You’d think that it should be fairly simple to conceal your first pregnancy during its first few weeks. After all, you won’t have a recognizable baby bump in sight! How could anyone ever guess that there’s a blueberry-sized baby inside, multiplying by 100 cells per minute?
If you’re experiencing morning sickness, keeping your pregnancy a secret can seem virtually impossible. Nausea and vomiting are tricky things to conquer when you’re just trying to go about your day!
The good news is that morning sickness starts to fade towards the end of the first trimester for most women. Being disgusted by certain smells and tastes is common, even by foods that you loved before you got pregnant. Follow your intuition, because ignoring your newfound hatred of a certain food might just make you feel worse.
Although morning sickness is uncomfortable, it’s a sign that your baby is developing just as it should. Many times, a pregnant woman’s husband, boyfriend, or partner wants to help but feels powerless to do so. How can he help you out during this time?
Here are five ways your partner can help ease your morning sickness symptoms:
1. Search for Remedies
A quick search on Google will give you tons of tips about how to relieve morning sickness. Look through all of the potential remedies and see what you come up with.
Many sites suggest that a pregnant woman eat something to settle her stomach before she gets up and out of bed in the morning. He can gather in-bed snacks for you, including bread, celery with peanut butter, saltines, and bagels. Give your partner a heads-up that sometimes, food which worked before is suddenly gag-worthy. Don’t get discouraged; just keep trying different selections.
Besides the delivery room, this is one of the most important times when your partner can provide support during pregnancy. This support might be minor, like giving you crushed ice (but crushed ice really can help alleviate nausea!)
2. Listen Actively and Recognize What You’re Going Through
Your body is growing and nurturing a tiny person and is focusing its energy and nutrition on this being. Allow us to state the obvious: Pregnant women are amazing.
Your partner can help by letting you know that although he may not be able to relate, he appreciates what you’re going through. Guys, make sure to tell her she’s incredible, listen to her vent, and be there for her emotionally.
3. Pack Snacks
If you’re suffering from morning sickness, it’s crucial to eat frequently throughout the day. He can buy and pack an assortment of snacks, which can make your day much more bearable.
Right now, you have a lot on your to-do list, on top of trying not to puke in public. So anything your partner can do to be helpful, he should probably do.
4. Try to be Empathetic
He wants more than anything to ease your discomfort, but there’s very little he can do besides getting more foods to help your morning sickness. It’s tough to feel helpless when someone you love so much is struggling.
He can start by understanding that this is really hard for you and continue to think of ways to help. Paying attention to your needs also goes a long way.
5. Seek Help From Your OB-GYN
Modern medicine offers various implementations that can help curb morning sickness. For example, your doctor might prescribe Diclegis—a combination of vitamin B6 and doxylamine.
Seeking medical help doesn’t mean you’re weak, or that you’re failing in some way. He can offer to come with you to your appointment. When you’re super-nauseous, it’s nice not to need to drive yourself there. An added value is having the extra emotional support.
Please feel free to share these suggestions with your partner. A lot of men find pregnancy a little confusing. Not knowing what to do, they might nervously back away instead of stepping up the support when it’s needed the most. By helping and supporting you during your pregnancy, he’s helping to strengthen your bond before your baby arrives!