Pregnancy is quite a piece of work, but you must have already figured this out if you are here! Now your concern is whether your baby is safe after seven weeks. Let me get this straight, just because you lost morning sickness abruptly doesn’t mean you have lost your baby, too. Here is how I know:
Morning sickness usually ends as the pregnancy progresses. Different women have different pregnancy symptoms and may or may not experience morning sickness at all. At seven weeks, the body adjusts to the new hormonal levels, and the morning sickness goes away. If anything, it signifies a healthy pregnancy.
Before we get into a deeper discussion about the 7 week mark and your morning sickness it’s important to understand morning sickness as it relates to your pregnancy in general. For that let’s watch a short video from Jacqueline Pinchuk with the Bizzie Mommy community with some tips and secrets from her personal experience about morning sickness and pregnancy.
Real Mom Secrets About Morning Sickness & Pregnancy
How Do I Know If I Miscarried at 7 Weeks?
Severe morning sickness usually fades after seven weeks. It is completely normal—nothing for you to panic about. Focus on the word fade. If morning sickness symptoms fade away and reoccur after the tenth or eleventh week, that is normal. They may not reoccur. That is normal, too.
However, if the morning sickness suddenly stops at seven weeks, along with other pregnancy symptoms such as breast tenderness, it could be a sign of miscarriage.
In such a case, you shouldn’t delay an appointment with your doctor. If all symptoms suddenly disappear, a pregnancy loss cannot be ruled out. The thing with miscarriages is that, at times, women do not develop any signs. Such a miscarriage is termed a “silent miscarriage.”
What are the chances of such a thing occurring? They are below 5% once you are at the end of your first trimester. Severe symptoms of pregnancy also begin to fade by this time.
Experiencing Morning Sickness is Good for the Baby
I know you’re tired of the regular episodes of nausea and vomiting, but believe me: they’re a blessing in disguise.
Morning sickness keeps harmful diseases at bay and protects the baby during the initial developmental stages. Research shows that for an embryo’s organ development, a mother must expel chemical toxins that get into her body unknowingly.
Through morning sickness, these toxins are eliminated so that the body and embryo are ready to consume healthy food. It also brings us to the point that women who face morning sickness are more likely to have a safer pregnancy than women who don’t.
This means that miscarriages are more frequent in women who do not experience morning sickness. Therefore, it has a protective effect on the pregnancy.
It is important to note that morning sickness is not limited to just the morning. It can occur at any time during the day as vomiting and nausea. In its severe condition, it is called hyperemesis gravidarum, in which a pregnant woman may throw up three to four times a day.
This is an extremely uneasy situation and must be dealt with properly since it causes women to lose body fluids and salt. If not dealt with properly, dehydration occurs, which is highly dangerous for the mother and the baby.
Causes for Vomiting and Nausea
Though morning sickness starts naturally at the beginning of a pregnancy, there are no concrete reasons to show why it occurs. There are certain external and internal factors, however, that stimulate vomiting and nausea during pregnancy. These are:
Low Blood Sugar Level
Believe it or not, a lack of sugar in the blood makes a woman dizzy as well as nauseous. This may be because low blood sugar results in acid reflux that occurs due to a lack of proper food intake. Pregnancy is also a time when a woman becomes vulnerable to diabetes and even high blood pressure.
At such a time, it is important to keep yourself fit. During pregnancy, the body increases blood cell production. This means more food intake is required for the proper functioning of the newly formed cells. You must maintain a healthy diet to supply food to all the newly formed cells.
Increased hormone levels
During pregnancy, hormones are out of control. The placenta hormone, known as the HCG hormone, is seen as the root cause of morning sickness. In addition to this, increased levels of the feminine hormone estrogen also increase the nauseous feeling women have during pregnancy.
Your body is constantly trying to balance out your hormones and re-adjust everything that a new being has messed up inside your body. As a side effect, they cause morning sickness. The internal processes are extremely complicated, and due to overproduction, your body reacts by vomiting.
Diet
This is not a widespread idea, but some doctors have discovered that forms of food also impact morning sickness during pregnancy. Women consuming more animal-based diets have a higher chance of undergoing nausea and vomiting.
On the other hand, some women develop a dislike for vegetables that stimulate nausea in them. This varies from pregnancy to pregnancy. Women with a high fast food intake also have frequent episodes of vomiting.
Morning sickness cannot be avoided; however, there are steps you can take to reduce it if it is unbearable. You can try to eat smaller meals every few hours instead of taking heavy meals three times a day. Take a walk in the fresh air. Rely as much on fresh fruits and fluids as you can.
Other than this, your best shot is waiting the first trimester out as nausea gets better in the second trimester.
Other Pregnancy Symptoms that are Normal
Apart from morning sickness, healthy pregnancies are characterized by several other symptoms. The most prominent among them are changes in your body weight. During pregnancy, hormone levels work like crazy to adjust your body to a newly formed life.
The body defense sees the fetus as a foreign being and tries to damage it. This is where hormonal levels go crazy and defend the fetus in all possible ways. Consequently, you may experience weight loss or fluctuation in your body weight.
Hormones not only work to protect the fetus but also stretch your uterus to make space for the baby. This results in weight gain. Women often claim that female fetus pregnancies differ from male fetus pregnancies and that somehow male fetus pregnancies are easier.
This is also highly unpredictable, and you need not be overly concerned about this.
Can You Miscarry Without Bleeding?
It is surprisingly common to miscarry without bleeding. You will be shocked to know that in 50% of women, miscarriages occur without any clear signs like cramping, bleeding, or pelvic pain.
This is only the case when a pregnancy is not older than four weeks. The first four weeks are highly sensitive for any pregnant woman. You need to be extra cautious during your first trimester. Most women who face a silent miscarriage (a miscarriage without any symptoms) are often unaware that they are pregnant.
The pregnancy usually ends with women mistaking it for a heavier menstrual cycle. Before you start weaving a web of fear, let me remind you that if your pregnancy has progressed beyond four weeks, there is only a fraction of the chance that you can miscarry.
When Can I Stop Worrying About Miscarriage?
During your first pregnancy, you may be scared of miscarrying. This fear is based on myths generated and propagated by elderly women and half-baked doctors online. You need not listen to anyone.
As far as you are concerned, at seven weeks, you can easily stop worrying about miscarriage. Women rarely miscarry once the pregnancy is one month old. Once the doctor detects the heartbeat of your baby, you are officially in the safe zone. This doesn’t happen before six to eight weeks.
If your morning sickness is gone by that time, have a sonogram. You will be pleased to know you have a healthy pregnancy.
I know the early pregnancy stages are emotionally and physically chaotic for new mothers. Hormones can make you think and behave irrationally. However, if you don’t have any miscarriage signs, you don’t have to spend your days tied to your bed. Just behave normally and look out for these signs:
- Vaginal bleeding
This may be accompanied by period-like cramps and overall abdominal pain. However, vaginal bleeding does not occur in all women who miscarry. The symptoms of miscarriage are also vastly different for every pregnancy.
Along with pain and bleeding, lumps of clotted blood also show a miscarriage.
- Fever
The pain of miscarrying is not without fever. The mother will feel sick and weak. Dizziness, along with weakness in the legs and fluctuating blood pressure levels, is a sign of a possible miscarriage.
- Back pain
Back pain is another common symptom of miscarriage, but backaches are common in pregnancy, too. Don’t panic if you have a backache unless it is accompanied by other symptoms.
Does Morning Sickness Come Back After Suddenly Stopping?
Pregnancy is an unpredictable business. Millions of women who get pregnant every year have varied symptoms. Research shows that some women experienced morning sickness throughout their pregnancy, while others remained puke-free in their entire pregnancy.
Similarly, some women stop having morning sickness symptoms while others re-develop it during their tenth or eleventh week. But nothing is certain. If you are in your first trimester, be ready to experience anything.
Moreover, a mother may have morning sickness in her first pregnancy and not in her second and vice versa. An uncomplicated pregnancy mostly has symptoms of morning sickness as morning sickness keeps the fetus safe from illnesses.
Don’t panic!
The disappearance of morning sickness is not a red flag. Women usually face lighter nausea and vomiting as pregnancy progresses. It has little to do with miscarrying your baby. Once you’ve heard the healthy heartbeat of your baby, you have nothing to worry about.
Pregnancy loss does not depend on loss of morning sickness symptoms. If you lose your morning sickness all of a sudden, there is no reason to panic. It happens as the fetus matures and your body adjusts to the new life inside it. You just have to be safe while exercising and maintain a healthy diet.
Look out for any unusual symptoms and discuss them with your doctor. Miscarriage cannot be prevented from happening, but it doesn’t help if you make yourself anxious by worrying for no reason. Just eat a healthy diet, avoid stress, and keep yourself happy for the sake of the baby. It is a magical time and you are going to miss all the sleep you could have during this time when your newborn arrives. Sleep stress-free until your baby keeps you up most nights.
