If you’ve been following me on Twitter you’ll see that I’ve been really suffering with morning sickness again.
It started off as feeling nauseous all day from around 3 weeks, with the occasional trip to the toilet to be sick. It vanished almost completely around 11 weeks but then came back even more fierce. By 13 weeks I couldn’t keep any food down at all and was feeling hideous. I went to my GP and told him I was struggling to look after the boys when I needed to go off to be sick so often, and they were getting upset when they heard me being poorly as they didn’t understand what was happening. My GP made me feel terrible for wanting to take anti sickness tablets – he said that being sick frequently wasn’t a problem so long as I was keeping down liquid between meals (which I was – it was only after eating that I’d be sick). But reluctantly he agreed to prescribe me the tablets. As soon as I started taking them I felt fine again, although they have a side effect that means I feel absolutely exhausted all the time. Thankfully this is better than running off to vomit constantly.
When I was pregnant with the boys I had very morning sickness until week 11 or 12. I would be sick about 15 – 20 times a day after any food or drink, but every time I asked the GP or midwife they told me it was normal. I couldn’t even keep down sips of water and had to rely on chomping on ice cubes to get any liquid inside me. I lost a stone in the first three months. I know now that it’s certainly not normal to be that sick, and really back then I should have been given tablets too. But it was easier to cope as I could sleep in a bit in the mornings, take a nap in the afternoons and I worked from home so could work on my laptop with my feet up. Being sick with two toddlers to look after is another thing entirely.
I’ve only been taking two tablets a day, rather than the recommended dose of three, because my GP had suggested it was better to take as few as possible. On Sunday I tried to cut the number of tablets down to one a day as I’d been feeling better, so I skipped my evening tablet. On Monday morning I woke up feeling terrible but had some breakfast in the hope I’d feel better. I was preparing to take my tablet when I suddenly felt sick to my stomach. I rushed upstairs but didn’t make it. I won’t go into details but will just say that I had to peel off my clothes and jump straight into the bath to clean up. While I was sorting out the mess, the boys found a biro in the living room and went to work colouring in our cream leather sofa. I came downstairs feeling absolutely terrible, to see both boys hands covered in ink and some lovely scribbles all over the sofa cushions. I went straight back out of the room and took my anti sickness tablet again. Trying to come off them was obviously a very bad idea. I don’t care what the Dr says anymore; I feel that I need them. I lasted until after the critical development period before starting to take them. I just wish that my (male) GP could experience a couple of days of bad pregnancy sickness while trying to keep a pair of two year old toddlers safe and happy, and then I’m sure that he might have a bit more sympathy!
Ignore the GP. It’s impossible to cope when you’re being sick that often. You need more than liquid to survive. I was in hospital twice on drips before I got the right dosage. That’s something you want to avoid at all costs. Hope you feel better soon. I’m sure you will.
Thanks. xx I know that taking them is preventing the problem from getting that bad so it’s the right thing for me. I think the GP would prefer for me to be that poorly before accepting that I needed to take something, but when you have kids already you can’t afford to get that sick! Hopefully in a few weeks I’ll be feeling better and will be off them. In the meantime I need to figure out how to remove biro stains from cream leather!!