While I’ve been on maternity leave from work, I’ve been using some of the time when I have a sleeping baby on my chest to reflect about my pregnancy – both the amazing things and the challenges. There are so many startling things about pregnancy that no one tells you. Nausea and morning sickness isn’t one of those things. I feel like we all hear about how sick moms get in their first trimester (or sometimes their whole pregnancy) and how it really isn’t just limited to the morning. I fully expected this and even though I knew this was a part of pregnancy for many, I was shocked at how debilitating the nausea and morning sickness really was. This was a huge challenge in my first trimester.
For me, the nausea was terrible. I would have rather just gotten sick sometimes than deal with the feeling like I was about to get sick. I had a very hard time eating any foods and actually lost weight in my first trimester because of nausea and morning sickness. I even read reddit and other blogs where moms were saying that they would rather give birth than have nausea because birth was a day or two event while the nausea just lasts and lasts (for what seems like forever)!
The nausea/morning sickness for me hit around 7 weeks (along with the extreme fatigue) and lasted until around 14-15 weeks with sporadic bursts of nausea throughout my whole pregnancy. If you’re reading this, I’m assuming you might be in the same boat and trying to figure out how to survive right now but don’t worry – you’ve got this mama!!
Here are my top survival strategies to get through the nausea/vomiting in my 1st (& 2nd) trimester:
- Put a snack on your bedside table (like crackers or a glass of milk in a thermos). You will wake up at some point in the middle of the night probably to go to the bathroom and not really realize that you’re nauseated. It’s prime time to get something in your stomach so that when you actually wake up in the morning, you have something on your stomach.
- I did like having crackers in the middle of the night. The milk worked for me for like a week and then I got sick one time and I couldn’t drink milk for quite a while.
- Don’t rush. I felt like every time I was rushing to get through eating something or if I had to be somewhere at a certain time, I inevitably got sick. Every single time. Just take your time! I recognize that sometimes this can be hard with trying to get to work on time and other commitments but if that is the case, try to wake up early so you can give yourself time not to rush.
- Try popcorn! This was my saving grace. Bland enough but also has some salt and flavor to it. I would SLOWLY eat a few pieces of popcorn which would make me realize I was pretty hungry and then I would slowly eat a few more. I would get enough on my stomach that I felt good enough to try to eat something heartier with high protein.
- Eat what you can. I felt guilty because I didn’t feel like I was getting enough protein and getting enough healthy foods. I talked to my midwife about this and she said “It’s ok…you are in survival mode! Eat what you can.” This made me feel less guilty when I actually found something I wanted to eat in the midst of nausea and sickness (for me it was a huge cinnamon bun).
- Bring doggie bags with you. The worst feeling is feeling like you’re going to get sick and not knowing where to get sick. I have a dog so this was easy but it’s just as easy to put a few ziplock bags in your purse or even some plastic grocery bags. Something to take the worry out of getting sick!
- Always have a snack in your bag and water with you. Try to eat regularly – I would always feel more nauseous when I was really hungry or thirsty. I liked having trail mix with me because it was bite sized and I didn’t have to eat it all at once. Or I would bring some saltines in a bag or a banana. Bland foods are great during this time.
- Talk with your care provider. I eventually started taking B6 and Unisom to help with the nausea and vomiting. It did help but it also made me even more tired so there’s a tradeoff! There are also other things you can try – acupressure, wristbands, etc.
One day, you’ll wake up and realize you can eat something and you’re not nauseous. It’s an incredible feeling but also surreal because you almost don’t notice that things are back to normal. It’s also strange because you do eventually forget how bad you felt..I am now ~3 months postpartum and I don’t really remember it being bad but when I look at my diary at that time I am quickly reminded that I was in total survival mode and pretty much couldn’t do anything for 2 months. I even reminded myself in my journal that if I ever thought about having another child, I needed to re-read my entries from that time and really consider whether I could do it. When you finally get through that stage and finally get to hold your sweet little one though, you realize you would take the nausea/sickness any day!
Do you have any survival techniques for nausea in the first trimester? Let me know in the comments!
xoxo, LL
Little Libbie 
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