Morning sickness is so common in pregnancy that it almost seems like a rite of passage. But while more than half of all pregnant women experience morning sickness, not all of them do. The nausea and vomiting usually begin around the sixth week of pregnancy and last until around the 12th week, but morning sickness can begin as early as week four, and it can linger long after week 12.

Despite its name, morning sickness can strike any time, day or night. It's caused by the increase in estrogen, progesterone and human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG, hormones, which support your pregnancy. Stress, fatigue and a poor diet can make morning sickness worse. Many doctors consider morning sickness to be a positive sign because it indicates that the placenta is developing well. But if you're one of those women who don't experience it, don't worry. Be grateful instead.

Here's what our Mommy M.D.s — doctors who are also mothers — do to cope with their own morning sickness.

"One of the first clues I was pregnant was morning sickness," says Susan Wilder, M.D., a mom of three grown daughters, a primary care physician, CEO and founder of LifeScape Medical Associates and author of "Mouths of Babes" in Scottsdale, Arizona. "It came on out of nowhere. I'd be out walking the dog, and all of a sudden, I'd have to stop to throw up. The dog would turn around and look at me like, 'What the heck was that?'"

"I got pregnant during my OB-GYN rotation," says JJ Levenstein, M.D., Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, a mom of one grown son and a retired pediatrician in Southern California. "Every morning as I was puking, at least I was around people who understood. I did my fair share of vomiting until I was 12 weeks pregnant."

"With both of my pregnancies, I had terrible morning sickness," says Kelly Campbell, M.D., a mom of three and an OB-GYN in private practice at Women's Healthcare Physicians in West Bloomfield, Michigan. "It was bad with my daughter, but with my twins, it was unrelenting. I think that was because with twins, you have double the amount of hormones. My nausea was so bad that I had to take prescription medication for it. I didn't want to, but I had to to be able to function on some level."

"I had an especially rough time when riding in a car," Campbell adds. "I found that Sea-Band anti-nausea wrist bands helped. It helped a lot if I was the driver, and I refused to ride in the backseat!"

"During my first pregnancy, I was an intern," says Erika Schwartz, M.D., a mom of two and the director of Evolved Science medical practice. Schwartz has been in private practice for more than 30 years in New York City, specializing in women's health, disease prevention and bioidentical hormones. "I had to be at work by 7 a.m., so I didn't have time for morning sickness. Instead, I vomited when I had time, at night. I believe that your body will adjust to your circumstances — if you allow it to. I found that eating salty things, such as saltine crackers, made me feel better. Thank goodness, after around my third month, my 'night' sickness went away."

"During my pregnancy, I had such severe morning sickness that my doctor put me on prescription medication," says Aline Tanios, M.D., a mom of four children and a pediatric hospitalist at Cardinal Glennon Children's Hospital in St. Louis.

"I took an anti-nausea medication daily 15 minutes before I got out of bed in the morning," Tanios adds. "Even after taking the medication, I was sick, but at least I was able to function. Another thing that helped was carrying ginger hard candy in my pocket everywhere I went. It helped settle my stomach. I also packed snacks such as carrots or grapes. I took a variety of snacks to work each day because I never knew ahead of time what food would agree with me."

Jennifer Bright is a mom of four sons, co-founder and CEO of family- and veteran- owned custom publisher Momosa Publishing, co-founder of the Mommy MD Guides team of 150+ mommy M.D.s, and co-author of "The Mommy MD Guide to the Toddler Years." She lives in Hellertown, Pennsylvania. To find out more about Jennifer Bright and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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