About 80 per cent of women have to struggle with morning sickness during the first three months of their pregnancy. It involves vomiting and nausea. And don't be tricked by the name" morning" sickness, like I was. THIS CAN STRIKE YOU AT ANY HOUR OF THE DAY. Sometimes, you might feel "what a nuisance!" This is because, as soon as you eat a meal, you may want to throw up. Yuck!

Experts say morning sickness is due to the change in the hormone chemistry in our body or lowering of your blood sugar in the early stages of pregnancy. Well, I don't care what the experts say; I only want to know how to deal with them!

The first thing that I learned during pregnancy is to keep a positive attitude. Why? Because there is no use thinking negative! What is happening will continue to happen. And the good thing is that morning sickness will pester you only for a short time period.

Here are tips to tackle it:

• Before you get out of bed in the morning, have some soda crackers.
• Keep yourself hydrated with fluids. However, do not drink water during meals. Have it 30 minutes before and after your meal.
• Instead of having two large meals a day, try to eat small frequent meals, say, 5-6 times a day.
• Do not allow your stomach to go empty. Keep healthy snacks handy to eat every 2 hours.
• This is not the right time to go on a diet. Eat whenever and whatever you want to eat.
• After eating, get up from your seat gradually. Also, never lie down right away. It triggers heartburn and nausea.
• NEVER SKIP MEALS.
• Refrain from having spicy and deep fried foods.
• Eat cold food rather than piping hot, as the former does not exude a strong aroma.
• Take a nap in the afternoon. Morning sickness worsens when you are exhausted.
• It is believed that having lemonade, sniffing ginger or lemon, or having watermelon helps to reduce the nausea.
• Some woman find salty potato chips of great help to settle the stomach.
• Having Melba toasts or drinking club soda or carbonated ginger ale also helps.
• Keep your home well-ventilated to ward off odors that might trigger nausea.

Normally, you need not have medicines for morning sickness. But, if it's severe and followed with vomiting, you may require doctor's prescription or else you might lose several pounds.