The good (or not so good) news about pregnancy is that people are always willing to offer you helpful tips and advice! In this case, I found it very helpful when other moms shares tips of how they got through the first trimester (and in my case, into my second trimester) nausea. I also did a little homework online to come up with a list of things to help me through:
Tip #1: Keep blood sugar level by having small meals more often throughout the day. Don't let yourself get too hungry or too full. When your blood sugar is low and you feel really hungry, it is easy to fall into nausea. When you get too full, it is easy to get heartburn and just feel really uncomfortable.
Tip #2: Listen to your body when it comes to aversions! If it is one thing your body knows, it is what it does/doesn't want you to eat when you become pregnant. I will have an entire posting about this topic in later weeks, but I found that if it doesn't look appetizing, then do NOT eat it. Even if it is something that you are encouraged to eat in those pregnancy diet books, or if it is something that "never bothered me before", I am avoiding all of those foods. Examples for me: seafood (except tuna), dairy, tomato sauce, greens (which I used to eat for breakfast), beans, quinoa. I find that whenever I decide to plow through and eat it anyway, I am always sorry.
Tip #3: Eat what you crave (within reason). Again, your body knows what it needs. I will have another whole post on cravings as well, but it also helps fight the nausea to listen to what your body wants. In many cases your body is asking for the nutrients it needs at the moment to help grow that baby!
Tip #4: Avoid strong smells. I don't know about you, but my sense of smell became very keen when I got pregnant. One day I walked into my dad's house where he was cooking some tomato sauce and I asked him if he used beef broth in it. He looked at me surprised, and said "yes I did, how did you know?" and I said "I could smell it immediately walking in the front door". My husband is still amazed at the smells I can detect. This presents a problem some nights at dinner time when I need to cook something. We went through an entire week of eating leftovers and ordering out because I could not bear to smell anything or open the refrigerator. But I figure, these weeks will happen and it is better than getting sick!
Tip #5: Always have remedy supplies on hand at home and on your person for unexpected nausea. Keep the supplies in the house that settle your stomach. I had "night sickness" more than "morning sickness" and my husband had to run out at night more than once for my nausea remedies. When going out throughout the day, carry something that will not be too rough on your stomach that will help increase your blood sugar and ease that stomach.
Tip#6: The remedies. This list is one I got from friends and family and a posting I did on facebook for helpful advice. This list is obviously not exhaustive and you need to do what works for you. I tried to stick to the healthiest options with the fewest additives and resort to medication only as last resort.
- Reed's ginger ale (doesn't have the high fructose corn syrup or other additives of regular ginger ale)
- Crystallized ginger
- Ginger teas (I am adverse to this one, but others swear by it)
- Mint teas (This one made me sick during a meeting one morning, but others swear by it)
- Homemade ginger tea (with honey and ginger root)
- Gingery oatmeal
- Gin gin candies (contain sugar and glucose syrup, but not as strong as other ginger candy)
- Something sour or any hard candies (try to find ones without high fructose corn syrup, dyes, or additives)
- Perrier water (the sodium bicarbonate content is supposedly better than other waters or sparkling waters)
- Motion sickness bands on wrists
- Ginger ale on ice with bitters
- Saltines
- Sliced lemons with or without water
- Apples
- Tums (last resort)
Recipe: Warm Apple Ginger Oatmeal
I love this breakfast, as it warms me up, settles my stomach and steadies my blood sugar with it's whole grain goodness. The pectin in the apples is said to also settle stomachs as well as the ginger.
Ingredients:1 cup rolled oats
2 cups water
2 tsp ginger root--grated
1/2 cup of apples peeled and cut small
Pinch of salt
opt: Dried cherries or dried fruit of your liking
opt: Walnuts or other nut you prefer
Directions:
- Place water, oatmeal, ginger, apples, and salt in small saucepan and put over medium high heat.
- When water starts boiling, turn down to a simmer and cook until it gets nice and creamy (about 10 minutes). Stir occasionally so that it doesn't burn or stick on the bottom. The longer you cook, the creamier it gets and the less you cook the chewier it is. I prefer mine creamy over chewy.
- While the oatmeal is cooking, toss a few walnuts or other nuts into the toaster over to enhance the nut flavor.
- When it is cooked to the consistency you like, scoop the oatmeal into a bowl and top with a few dried cherries and the toasted walnuts.
- Warm up and enjoy!
I hope this helps you or others you know with that nauseating feeling during the first few months and some healthier remedies to get you through!
In health and wellness,
Nicole
