Questions

I'm twenty weeks along now and starting to feel better most of the time, so I was really surprised this morning when I got a case of the dry heaves--again and again and . . . well, you know where that led. I have to admit that morning sickness took me by surprise much more than labor did when I started this whole childbearing thing. In fact, I'd give birth five or six times per baby if only to be spared months of debilitating nausea.

(Is there a word stronger than nausea? Because if so, that's what I have. Times 11.)

Right after Ellie was born, I read a book that mentioned the midwife Ina May Gaskin and her study of morning sickness. Imagine that--studying morning sickness because it's different for every woman instead of giving them B Vitamins (didn't help), accupressure bands (didn't help, made my carpal tunnel flare up) sleeping pills (didn't help, plus left my 2 year old unsupervised), or cancer drugs (didn't help, would have cost a fortune if not for Heather's graciousness) and then shrugging your shoulders and saying it's just a pregnancy symptom.

Unfortunately, I can't find her study anywhere.

So I'd like to conduct an informal survey here on my blog. Feel free to answer for yourself, your mom, your sister, any one who you've talked to about morning sickness. I want to know what your experience was like and how you survived.

1. Did you have morning sickness? (yes/no)

2. How long did it last?

Less than first trimester
First trimester
Half of second trimester
Through the second trimester
Halfway through third trimester
Left and then returned at the end of pregnancy
The whole pregnancy

3. When were you the most nauseous?

Morning
Afternoon
Night
All day

4. Did smells trigger your nausea? (yes/no)

5. What helped your nausea?

Eating small, frequent meals
Exercise
Vitamin B6
Accupressure/Sea Bands
Unisom
Phenegrin
Zofran
Not much

6. Was your sickness affected by the sex of your baby?

yes, more sick with a girl
yes, more sick with a boy
not really

7. Does the fear of morning sickness keep you from having more children? (yes/no)

I'm going to add some polls to my sidebar as well. Are there any other questions I forgot to ask?