Men’s Guide to Morning Sickness

You feel helpless when you hear her in the bathroom. You offer water or crackers, but you’d like to offer her relief. But you also smile because it’s normal. It’s part of the process.

Kelci’s battling morning sickness right now. In fact, she literally is battling right now. But I wanted to offer some coping mechanisms for the guys out there. Let’s face it. Puking, dry heaving, wretching etc… isn’t pretty. But apparently it comes with the territory.

What is morning sickness?

According to the Mayo Clinic, morning sickness can occur any time of the day and is generally attributed to “… rapidly rising levels of estrogen, which causes the stomach to empty more slowly. Pregnant women also have a heightened sense of smell, so various odors — such as foods cooking, perfume or cigarette smoke — may cause waves of nausea in early pregnancy.”

This seems to be just one of the many joys that comes with the massive amount of hormones coursing through her body…

What can I do about it?

Hold her hair and tell her she’s beautiful. Really. I find myself smiling each time because it means she’s normal. She’s pregnant. But I also know she’s miserable, so I want to help her.

Keep some crackers around. They help absorb the stomach bile and also get something back into the stomach after it’s been emptied.

Keep her hydrated. You lose a lot of fluid when you puke. She needs to keep hydrated so she doesn’t cramp, keeps her core temperature down and helps ease the early pregnancy fatigue. I’ve found that ginger beer is also good, since it ginger is a natural anti-nausea relief.

Keep her happy. Her back and tummy hurt from puking, so give them a rub. Make sure you have water and maybe a toothbrush at the ready. Tell her she’s beautiful, even when she’s turned an odd shade of green.

Keep your distance. Sometimes she just wants to be sick. Be aware of when she’s ready for you to leave her alone and be aware of when you should be by her side.

So, there you have it. Be patient with her. She probably doesn’t know what the hell’s happening either.

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  • Colleen Carrington

    You're the husband that every woman dreams of :) Congrats to you and Kelci! Hope she's feeling better soon.

  • http://thegeekgiant.com geekgiant

    Thanks for the vote of confidence Colleen… Nausea is no fun.

  • http://twitter.com/superpuppy Kristina S.

    I found that in my case the nausea was caused by the prenatal vitamins I was taking. Taking them with milk immediately after eating seemed to solve it for me, then I was just battling the complete exhaustion! It gets better. For a little while. :)