The plain truth: Women find morning sickness a real pain

The plain truth: Women find morning sickness a real pain

Is morning sickness real or only in the mind? A number of women
share their experiences below.

Sheila Quarles van Ufford-Thomson, an international
development consultant who lives in Jakarta, is 27 weeks pregnant
with her third child.

In her first pregnancy, she experienced mild nausea for about
a week when she was about two months pregnant.

"I only felt sick in the evening though, not in the morning,
which is normal. Morning sickness doesn't necessarily appear in
the morning as the term implies," the 34-year-old mother of two
little girls said.

In her second pregnancy, she didn't have any morning sickness
at all.

"Now, in the third pregnancy, I felt quite sick over a period
of about two weeks, also when I was about two months pregnant. I
never vomited but I did feel nauseous for most of the day.

"The 'morning sickness', when I experienced it, didn't bother
me too much. I did have to lay down a few times until the feeling
passed in my third pregnancy, but otherwise my daily activities
weren't disrupted," said Van Ufford-Thomson, who has 10 years of
social development work experience in Asia and South America.

She does not think that morning sickness is a "mind thing", as
a study has suggested.

"In my case, I don't think the feelings were a 'mind thing'.
If it were so, I guess I would have felt more sick with the first
child, and I had the worst morning sickness with my third
pregnancy! I think it is simply hormonal."

Maria, who is now seven months pregnant, discovered that the
first three months of her pregnancy were the hardest.

"I had daily headache, a loss of appetite, increased
temperature, constant fatigue and, worst of all, I felt like
throwing up every time I saw or smelled food," she said.

Work became unbearable since the symptoms made her feel week
and tired, forcing her to take a nap every three or four hours.

Unlike most pregnant women who gain weight during their
pregnancies, she lost 4.5 kilograms in these first three months.

"I was so worried ... but when I told my obstetrician about
this, he said it was normal and those symptoms would disappear in
the second three-month term," Maria said.

She was prescribed a multivitamin that she had to take daily
and was advised to get plenty of rest. Her husband and family
were concerned but supportive.

"I do believe that morning sickness is real. It can be serious
or mild. I know some women who only felt mild symptoms, so mild
they can ignore them," she said. "I can accept (the discomfort)
as part of my pregnancy."

Titin, a hairstylist at a busy beauty parlor in Bendungan
Hilir, Central Jakarta, found morning sickness disrupted her
daily activities.

In her line of work, she has to deal with many customers every
day, and is always on her feet. Now six months pregnant with her
second child, the routine has become a real challenge.

"The first three months were the most difficult time. Once I
had to rush to the bathroom to throw up in the middle of a job,"
said the 29-year-old woman. "I had to hide it from my customer
because I did not want her to feel disgusted."

"Another time I felt so week ... standing up was unbearable.
All I wanted to do was sit or sleep," she said.

Liya, a journalist, had to rush to the bathroom every morning
with nausea for the first several months of her pregnancy.
Anytime she went somewhere, she had to bring some candy to chew
on in case she felt like vomiting.

"The worst thing was when I had to stop my taxi on a toll road
because I had to throw up. I still remember my taxi driver's
puzzled look when I told him to stop 'now or I do it here,'" said
the mother of a daughter.

And the bathroom trips became her morning routine until about
three months into her pregnancy, she said.

"Sometimes, I was feeling sick all day ... and at that time I
could hardly eat anything, while my doctor was telling me to eat
healthy food," she said.

Her doctor, however, would not prescribe her anything for the
nausea for fear that it would harm the baby.

"I didn't want to endanger my baby so I followed his advice,"
she said.

-- Stevie Emilia