Working and pregnancy... How??!!

allcuteonesrtak

Tue, Aug 22 2017, 8:11 am

Orchid wrote:

You (and everyone who liked your post) probably don't get the REAL nausea the rest of us do. You're probably mildly nauseous and think "what's the big deal? Why are women such kvetches???" Newsflash: some people's bodies are hit with extreme nausea. Instead of sneering at them, thank your lucky stars that you are blessed to have no idea what the big deal is. And if you compare this to "working with kids" then you just proved that you have NO idea how crippling it is to vomit every few minutes.

OP- here's how I did it.
I was completely drugged every waking hour for most of 9 months. At various times I've taken reglan, phenergan, zofran; sometimes all 3 at once. Take drugs in suppository form so you don't have to wonder if the drug you took 15 minutes before you vomited "made it" through your system.

Nibble on small pretzels every few minutes. If you miss even a small snack, you will vomit your kishkas out.

I couldn't drink anything very cold- but I think that's just me. Other people davka have to drink ice-cold drinks.

Have several bags on hand for throwing up on the train. If you are able to wait until the train stops, it is better to throw up on the platform so that you won't accidentally splash the person next to you on a squished train (BTDT). However, you should kneel down and throw up in your bag (and not standing and into a garbage can), since if you throw up standing up it causes extreme head pressure so you're in more pain in that situation than otherwise. Wear your sheitel in a pony so you're not dealing with your hair on top of managing vomiting in public.

Tell your colleagues that you will likely need to run out in middle of a conference call and to please cover for you.

Keep a toothbrush in your office.

This was VERY informative. If u have any more tips please share.

mommy3b2c

Tue, Aug 22 2017, 9:39 am

momsrus wrote:

For some working is just part of their life. No one said it was easy, but working with kids ain't easy either. Unless your pregnancies are unusual and much harder than the norm, I think most of you are just kvetches and need to suck it up.

You think I'm a kvetch...

I think you're a ........

Do you know what it feels like to be a grown woman and vomit all over yourself because you couldn't make it to a toilet on time?

Do you know what it's like to have vomit coming out of your nose??

Have you ever vomited up blood because there was nothing left inside you to vomit??

Imagine feeling nauseous all day and all night. You vomit and then feel nauseous 30 seconds later and vomit again. You can barely keep your head up. Your are in such pain that you are crying to mis carry the baby that you begged and prayed for, for several years.

And still,

I and many other women choose to go through this hell on earth numerous times just so that they can have children.

Don't talk about things that you know nothing about. Thanks.

amother

Mustard

Tue, Aug 22 2017, 10:02 am

mommy3b2c wrote:

Did you try taking zofran or diclegis?

groovy1224

Tue, Aug 22 2017, 10:20 am

I don't have it as bad as it seems some posters do, but it is definitely so so hard. I hate throwing up; I hate walking around all day not knowing if I will or won't. I survive by sipping ice cold soda all day, and alternate nibbling at pretzels and sucking on lollipops. That keeps it at bay (usually) but honestly, it's miserable.

The up side is that I have worked hard at my job to show that I am reliable, conscientious, and diligent. So when the time came that I was pregnant, even with all the things I tried there were still days when I just could not come in, or I came in and felt like I was going to pass out and I had to have someone drive me home. At those times, I was grateful that I had built a good reputation so that my bosses would be more understanding of my relatively frequent absences. (I did tell my bosses early, I felt like open communication was important. They weren't thrilled to hear I would be a little out of commission for a while, but they are human and were as understanding as can be expected)

Like others said, it's really hard to know what you should do to manage until you see how sick you are. Some lucky ladies don't get that sick, some get terribly sick, and most are somewhere in the middle. Do the best you can, but your health ultimately comes first.

Orchid

Tue, Aug 22 2017, 2:55 pm

mommy3b2c wrote:

All happens to me too. Also -my favorite- when a gaggle of children ogle why you're crouched on the sidewalk and vomiting in the gutter.

I would add that vomit comes out of my nose when my head is not sufficiently bowed when vomiting (ie, standing to vomit in garbage can instead of kneeling on floor). Having mushed up Cheerios come out of your nose is very high on the Awful list of things to happen to someone. So make sure to keep that head down.

mommy3b2c

Tue, Aug 22 2017, 5:43 pm

Orchid wrote:

Honestly it's all such a blur. I can't even remember if I'm standing or kneeling. All I know is that the vomiting is usually so strong that it takes me 10 minutes to stop shaking and clear my head all to get ready for the next vomit in ten minutes time. But of course it's all in my head. I'm just a kvetch.

nicole81

Tue, Aug 22 2017, 5:48 pm

Ruchel wrote:

Unless you work in the mine, I don't think it will be damaging to the baby. Still the women around me, in my country and life, often find themselves not able to work pregnant (head turns, etc) and use the easy leave given to pregnant women by our culture and doctor.

It's great that your country gives leave to women so easily. Is this universally accepted across all professions, and are jobs protected? Ie would a government official, engineer, lawyer, etc with a run-of-the-mill pregnancy be able to get leave for her entire pregnancy (and after) and still retain rights to her position and salary?

amother

Cerise

Tue, Aug 22 2017, 6:10 pm

mommy3b2c wrote:

Can totally relate to this. It was such a miserable time. I ended up losing the pregnancy and was so sad although it was really a relief to not feel sick anymore. I hope I can pregnant again and that this time I will be able to function better ( and obviously have a healthy pregnancy and baby).

amother

Teal

Tue, Aug 22 2017, 7:31 pm

amother wrote:

Take vitamin B6 for a couple of months before pregnancy and during pregnancy.
I'm so sorry for your loss.

amother

Tangerine

Tue, Aug 22 2017, 8:01 pm

Some things I did:
1) tell my boss right away. I was so nervous that she wouldn't be happy, but it really was fine bH. This also was a new job so when she would see me sitting on a chair by a patient instead of standing, she would at least understand why and not just think that his is how I work.
2) carry plastic bags ALWAYS!!! Super important.
3) I carried around strong flavored lemon candies. I was extremely sensitive to smells and working in a nursing home at the time. Every time I walked by the dining room, every time I walked directly into a patients room I would gag and/or throw up. When I was sucking on one of these I barely could smell anything else. I found one strong flavored not sweet brand that worked for me.
4) I would throw up every time I got cold (it was weird, my throats would seize and my gag reflex was started...) so I made sure to have a sweatshirt nearby.
5) I'd bring a bag of cheerios to work every day to have a easy carb to hopefully stave off the nausea, one cheerio at a time. (As a plus, cheerios are not as unpleasant to vomit as other foods)
6) if your in a job where you are moving around throughout the day and not just sedentary, make sure you are always aware of the nearest bathroom. This was very helpful too.
7) never ate with my coworkers (smell again..). It was kinda antisocial but I made sure to socialize at other times so it didn't look like I was trying to snob them out (I was one of the two Frum Jews in our facility so I didn't want to cause a chillul Hashem).

I'm sure there are more but this is all I can think of right now...

Basically, try to figure out what triggers you specifically and attempt problem solve/address it. My main triggers were smell and cold so I did the best I could with it. I still vomited multiple times daily, but it was somewhat controlled..It is quite dysfunctional but bH I made it through