5 Tips for Coping With Pregnancy Induced Nausea(aka: morning sickness)

If you have been pregnant, you most likely have found that the term “morning sickness” is a bit of a joke. It seems that for most of us, it can hit at any time of the day and often doesn’t let up at all through the first few months.

I can’t complain too much, I am not one that throws up, but I do feel like am just about to most of the day. Not terribly fun, but part of the deal. I am currently on my fourth pregnancy and have found that with each one, the nausea has been easier to deal with. Either you start to get used to it, or the other littles running around help distract you. In my experience, anyhow.

Now, I am by no means a pregnancy expert, but I wanted to share a few things with you that have helped me most when trucking through the first trimester of pregnancy and dealing with that oh-so-fun nausea.

*I don’t know that these tips would help everyone, since we are all different.  These are simply the things that I have found have brought me, personally, the most relief =).

 

1. Don’t let your stomach get empty.

One of the easiest ways that I’ve found to stave of severe nausea is to make sure that I always have something in my stomach. If I don’t eat every hour or two I find that I feel so sick that nothing sounds good and I start a vicious cycle of  refusing food and continuing to feel terribly sick whereas, if I hadn’t let my stomach get empty in the first place I would feel much more inclined to eat something.

2. Stay Hydrated.

This is another way to make sure that you stay on top of tip #1. This is also the thing I have the hardest time with. Staying hydrated has always been a challenge for me and ironically I find that when I try and drink enough water I feel much less nauseous throughout the day. The best way I’ve found to make sure that I get enough water(and something that I need to do again) is to carry around one of these. It’s easy to just fill it up twice or so throughout the day and keep it with me.

What about you? Do you have any tips for keeping up on your fluid intake?

 

3. Try a little Ginger.

Ginger has calming properties and helps to relieve nausea. You can try sipping on ginger tea or adding fresh ginger to your cooking. I prefer to sip on real ginger ale and have gotten quite a bit of relief from it. Not just any ginger ale will do. The usual brands you will find in the grocery store are packed with sugar and usually don’t have a single drop of real ginger in them. Try looking in the specialty soda section for things like this Ginger Brew. Check the ingredients for things like real ginger and sweeteners like honey.

I’m also a fan of ginger candies like these Chimes Original Ginger Chews

as well as good old, easy to find Candied Ginger.

4. Eat Protein.

You would think that the best foods for staving off or lessening nausea would be bland things like toast, bananas, apple sauce, etc. But interestingly enough, the thing that keeps my nausea at bay the best are high protein foods. It could be that high protien foods contain a lot of vitamin B6, which is used in pill form to calm nausea. I actually remember taking B6 vitamins with a half a Unisom when I was pregnant with my first. Nowadays I prefer to go a more natural route and it seems that keeping a lot of protein in my diet helps just as much. A few good options would be peanut butter(go for the natural types…the usual brands contain a lot of sugar), chicken and beef, cheese, nuts, and eggs.

5. Keep Mint Candies Handy.

Peppermint is another thing known to soothe nausea. Now, I know it’s not the healthiest option, but I like to keep peppermint candies in my purse and car, places I can easily access them when a wave of nausea hits and I need a quick fix. I find that it usually calms things down until I can find what I really need, which is usually food or water, haha. Peppermint tea would also be a good option if you wanted something a little less sugary.

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A few other things that I have found helpful have been wearing these pressure point bands, known as Sea Bands, as well as staying as cool as I can(not an easy feat in the summer!).

 

What about you? Have any of these things worked for you? Do you have other tips not listed here that have helped your nausea?

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