Morning Sickness! - Hersey,MI

I found that good ol' saltines and tums became my friend. Tiny frequent meals are very good too. Also - something I just learned and wish I did... Massage is supposed to be very good for helping to control morning sickness.

Best of luck and take it easy! :)

what helped me was eating tiny bits throughout the day so my stomach was never completely empty. Fresh fruits, veggies, saltines (no salt), etc. I ate sugar snap peas like potato chips! healthy and helped a lot.
I also ate ginger snaps and candied/fresh ginger.

Hope that helps.

Hi S. C!

I hear you, sister! Had 4 children. First was a breeze, with the second I was sick all day and with the twins I had to go to the hospital on IV I was so dehydrated. Had I known about hormones and how wacky they can get I would have made sure I was using the natural progesterone cream that I use now. You can use it while you are nursing. Anyway, I teach on this also and if you want more info you can contact me. But to help with your nausea, try these things: (found these while googling natural remedy for morning sickness)

Ø Get plenty of rest. (YEA, RIGHT!)

Ø Chew your food thoroughly.

Ø Make sure your stomach is never completely empty. Carry fruit, cheese and/or crackers around with you to nibble on throughout the day.

Ø Keep a snack by the bed for when you get up during the night to visit the bathroom or soothe one of the kids.

Ø Also keep a snack by the bed to eat before you lift your head from the pillow in the morning. Then, get up slowly.

Ø Eat a high protein snack before bed at night.

Ø Eat a diet high in carbohydrates and protein, low in fats.

Ø Eat salty, crunchy foods.

Ø Sniff a fresh lemon peel.

Ø Make sure your breads and crackers are whole grain.

Ø Drink wheat germ dissolved in warm milk, a few teaspoons every hour.

Ø Take 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar and 1 tablespoon honey in cold water before bed.

Ø Avoid strong odors and stuffy or smoky rooms.

Ø Suck a piece of peeled ginger root.

Ø Drink red raspberry leaf, peppermint, squaw vine or spearmint tea.

Ø Drink ginger tea made by boiling some ginger root in water. Strain it and add honey to sweeten.

Ø Wear motion sickness bands on your wrists.

Ø To avoid actually vomiting, try grasping your tongue with a piece of cloth and pulling gently but firmly.

Ø If you are vomiting a lot, try limiting your diet to a single food, one that you know you can tolerate. Add one additional food per day as you can tolerate them.

Ø Put three drops of lavender essential oil and one of peppermint in a diffuser or humidifier to scent the air.

Ø Place a cool lavender scented compress on your forehead and a warm lavender compress over your rib cage.

Ø Get a massage with chamomile massage oil.

Ø Drink liquids between rather than with meals.

Ø Avoid greasy foods.

Ø Snack on ginger snap cookies, homemade and with real ginger, if possible.

Ø Chew gum.

Ø Get regular, gentle exercise.

Ø Increase your intake of vitamin B6.

Ø Try taking your vitamins later in the day.

Ø Try changing your iron supplement.

Ø Give in to your food cravings.

Ø Sip a carbonated beverage.

Ø Get plenty of fresh air.

Ø Try tart flavors; lemonade, sour pickles, etc.

Ø Don’t brush your teeth immediately after eating.

Ø Lie completely still with your eyes closed.

Ø Suck on frozen popsicles, especially lemonade.

The reason I felt compelled to respond to you was that you mentioned you were a help meet to your husband. I also am a help meet to my husband of 16 years and still gather with my friends every summer to do Bible study using Pearl's books. Still learning to be a better help meet. It can be quite challenging but we can do all things through He who strengthens us. Take care and hope this helps you!

L. O

Hi Stacey,
I was sick for the first 16 weeks. I lived on Preggie Pops and cinnamon gum. They are suckers and hard candy for morning sickness. I got them at motherhood maternity. I also ate watermelon because I had heard that it also helps. I took my prenatal vitamin every other day until the sickness went away and always at night. Saltine crackers at my bedside for the middle of the night sickness. You are almost through it, hang in there. Oh, and Slurpee's really help too!!!!!!!!!!

try sea bands, they would be in the aisle with the motion sickness tablets. Sea bands work by putting pressure on your wrist which makes your body think its fine.

Also try gatorade; VERY cold. My friend with hyper emisis (sp) could drink this first then keep other things down.

Hi S.! I know exactly what you are going thru and can completely relate with you. With my first pregnancy, the morning sickness and nausea were horrid! I ended up losing 15lbs in the first 4 months of pregnancy due to this same issue. My Dr finally wrote me a Rx for what I considered to be a "miracle pill" that saved me from this. It is a prescription called "Zofran ODT (orally disinegrating tablet) 8mg." This is a small white tablet a little bit bigger than what a birth control pill is, that you stick on or under your tounge and it "melts" within a matter of seconds. It has a sort-of fruit flavor to it. It does leave a little bit of a chalky feel in your mouth, but I always drink a few sips of water afterwards to get rid of it and it seems to work just fine. If you "google" Zofran, you will get plenty of info on it. My Dr told me that it was originally manufactured for people who have cancer and go thru chemotherapy on a regular basis to help with the nausea associated with the chemo treatments. I usually take one of these pills first thing in the morning and very rarely need to take another one later in the day. Do some research and talk with your Dr about it to see if it is right for you. They do have a generic version of it out now. If you don't have insurance, it is EXTREMELY costly, but very well worth it. Luckily with our insurance coverage, we only had to pay the $15 copay for 20 pills. I used Zofran with my first and second pregnancys and now again for my third (15 weeks along now!. I swear by this pill and would strongly recommend this to anyone with this problem. I didn't notice any side effects while taking it and it always seemed to diminish any nausea/vomiting I had within 15 minutes of taking the pill. Like I said, it's a
"miracle pill." Good luck to you and congrats on your pregnancy! I hope all goes well. Have a blessed weekend!

Sounds like you've got some great advice so far. My sister-in-law is a Registered Dietician and a college prof. & she recommended Lemonade & oyster crackers or soda crackers. I know when she was pregnant she couldn't keep her prenatal vitamins down and took Flintstones chewables until she could stomach the bigger ones. However you can, make sure you are getting that folic acid somehow - it's really, really important while baby's vital organs are developing (8-12 weeks). Hopefully your sickness will subside soon - until then I'd say anything is better than nothing and if you find something that works for you, go with it! What about a peppermint tea? Might help settle your tummy a little without being sweet. Good luck and congratulations!

BP&J sandwich, first thing in the morning. The PB has protien to keep you going for a while and the jelly has the sugar to get your blood sugar that early morning rush. Sounds silly but it works, I also did hard boiled eggs.

Hi S.!
I had horrible morning sickness with both of my boys the whole 9 months. I tried everything too. This is what seemed to help the best for me: those motion sickness bands. I would put them on before I went to bed at night and leave them on until evening. I ended up wearing them almost nonstop. Also, salty things like pretzels or saltines really helped. I would munch on those all day. Hope this helps. I hope you feel better soon. Take care, K.

Been there done that. With my third, the unisom didn't work as well as it did for my first child. I think I was just older and with two babies to watch and I worked full time, I was just tired. I kept a ziploc bag of cereal with me all day. I also had trouble with some smells and cooking any meat, and I hate to say nothing worked for that. I also get migraines, so I forced down some crackers a few times to take my meds, but I struggled keeping things down when I had an empty stomach, so keep up with something small constantly. I would also keep my children (3 and 1 at the time). Locked in the same room with me for fear I would fall asleep, b/c I was so tired. It's hard when they are so young, b/c they need your eyes and my eyes would just go shut. I felt like I was made of lead sometimes. God will get you through this and my son was a healthy 10 pounder! Good Luck.

with my girls I was nausous every second of the day that i was awake. One of the nurses suggested sipping gatorade throughout the day...It worked great with my 2nd not at all with my 3rd. What did work with my 3rd, was PSI bands. they are bracelets that put pressure on you accupressure point on the inside of your wrist...it also helped with my motion sickness I have when I'm pregnant(they are available at drugstore.com, psibands.com and amazon .com). you didn't mention that you were throwing up...so i don't know if you are, but if you are and it goes on for an extended amount of time like mine did with #2 (throwing up 8-10 times a day for 6 months...lost 12 pounds by that point)be sure to tell your doctor. There is a miracle drug called Zofran, it is used for chemo patients, but it takes away the nausea SO fast. Extremely expensive, but worth every penny to end the maddness. Good luck to you!

I had some success w/ peppermint gum and ginger tea. They have ginger altoids now that I'd have tried. Hope its over soon!

I lived on Ginger type cookies. A couple in the morning (or when I was feeling sick) really helped me. Sometimes a popsicle would also help. Good Luck.....I remember those morning sickness days!

I was extremely sick from the moment I got pregnant to the moment I gave birth with both my kids. For me pregnancy is not the wonderful experiance most say it is. It was miserable and horrible and you get the picture. For both of them I lived on Tums and anything Ginger. Ginger snaps, Ginger biscuits, Ginger, Ginger Ginger, it was the only thing that at least made it semi bearable. I love my children, and would have more, if someone else could go through the pregnancy party....I HATE being pregnant, it's 9 months of living hell...morning sickness of throwing up your guts over anything and everything....lots and lots of Ginger and Coke worked too, but we had bags of Ginger stuff at the house in the cars, at work everywhere.

Good luck hopefully yours isn't anywhere near as bad.

Chelle

I feel for you, been there and it is not fun! Do you have sea bands? They are helpful. One trick I also used that helped (sounds weird, but works) is to keep fresh lemons on hand and smell them when you are feeling nautious. I especially had difficulties in the car and would take them with me.

Good luck! God Bless you and your baby!

Hi S.,
I'm an OB nurse. I would ask your doctor for a prescription. The best is Zofran, but not all insurances cover it very well since it's very expensive. They also sometimes use Phenergan, which can be somewhat helpful. Try to nibble and sip throughout the day so you don't dehydrate. Unfortunately, you probably have about another 5 weeks of this to go. (sorry!) The motion sickness wrist bands can help - I used them on a cruise. You can get them at a boating store. Also, peppermint candies. They tend to help too.
good luck!
D.

Hi S.,

I also found Zofran ODT and motion sickness bands to be a huge help during my first trimester. As others have written, Zofran is expensive without insurance, but a generic is now available for the regular tablet. I also found drinking green tea in the mornings helped with the fatigue. I wish you the best - hopefully your morning sickness will begin to subside as you head into your second trimester.
K.

Ginger in any form helped me with nausea: Ginger flavored Altoids, crystallized ginger,ginger snaps and chinese food with lots of ginger like ginger sesame rice, or ginger beef. Having a starchy food that sounds appealing helps too. Rice, noodles, bread, crackers, potatoes.... all seem to go down easier and help subside morning sickness. The good news is that morning sickness usually subsides after the first trimester, so you are likely more than half way through the worst of it.

I was sick for the 1st 4-5 months of my second pregnancy. My OB suggested Benedryl and it worked great. =)

I'm not sure why your doc put you on B6 when B12 is best for morning sickness. Try other forms of ginger like ginger tea. I hope you get past this part soon!

You poor thing! Have you tried protein shakes? I used Shaklee's weight management ones (my ob/gyn okayed them first). Check out www.shaklee.com. I'm a distributor (you're actually the thrid person in Mamasource I've told lately). If you want to try one, I can give you a sample; plus, give you extra discounts if you decide to order.

Hi S.!!!

Girl I feel your pain I just finished with my first trimester. Ginger really does wonders, however, I don't like the taste of it. You can find ginger root in a capsule at any grocery store in the vitamin section, and they cost only a few dollars. If you go to a vitamin shop they have peppermint/ginger capsules and that works even better! I lived on them for the last few months. Also keep peppermint candy handy it'll help too.

Hope you feel better!

Pink Lemonade worked wonders for me. Also my prenatal vitamins made me sick, my midwife switched me to 2 children's chewable vitamins, From the time I stopped taking the prenatals I wasn't sick anymore.