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Donna Marie
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| Posted: May 09 2013 at 11:31pm | IP Logged
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Ugh!  What are your ways of helping yourself when you are going through nausea in pregnancy? I have been feeling worse the last few days and it is overwhelming.
I am 8 weeks now and I could use your prayers and any advice you can give me!
TIA!!
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Donna Marie from NJ
hs momma to 9dc!!
Finding Elegant Simplicity
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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: May 10 2013 at 5:40am | IP Logged
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I recently summarized my own tactics to a friend via e-mail.
What do I do for nausea? Mostly, I just feel sorry for myself.
Seriously, protein is my biggest ally. Eating egg and sausage or other breakfast meat for breakfast first thing helps, as does having an easy protein lunch and snacks on hand just for me. For the first several months of this pregnancy, I kept frozen salmon burgers to heat on a whim. This was because I have a Vit. D deficiency this pregnancy, but in the past, I've kept cooked hamburgers for me in the fridge. A bunch of grilled chicken thighs would be good, too. Whatever sounds the least icky to you. The trick is to eat these things in moderation before you are actually hungry. Once the hunger strikes, the nausea peaks, and it is harder to get it down. It is easier if you can stay ahead of it. I do find that during this time, it is better if I have easy, special food that is "mine." No one else is allowed to touch it, and it isn't to be used as a last minute lunch or dinner for the kids. They get mad and don't think it is "fair," but oh well. They can also be trained to "make mom one of her salmon burgers." Trader Joes has frozen rice, and a frozen mixed veggie medley (mild veggies like carrots, peas, corn, small green beans) is nice to throw on the plate and heat with the salmon. Cutting back on sugar and simple carbs seems to help, too. I know everyone says "saltines," but while they are easy to get down, I feel the blood sugar jumps play a part in nausea. I've done this with the last two pregnancies and haven't gotten nearly as sick as I was with ds1 or ds2, but boy was it still miserable.
Hope that helps a bit.
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pumpkinmom
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Maybe try some ginger. That works for nausea in general. Ginger ale or ginger snaps usually help. Prayers!
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Cassie
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Mackfam
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| Posted: May 10 2013 at 9:16am | IP Logged
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Oh Donna Marie! 
I'm well acquainted with pregnancy nausea! And this past pregnancy was THE FIRST time I haven't been hospitalized for the nausea and subsequently fed through a central line for the next few weeks of my pregnancy. I really felt like I had a handle on the nausea. It was awful, but it didn't take over.
Physically, I was still a blob. I held down the couch. Nothing productive happened during the first trimester - but my goals and expectations were set pretty low.  I just wanted to stay out of the hospital and keep food going in by mouth. If you have lofty expectations/ANY kind of expectations of productivity, eschew them right now - your job is to nurture that baby and try to hold some good food down every day and keep the other kids safe!
Here's what I did:
Daily: Ginger Root Capsules. Serious nausea will not respond to less than 500 mg, which means unless you can munch on a ginger root round the clock, you need to take a capsule which has a concentrated form. Ginger actually "tricks" the nausea triggers in your brain. It's natural spiciness (which you won't detect if you take it in capsule form), overwhelms and suppresses the hypothalamus (vomit center of the brain), therefore providing you some relief from nausea. You have to take it daily and consistently!
Also, water. Copious amounts of water will keep your blood supply up and will dilute the ridiculous amounts of hormones in your bloodstream. Never be without it. Drink. Drink. Drink. And if you start to feel extra nausea, drink more.
Ice chips work when water won't stay down.
As often as possible: Sunshine. There have been some interesting articles that indicate that Vitamin D deficiency has a direct effect on hyperemesis (severe pregnancy sickness). I got pregnant in August of last year after having spent an entire summer in the sun at our pool - and I am certain that had a lot to do with bumping my Vit D, and had a positive effect on my pregnancy nausea.
Eat what sounds good TO YOU!! Here's my pregnancy mantra: If it doesn't sound good or taste good, it won't stay down...no matter how good it is for me. So this time my heroic husband decided he didn't care what it was - he would consider it his job to provide WHATEVER it was that I thought I could eat. It was a hardship for him for a few weeks - but it COMPLETELY worked! That psychological edge cannot be underestimated! And for most of us, we'll naturally be drawn to protein foods (because our bodies naturally know that's what we need!), but don't eschew good carbs. Baked potatoes with cheese and sour cream are great. Deviled eggs make wonderful snacks. Sweet potatoes worked great for me! What sounds good TO YOU? Whatever it is, put it on the grocery list...but do NOT buy it in bulk because I almost guarantee that it won't sound good in a week.
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Hang in there, Donna Marie! At 8 weeks, you're almost to peak hormone levels (that happens around 9 weeks), and it's downhill from there.
Sending and  and celebrating  your news!
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Jen Mackintosh
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Mackfam
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| Posted: May 10 2013 at 9:27am | IP Logged
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I know I'm doing this all backwards. But I was reading through the other replies after I posted and saw Lindsay's reply, and this part caught my eye:
CrunchyMom wrote:
| Cutting back on sugar and simple carbs seems to help, too. I know everyone says "saltines," but while they are easy to get down, I feel the blood sugar jumps play a part in nausea. |
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TOTALLY AGREE!!! Stay away from sugar drinks and simple carbs OR you can expect a serious sugar spike and subsequent increase in ICK!!!! Saltines, which seem to be the poster-child for keeping nausea at bay, are the worst thing for a mom with significant nausea like hyperemesis to eat!
If you can tolerate any sugar, an electrolyte drink like gatorade could be really helpful. I could handle this only occasionally, but I tried to drink it as often as I could because dehydration can be a vicious cycle in hyperemesis! Which is why I really, really encouraged copious amounts of water in my previous post. If you start to get dehydrated, it's hard to recover on your own because of the likelihood that you'll vomit more. This is what usually results in trips to the hospital for me. So drink!!!
I thought of something else that has been a consistent help for me throughout all my pregnancies:
Lemon wedges and salt! The salt is a great help if you're a little dehydrated. Sprinkle it generously on a lemon wedge and suck on it if you can stand it! The lemon is refreshing and cleanses the palate - so if you have eaten something sweet and it's really left a seriously yucky and cloying taste in your mouth, the lemon will really help! And...the lemon has other applications!  Drop the leftover wedge in your sink because every pregnant woman with significant sickness has a SERIOUS sensitivity to smells! Grind the lemon up in your disposal and it freshens the kitchen enough that you can at least walk through without gagging!
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Jen Mackintosh
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: May 10 2013 at 10:07am | IP Logged
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They've got SmartWater out now! plain water with electrolytes!!! oh man, what I wouldn't have given to have had that when pregnant with my bigger kids.. I actually hunted stores and asked pharmacists for exactly that back in 2000.
Salty things and I don't mean saltines. And tart things and contrary to popular belief spicy things. (purple grape juice and cocktail olives and pepperoncini for instance) and things that were favorites when I was a child. Any other time I would like natural peanut butter (like Adams) and whole grain bread.. when fighting nausea.. it was white bread and JIF. The only time saltine crackers worked for me was with sliced cheddar cheese and bread and butter pickle slices (another treat from childhood)
And food that required NO thinking. If I had to actually think about cooking fried eggs I wouldn't be able to eat them by the time they were cooked. But I could toss a frozen bean burrito into the toaster oven and ignore it until it was cooked.
And eating something reasonably good first thing in the morning. It was amazing how much better I could manage on days that I did get that protein first thing.
You can also buffer regular water so it's easier on your tummy with a bit of salt (not enough to taste salty) and a bit of lemon or lime juice.
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juliana147
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| Posted: May 10 2013 at 12:18pm | IP Logged
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Donna Marie, I don't have any good suggestions, but I am reading your thread for ideas... I am second trimester and STILL sick. Uuugh.
Constant smoothies and homemade ginger snaps are all that's working for me, but they don't work for long...
Hang in there. I'll pray for you, if you pray for me!!!!
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juliana147
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| Posted: May 10 2013 at 12:38pm | IP Logged
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Thanks to everyone for the ideas...
Jen, you are right about lemon! I am cooking chicken for lunch, and that usually makes me queasy. I tried cutting up a lemon, and it overpowered the sickening smells.
Thanks!
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Angi
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| Posted: May 10 2013 at 1:42pm | IP Logged
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This pregnancy I used Unisom (1/2 tablet at bedtime) and B12 during the day (cannot remember how much I took). It took away almost all of the nauea, and all of the vomiting.
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Donna Marie
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| Posted: May 14 2013 at 11:57am | IP Logged
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Oh THANK YOU for all of the wonderful ideas!
I am eating what sounds good to me and that does help. Dh has been going out of his way to make sure I don't run out of the things that I feel help me like eggs, avocado, Kombucha (a fermented tea drink) yogurt and ICE! I find it helps if I drink my liquids very cold or very warm.
I also use a good quality sea salt. I crave it and I am told to take it liberally in the morning (I seem to be low in minerals)
I also dramatically upped my magnesium (topically it goes in better than orally and doesn't cause laxative effects) I am taking additional B and I found out I was really low in D so I am taking a lot of that, too. (Boy, was it ever a dark winter!)
Unfortunately, the last two days allergies have been BAD, and I am on allergy meds to boot! Even without allergies there seems to be this terrible presence in my throat that makes me want to gag. Oh, isn't this beautiful??
I am trying not to freak out about the house not being up to par and not being able to move off the couch some days. When I feel good I try and move as much as I can without overdoing it.
I am looking forward to my second trimester!! I was in the middle of painting half the house when it all came to a grinding halt because I got sick. So much is packed away in containers because I was in the midst of redoing the dining room/school room at the time! We are doing math, reading, and whatever happens easily. I figure I have all summer to do more.
I have older kid help (my twins are 19 and my ds is 17 and very helpful) but it goes to show you, it takes many people to fill in for just the one ME when I am down for the count. I am so popular here 
And the smells?! Oh, those are the worst. The family made salmon for dinner last week and I couldn't even LOOK at it.
The other thing I am battling is sleep. Since I upped the mag and D I am doing better, but I still get times when I can't rest at night because my cortisol levels tend to go up instead of down in the evening. Does anyone else deal with this? I am on a natural supplement for my thyroid and adrenals. Any additional advice is welcome!
{{{hugs}} thank you for your well wishes and advice. I feel so loved! THANK YOU!!
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Donna Marie from NJ
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Finding Elegant Simplicity
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JodieLyn
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Vitamin C is helpful for controlling allergies. The lower the levels the greater your reaction to allergens. So upping your Vit. C will help a lot. I take up to 4000mg a day while pregnant. I'm pretty sure the upper limit for pregnancy is 5000mg but that gave me leeway for what's in prenatals and the like without having to figure too hard.
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3ringcircus
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| Posted: May 14 2013 at 6:05pm | IP Logged
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I used this recording to help w/ sleep when I was pg. It took the edge off.
I have some sub-lingual B12 tablets by Country Life that are supposed to be absorbed better than regular tablets that you swallow. I didn't get them for pg. nausea but I know they are recommended for that.
IDK exactly how to eat in order to keep yourself regular, because I subsisted on random foods I could tolerate, but I discovered that if I was even remotely constipated, the nausea was ten times worse. I guess trying to get more fruit/veggies might help with that.
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herdingkittens
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| Posted: May 24 2013 at 12:38pm | IP Logged
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Hopefully you are on the other side of feeling ill now, but I am on the tail end this time around and had it pretty bad. RED MEAT for this pregnancy was the trick. I actually could not fast from meat on Fridays because by 2pm, I was too ill to function. Had to fast from something else instead.
All great advice up above - protein, smart water and no sugar was helpful.
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Erin
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| Posted: May 24 2013 at 7:37pm | IP Logged
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My last pregnancy was when we were totally grain and sugar free and truthfully though I was 39 it was my best pregnancy ever!! No nausea, so much energy. Obviously reading through your replies thus far, others tried similar tactics and had improvement from previous symptoms, finding this very interesting.
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4Real Forums : Our Lady of Good Remedy and Care
Topic: Pregnancy nausea
