Now that I am well into my third pregnancy, in some ways I feel like an old pro when it comes to all this. I don’t re-read every chapter of “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” every week, and I can’t spend hours scouring the internet for clues about the baby’s sex. I am so excited about this new little baby, but at the same time I also have to be excited (and focused on!) the two little people currently in my life.
My first pregnancy was a dream. No morning sickness. No exhaustion. It wasn’t until I could no longer fit in my clothes that I actually believed I was pregnant. On the flip side, my second pregnancy was quite the opposite – nausea and exhaustion all day for several weeks. With this third, I was hit the hardest. Extreme nausea for 10 weeks and debilitating exhaustion. There were days when I didn’t want to get out of bed…but those first two little people demanded that I do just that.
My doctor offered to prescribe anti-nausea medication, but I take a very natural and holistic approach to my health so I declined her suggestion. Rather, I focused on finding my own ways to survive the first trimester. Here are some of the tried-&-true ways I coped with morning sickness. Granted, not all of them worked all the time, but at certain points throughout the day these methods really helped.
1. Exercise. I realize that mothers-to-be currently suffering with morning sickness may want to smack me upside the head for this suggestion, but on the days when I could get myself to exercise I actually felt a lot better. I found that exercise was a better way to stave off nausea (rather than battle through it), so I tried to get to the gym in the morning before I felt especially sick.
2. Organic Preggie Pops. I found these during an Amazon.com search for “natural morning sickness relief”, and they really helped! I don’t know if its any special ingredient or recipe, or just the act of sucking on hard candy, but there were a few weeks when I wouldn’t leave the house without a few in my pocket.
3. Isolate the nausea “triggers” and avoid them at all costs. For some reason, the sight and smell of gazpecho brought dry heaves to me. Even now, just writing the word “gazpacho” makes me want to hurl. The sights, smells and taste of things that set off morning sickness need to be avoided.
4. Stay hydrated. This might sound simple, but drinking plenty of water helped me stave off sudden bouts of nausea. Sometimes in the craziness of the day I would go a couple hours without a drink, so it was important to make a point of keeping fluids nearby at all times.
5. Nap. I have never been a napper. Even in college, when all my friends would tuck in for an afternoon snooze, I never took naps. But, the exhaustion that can accompany early pregnancy shouldn’t be ignored. During the first several weeks of this pregnancy, as soon as the clock struck 1 pm I HAD to lay down in bed. Even 25 minutes was enough to take the edge off and get me through the rest of the day.
6. Wallow. Some days are worse than others. On those days, I’d give myself a break. The kids got a cartoon rather than a walk outside in the hot sun. We’d eat breakfast for dinner just so my sense of smell wasn’t overloaded in the kitchen. I found ways to get us all through the day while mostly glued to the sofa.
GIVEAWAY: I contacted Three Lollies, the makers of Organic Preggie Pops,to thank them for making a product that eased my morning sickness, and they offered to participate in a GIVEAWAY for readers of Homemade Mothering! THREE lucky mamas (or papas!) will be randomly selected to win a box.
To enter, leave a comment here on the blog that answers the question:
Have you ever suffered with morning sickenss…and, if so, what did you do to ease the discomfort?
Contest ends at 11:59 pm on Monday, November 14, 2011.
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One way that I would curb my morning sickness was a salad with ginger dressing…. Ginger can calm your stomache and I found it to be very helpful.
Peppermint was also my true friend! Peppermints and a nice peppermint tea that I picked up at Whole Foods!
Congrats on Baby three!
Ohhhhh…I LOVE ginger! I always have a knob of it sitting on the counter. Never know when that craving is going to strike!!
Congratulations!! What wonderful news! (The baby, not the morning sickness) 😉
I had m/s with my 1st, pretty typical – up to about 13 or 14 weeks. Avoiding the food triggers, resting a lot (I used to get ready for work and then go lie back down before I left!), and B-Natal green apple lozenges helped me a lot. But this 2nd pregnancy was so much worse. I was violently sick at the beginning and had to go on Zofran to keep anything down, even water. Every time I tried to go off the meds, the m/s came back even worse. So I stayed on it until about 20 weeks when the nausea finally became manageable like it was for my 1st. Ugh! I give kudos to anyone who finds natural cures – nothing but the Zofran worked for me. But to cope, I got my toddler hooked on Duplos (easy to help build while laying in a prone position!), puzzles and stacking blocks. Napped a lot, gave up cooking (God bless my husband), and ate whatever sounded good at the time. It was rough – I pray that future babies don’t get harder and harder in that category!
Im 10 weeks with my first and some days are really bad! Preggie pops have been amazing! So has sleep, but I’ll have to try exercise.. I’ve been avoiding it cuz I’ve been soooo tired!
Congratulations on your pregnancy! Hang in there with the morning sickness – as I’m sure you know, its all worth it 🙂
What wonderful news! Congratulations to your lovely family!
YES!! It was awful both times, sick all day for 4 months. We are TTC number 3, so would love to win these before the dreaded sickness. I actually tried the preggie pops and they really helped, also any citrus/sour hard candies gave me relief.
I’m loving your tips too 🙂
I am in my 4th pregnancy with severe morning sickness. I refuse the medications, also. The best thing I can say is just to eat what sounds good. I had to stop worrying too much about ‘bad’ ingredients or buying things only when they’re on sale with a coupon. If it sounds like I could eat it without throwing up – I have to do it. I’ll stock up on anything that seems to be working, but I know that it might change by the end of the day. I also stopped cooking, and doing dishes as the kitchen is a major trigger for me. Normally it’s all scratch cooking here but I’ve been spoiling the kids with some convenience foods so I can make it through the day, as my husband is gone for over 12 hrs so I usually have to make all 3 meals. Most days I cannot even get cereal prepared for the kids without having to run upstairs to vomit. Other than that, I make sure to eat something whatever very early time of morning I wake up… any little something that sounds good. Keeping my sugar elevated a little bit before I get up an hour or so later really seems to help.
I had pretty bad morning sickness with my son and I never really found a way to help. I drank lots of water, ate lots of saltines and I really tried to keep myself full
demureprincess7(at)gmail(dot)com
I tried to stay hydrated and drank Harney and sons peppermint tea. It’s delicious.
I love this product! They really do help with morning sickeness!
I have heard and read nothing but great things about them. Being newly 6 weeks pregnant I’ve yet to have morning sickness but I would love to try them. I can relate to exhaustion. Im so tired and it hits me quick.
I got alot of night time sickness with my first pregnancy. It was difficult to eat dinners or even smell anything cooking. One night my poor husband had to stop cooking chicken taco meat and finish it on the grill :). I loved ginger chews..I got mine at Trader Joe’s but have seen them other places too. I’m hoping to be pregnant soon with our second but am dreading the morning sickness part. I’m excited to try the Preggie Popos though!!
I mean Preggie Pops 🙂
I didn’t have much nausea with my first, but I’m convinced that’s because he was a boy. I had a bit in the beginning or when I hadn’t eaten recently, and the cure I found was lemonade. I remember being told lemons would help, so I stocked up on Vitamin Water, lemonade flavor, and lemon drops. Maybe this was the cure since I was never really sick!
I need these Peggie pops. Like, now. I didn’t know how bad the first tri could be. With my first I had light nausea every so often and was exhausted by the end of the day. this time (I’m now at home with a 21 month old boy) I could barely stand up without feeling dizzy and nauseous. I found seabands helped with the overwhelming all day nausea. Now I’m just up and down nausea and I want to sleep all day and night. Which is not always possible but I have snuck in a few naps. Anything ginger or lemon has helped me. Actually rice vinegar on a salad helps too, mate the acidity? I squeeze a few lemons into my sparkling water.
Hoping this doesn’t last too much longer!