Amy Schumer Shares an Ultrasound Video of Her Very Energetic Baby: 'That’s Why I’m Puking Every Day'
Amy Schumer has been giving fans updates on her pregnancy on social media. And on Monday, she shared a video of her ultrasound—and took the opportunity to encourage her fans to get out and vote in the midterms.
“Happy Election Eve!” Schumer, who is in her second trimester, wrote in the caption. “You can look up your polling place + hours by texting LOCATION to 21333 And you can look up a sample ballot to be prepared at vote411.org/ballot Make a plan to #vote and let’s make history tomorrow!”
In the video, you can hear Schumer's reaction to seeing the ultrasound, which showed her baby moving around in utero. “It’s moving all around! Oh my God, oh my God, see it has so much energy—that’s why I’m puking every day,” she said.
Obviously, she's not alone in dealing with morning sickness during pregnancy. But does a baby's activity actually make it worse?
Morning sickness is surprisingly complex, and there are a lot of factors that can influence its severity.
Morning sickness, sometimes called nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (NVP), is very common in early pregnancy, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) says. And, even though it’s called "morning" sickness, it can happen at any time during the day (or night).
In most cases, morning sickness starts before nine weeks and eases up by the second trimester (around 14 weeks), ACOG explains—which is about the time you start to feel the fluttering of your baby's movements. But some people find that their morning sickness lasts for months beyond that and even throughout their entire pregnancy.
As SELF explained previously, there are a few things that make it more likely for you to have severe morning sickness, although that doesn't mean we know why. For instance, if you're carrying more than one baby, if you have a history of migraines or motion sickness, or if you're carrying a girl, you may have a harder time with morning sickness. If you've had severe morning sickness with a previous pregnancy or if intense morning sickness runs in your family, that can also increase your risk.
Before pregnancy, if you get queasy when you take birth control that contains estrogen, that can be an early warning that you might have more intense morning sickness when you are pregnant, Christine Greves, M.D., a board-certified ob/gyn at the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies, tells SELF.
Can a particularly active baby make you feel sick? Probably not, but it depends on how far along you are.
"There is no evidence that having an 'energetic baby' causes more severe nausea and vomiting in pregnancy, just as there is no clear definition of what qualifies as an 'energetic baby,' especially in the first trimester when NVP symptoms are typically worse," board-certified ob/gyn Shannon M. Clark, M.D., an associate professor of maternal-fetal medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch and founder of BabiesAfter35.com, tells SELF.
Also, depending on where you are in your pregnancy, the baby is likely to be too small for its movements to make an impact, Jessica Shepherd, M.D., a minimally invasive gynecologist at Baylor University Medical Center at Dallas, tells SELF. “They’re literally a tadpole size,” she says.
Although it's pretty unlikely that an especially active baby causes morning sickness, Dr. Greves says, it may be that having a baby that kicks around a lot inside you simply doesn’t feel great on top of you already feeling queasy—provided you're far enough along in your pregnancy to actually feel the baby.
If you have morning sickness, you’re probably going to have to ride it out on some level. But there are some ways to ease those symptoms.
ACOG says that making sure you're drinking plenty of fluids, eating smaller frequent meals rather than three large meals, or sticking with bland foods (like bananas, rice, toast, and applesauce) can help alleviate symptoms of morning sickness. Getting plenty of rest can also help (or at least, help you cope with the symptoms), Dr. Greves says.
If your morning sickness is terrible, it's a good idea to talk to your doctor, Dr. Shepherd says. They may recommend medications, like using vitamin B6, or vitamin B6 and doxylamine together if B6 alone doesn’t help, she says. And if that doesn’t do the trick, your doctor may recommend taking an antiemetic drug to help prevent vomiting.
Overall, know that your morning sickness isn't unusual. But if it becomes unbearable or you're having a hard time keeping down food and getting enough nutrients, talk to your doctor about what else you can do.
Related:
