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And it is helping a bit. But I could use some other tips – how do you survive “all day – it never stops for a second” sickness? (I do make some smoothies – and those work a bit. But if you have any great smoothie recipes – I would love to hear them.)
Please understand that I don’t mean to complain – every day I am sick means that this baby is still in me and so I “want” to be sick. My last pregnancy, I woke up one morning at around 9 and 1/2 weeks and felt significantly less nauseated. I was thrilled – I thought I had gotten over the worst of it.
I went in that afternoon for an ultrasound to determine how far along I was, and found out my baby had just died a couple days before. Yes – totally stunned. Much tears.
So you can imagine how grateful I am that I am still sick. If I do suddenly improve, it will not be a good sign.
But that still leaves me to endure this cruel nausea. And no matter how grateful I am for this little baby growing in me, it is still no fun at all.
And girls – let me tell you – I know nausea. For the last nineteen years, nausea has been a regular part of my life. (For those of you who don’t know – I have a long term illness. Nausea is one of my daily struggles.) Before I got pregnant with Jackson, I thought, “No problem – I can deal with morning sickness – I am nausea pro!”
Yeah – I didn’t know what I was talking about. Pregnancy nausea is its own breed of torture. This is unbearable. If I had years of uninterrupted nausea like this – I honestly don’t know if I could have survived it.
I am having a very difficult time getting food in or swallowing my prenatal vitamins. I am on a full dose of Diclectin which is keeping me from vomiting, but every second I am so nauseated I want to cry. The thought of eating makes me cringe, but not having anything in my stomach makes it worse. So send over any tips you have – or just a little bit of shared misery helps too! 😉
On a completely different topic:
Helping out non-profits while we are shopping is always a great idea, so we thought we would spread the news about FreePledge.
One of the co-founders of FreePledge emailed us asking if we would let you all know about their non-profit work. Freepledge allows you to support non-profit organizations when you shop online.
It works like this: instead of going directly to usual shopping sites, you go to FreePledge. First you select a nonprofit, and then click on a link to one of the 160 supported sites (Amazon, Babies’R’us, Target, eToys…). You then do your shopping as usual and a percentage of all the purchases are automatically donated to the nonprofit of your choice (at no cost to you or the nonprofit).
FreePledge even has a special Valentine’s Day Store so shoppers can “Send Love Twice” combining Valentine’s shopping with giving back. Several women related nonprofits are partnered with us including La Leche League International, Americans for UNFPA and The Anita Borg Institute for Women and Technology.
Hope you have a great weekend – and check back tomorrow to find out which blogger is winning a Courage Award from Faith Lifts this week…
Katherine says
Drinking pure blueberry juice, no sugar added. Works wonders. As well, with my daughter, I boiled a 2 inch piece of ginger in a cup of water for 20 minutes. Plain soda crackers… I wouldn’t be downing the ginger ale though, way to much sugar! Have you been checked for a bladder infection yet? I had one that went undiagnosed when I was pregnant with my daughter for almost 3 months (I went in twice complaining of symtoms but I was told that they were normal pregnancy symmptoms) before my routine urine test and turned out I had a severe bladder infection. I believe the severe nausea was a result of that!
Ishkabibble says
Not that it ever worked on my relentless pregnancy nausea, but I’ve been told that tropical fruits like mangoes and papayas have some sort of enzyme that alleviates morning (and all day) sickness. Also, ginger is supposed to be helpful, so I made a lot of gingerbread and practically attacked anyone who tried to share it. Eventually I discovered that one of the few things I could tolerate, for some reason, was fat, so I ate straight sour cream, steaks and buttered bread. I also ate a lot of strawberries, which were prohibitively expensive and kind of lousy in the winter, but I didn’t care.
Hang in there! As soon as the baby is born the morning sickness disappears.
Tammy and Parker says
I use peppermint oil in an aromatherapy thing in my wall plug in my aromatherapy thingie. You can get these at health food stores. I can take a pic if you would like. It works WONDERS for me in so many different ways.
BUT, I’d check with your doctor first about it. I used it for all 6 of my kids though and it really helped.
picklemommy says
When I was pregnant with my daughter (my 3rd and last kiddo) I threw up every single day until I had her. I cheered on the operating table when I was having my c-section, because I knew that it was the last time I would throw up! Keep your eyes on the prize– I would do it all over again in a second just to have her. Things that helped me- Zofran, oyster crackers one at a time, animal crackers, pretzels with no salt, avacado, cheerios. I found smells to be awful but the more I could put into my mouth, slowly but all the time, the better I was. Also- I did find that if I ate reasonably quickly after being sick that whatever I ate seemed to stay where I put it. Lastly- hard candy in whatever flavor seems the least offensive to you. One last tip to help with smells in the world: I carried a lavender sachet in my bag that I could whip out and sniff whenever something got my belly roiling. Anyway- good luck, best wishes and happy growing baby!!
Robyn says
Ugh, I’m so sorry. Soda water worked wonders for me in my second pregnancy but not in any others. My solution was to eat what I felt like when I could and apart from that it was a fairly lean time. I’ve since seen on a health show that claimed that sucking fresh lemon would help. Apparently the sourness trips the nausea circuit in your brain (there was a long scientific explanation but that was the gist). I don’t know if it really works but it might be worth a try? Good luck!
Mindi says
I was extremely sick with all three of my prengnancies! I took vitamin B6 and a Unisom pill each night before bed. This helped take the edge off to where I could at least leave the house. I have also heard Zofran works great, although it didn’t help with me. Everyone is different though!
Gina says
A belated congratulations! I’ve been out of it with designing my webiste so I just heard. And sorry, can’t help in the nausea department. 4 kids, no nausea, but lots of weight gain! I guess there’s a give and take to both sides!
Janice (5 Minutes for Mom) says
THANK you all so much! It sure helps to hear other women’s stories!
I am fortunate that the diclectin is keeping me from vomiting – (without it I can’t even chew without gagging) and so I am not nearly as sick as some of you were. So I must focus on the positives! I don’t have any extended medical to pay for that cancer drug – so I will have to stick with the Diclectin. As for the Ginger beer – that kept me alive duirning my sick years! I drank it everyday to calm my stomach. I have to find some now.
The worst is trying to get food in. Nothing seems to want to go down and the thought of eating anything makes me even sicker.
And now my son was up all night throwing up – so I am not looking forward to adding the stomach flu to this mix.
Oh well – this too shall pass right? And hopefully a little baby will be the prize! 🙂
Kristen says
With all three kids, I was sick for 6 months. Nothing gave me relief. I had a eptopic pregnancy after my 2nd, and when I was pregnant with my now 8 month old, I didn’t seem to mind the sickness nearly as much, because like you, I knew things were going well with the pregnancy!
Yolanda Pugh says
I second the Ginger tea recommendation. It’s also good for menstrual cramps. 😉
Melissa R. Garrett says
Someone mentioned her hyperthyroidism, which I forgot to mention in my own previous post. I had pregnancy-induced hyperthyroidism and had to be put on medication for that. It was what finally got rid of my bouts of nausea and vomiting. The doctors were never sure if it was my thyroid making me so sick, or all the vomiting that sent my thyroid out of whack. Anyhow, maybe you should have yours tested? PS – my MIL swore by frozen grapes. PSS! I was sickest with my two daughters than I was with my son 😉
Kaz says
I was nauseaus every day through both of my prenancies. Someone suggested the motion-sickness wristbands called Sea-Bands during my first pregnancy.. I had tried ginger, saltines and all that to no avail! The wristbands push on a pressure point on both wrists, no medication. These worked so well for me! I still had low-grade nausea, but at least I could eat. I also used them for a medical procedure, after I gave birth, that was supposed to have nausea as a side-effect. I felt nary a twinge, and the radiology tech administering the test was amazed; he said I was the first patient in years that didn’t get naseaus or throw up. I know people that didn’t have success with the Sea-Bands, but for about $10, they’re worth a try. Ironically they didn’t work for me for sea sickness when we went on a cruise and the boat was in open ocean, though in calmer inter-island water they worked fine.
Anything that smelled, candles, air fresheners, perfume, tuna… even my husband’s deoderant, were banned from the house!
I also stopped the pre-natal vitamins. They only made me sicker.
My 2nd pregnancy I found the prego-pops, which helped in the 1st and second trimester for me. My OB prescribed 1/2 a tablet of Unisom to quell my queasiness at night. I also chewed 1/2 tablets (not the liquid, eeww!) of pepto-bismal with my OB’s okay. They were handy to keep in my purse.
As for Smoothies, we like “Chorange’s” around here. Put about a cup of orange juice, 2 or 3 marischino cherries, and a spoonful or so of the marischino cherry juice in a blender, add about a cup of ice, mix well, pour and enjoy!
Thanks for writing this entry, I really was beginning to think I was the only one who ever felt this way in pregnancy. Most of my friends pranced easily through theirs.
christieo says
PB&J’s were my best friend throughout my pregnancy! I don’t know why, but I ate at least 3 a day on wheat bread. It was actually one of the only things I could eat but it made me feel sooo much better. None of the crackers and ginger ale and stuff worked for me unfortunately. Good luck!!!
Beki (pamperingbeki) says
Citrus!!! Anything citrus (but especially lemon) helped tremendously with my 6 pregnancies. I would carry a lemon in my pocket, burn lemon scented candles, add lemon juice to water, suck on lemon heads ALLLLL day long. With the most recent pregnancy, my drink of choice was grapefruit juice mixed with diet sprite. It helped tremendously.
Oh, and get some of those sour altoids. Those help a lot too. 🙂
Good luck to you!! ~Beki
Melody says
Wow, you sound like me! You don’t by any chance have a kidney disease that causes your “regular” nausea do you??? Anyway, I have had 7 pregnancies, and 4 babies, and I was sick throughout all of them. All I can say is that each one had something different that helped. With the first is was hamburgers, broiled-not fried, with mustard-not mayo. The second was sweet and sour chicken. The third, was Schlotzsky’s turkey sandwiches, and my last was fruit smoothies. The few things that I was able to swallow with each pregnancy were: Slurpees, popsicles, Propel water (grape mostly–never lemon!), and homemade bread. If you want the recipe for the easiest homemade bread ever, you can email me. Also, take your vitamins right before bed, then you’ll sleep through the sick part. The more fluids I took in during the day, the better I felt the next day. Peppermint tea was good, or even Starlight mints to suck on were helpful.
I’ll be praying for you and your new baby! Keep us posted!
Carey says
i also heard anything with ginger in it is supposed to help. Also, when i was pregnant with my last i was prescribed a vitemin b, which helped because i rarely got sick.
Erna says
Oh, I feel for you. Maybe someone can send you Prego Pops (suckers that are supposed to help with nausea). I’ve never had them though.
With my first pregnancy, I could manage the nausea with my second, I was so sick that I still felt nausea with diclectin. Things I did try that helped somewhat were crackers, ginger ale, gingerbeer (it’s not alcoholic . . . it is a strong ginger drink), granny smith apples, and sadly Pepsi (I never drink pop) was the one thing that often resolved my morning sickness. It was horrible with Emily and I could barely eat a thing. I’m not sure how much I ate when I was pregnant with her but praise God He was watching over that little bean. Ah yes, she was also supposed to be a twin so that made the nausea stronger.
Carey says
Quite a few people in my MOPS group have taken Zofran ODT. It helps them control their morning sickness. They swear by it. It might be something worth mentioning to your DR next time. I hope you feel better soon.
jen says
Im sori your feeling poorly
I had never had morning/all day sickness at the end of my pregnancys until Daniel. At the beginning yes all 3 of them for the 1st 3 months but not in the last couple of months as well. Felt cheated and ripped off but as you say it does mean we have a lovely wee boy now.
Pray that you get over it soon and that baby stays safety tucked up within you
Wendy says
I had an over-active thyriod that makes me not able to keep ANYTHING down when I’m pregnant. On top of morning sickness I was a wreck. The only thing that worked for me was making sure that I ate every couple hours. It’s true that having nothing in your stomach seems to make it worse. I made sure to eat a bowl of cereal or something right before bed to help in the morning. A few years back I was going through the normal nausea when at about 11 weeks it stopped. I was so happy to be able to eat, only to find out a few days later that the baby had died and that was why I was feeling better. So I agree, PLEASE keep getting sick! If it’s normal morning-sickness it will let up soon. Zofran was my best friend!
I’m rooting for you and keeping you in my prayers!
problem girl says
I had terrible morning sickness when I was pregnant with my daughter. I lost over 20 pounds and threw up pretty much every day for 4 months. The only thing I found that made it any better was to go against all the advice I heard and eat the richest, fattiest, creamiest foods I could. I know it sounds crazy but I could not keep bland things like saltines down. Pasta with alfredo sauce I could eat all day long. I don’t know why, but it worked!
I hope you’re feeling better soon!
Amy says
I’ve been there! It’s miserable!
Have you been checked for Hyperemesis? (Someone else mentioned it above in comments.) I had it with both of my pregnancies… with my son (born 6/06) I lived for two months with a daily medication pump in my leg just so that I could stay out of the hospital. I pretty much lived on plain bagels and chicken broth. I tried Phenegran, Zofran, Zantac… it took a combination of drugs and a medical team to bring me any relief at all. I lost 17lbs in my first pregnancy, and 13lbs in my second… believe me, that’s not the way to go!
On days when I couldn’t keep any solids down, I was sometimes able to tolerate some of the Boost nurtitional shakes. They’re high in protein and both my doctor and my home health nurse approved of them.
You can try this site for some ideas of what will help with your nausea: http://www.hyperemesis.org/mothers/nutritional-strategies/index.php
Best wishes!
Amy
Linda says
I lived on Saltine Crackers and popsicles for awhile. I was sick with my last two pregnancies THE ENTIRE TIME and believe me it was not fun….I feel your pain!
Linda
Janean says
Please be very careful not to get dehydrated! I know it’s hard to think about taking in anything, but being low on fluids is not a good thing for pregnancy.
I can’t say I’ve been in your shoes; the worst pregnancy problem I had was anemia (tired…soooo tired). But I have heard that ginger works, as others have mentioned. The advice I have read says buy a ginger root, crush it up, put it in a tea ball or piece of cheese cloth and pour hot water over it in a coffee cup. Add sweetner or milk if desired to improve the taste.
Also, my sister used a “motion sickness” bracelet we found at WalMart. It’s an elastic band that had little buttons to apply pressure to certain points on your wrist. It helped her…once we got the positioning right.
God bless and you’ll be in my prayers.
Lisa Knight says
Ditto to the Ginger thing! I lived on ginger snaps and tea the first 3 months of my first pregnancy!
Melissa R. Garrett says
I had hyperemesis with my three pregnancies and ended up in the hospital with each one due to severe dehydration. It was while pregnant with my third that my midwife recommended Zofran. I am slightly allergic to Phenergan – it makes my skin crawl and itch. Anyway, it’s been just recently that doctors and midwives have started prescribing Zofran for pregnancy-related nausea and vomiting. It’s an anti-emetic, given to cancer and post-op patients. It’s terribly expensive, so if you don’t have health insurance to cover the cost, expect to pay about $1200 for a month’s supply. For me, it was either take the medication or risk doing serious harm to my baby’s health or my health. *With my 1st pregnancy, I lost 13 pounds in the first trimester and had to be on complete bedrest with an at-home nurse.* I took the Zofran until I was able to wean myself off at about nineteen weeks. But within the first DAY of taking it, I was able to keep down food and liquids. I guess it all depends on if you are *just* nauseous or if you are actually camping out in the bathroom? I agree with those who advise Ginger. Also, try to eat really small meals throughout the day – nothing too acidic. I feel for you! I told my husband if I could study and cure one ailment, it would be morning-sickness!
ChupieandJsmama says
I was very lucky and only had a little nausea very early on with both my pregnancies. The thing that helped me was to sip on gingerale all day. Regular, caffeine free gingerale. It seemed to really settle things for me.
Dana says
Ooh! I can give you all the advice people gave me back while I was suffering morning sickness…more protein, bagels with cream cheese, ginger. Lots of ginger tea. Am I forgetting anything?
None of it helped. Now people give me good advice for the exhaustion of the 6 months. Take a nap. Yeah, right. I have three children…1,3, and 8. And we homeschool. I would like to still have all my children when I wake up, so naps are more like laying still while the baby naps and the other two watch a video.
Tonya says
I used chewable prenatals rather than trying to swallow something. The iron in the prenatals also tends to upset the tummy anyway so you might want to time when you take the vitamin to minimize the impact. (Though no time is a good time, I know). My OB told me if I couldn’t stomach even the chewables I could take two chewable Flintstone vitamins a day instead.
My mom said ginger was supposed to help. I’m not sure it did for me but it’s worth a try. Chamomille tea was a staple for me.
You are right though, the combination of exhaustion, food aversion, hunger and nausea during pregnancy can be pretty brutal. With my first, I didn’t start to feel better until the 6th month. With my most recent I had to take a high strength reflux medication the whole 9 months. (Took the reflux medication for half of the pregnancy for the baby in between those two.)
Do the best you can and take an easy on yourself.
Lundie says
I could only eat/drink things that were lemon flavored. Lemon ices were my best friend. I feel for ya!
Amy says
I had horrible nausea with my twins so I feel for you! Have you asked your doctor or a nutritionist about digestive enzymes? Also, have you heard of gripe water? I give it to my girls for their tummy troubles and it works like a charm. I was thinking it might be good for this. It’s chamomile, ginger, and a few other stomach calmers. Though if you are taking any other medications, maybe research their interactions. My pedi. says it’s been used as a stomach remedy for hundreds of years where he’s from in India. Mozzarella string cheese stayed down for me.
Hope you find something that helps!
Laura says
I wish I had some good remedies for you. I know what being sick during pregnancy is like though. I literally threw up everyday while I was pregnant with Levi- somedays more than once. But he’s such a bundle of joy. 🙂
I’m still so excited for you!!
J. Fergie says
Hi there!
Try anything with actual ginger in it (gingerale these days is made with caramel flavoring and not real ginger). I would recommend ginger tea or ginger beer (from a Jamaican store/restaurant) or if you’re feeling ambitious, you can purchase your own ginger root or extract and add it to homemade tea or drinks. Feel better!
Loretta says
My first pregnancy I was permanently sick. Pepto made me more sick, crackers made me more sick, gingeral made me more sick, the smell of food made me way more sick! Ugh. The doctor suggested keeping saltines by the bed and eating two before I even got out of bed. That worked sometimes, but not all the time.
Toni says
I had nausea/vomiting through out both my pregnancies- protein really seemed to help- when I could get it down, that is- I hope you feel less queasy soon! 🙁