i guess because of the sugar
Canned fruit  - someone just told me this, not sure why it works
Atomic fire balls - not sure why
Sprite, 7UP - carbonation and also lemon
Vitamin B6 - not sure why
Prenatal vitamins can sometimes cause it b/c of the high iron content. Different pills can be used if that is the case.
Smelling lemon or peppermint

So, there’s all the morning sickness remedies I’ve been told by people I know, either in real life or on a forum.  What works for you?