Morning sickness is a common experience of many pregnant individuals during the first trimester, and in some cases, it can extend into the second and third trimesters. For some, it is simply, as the name states, a sickness that comes in the morning, but for others, the sickness is all day and can be highly debilitating.
As we discuss some ideas that might help with morning sickness, it is essential to recognize that everybody is different, and consultation with your care provider can often yield the best results.
Protein
Ensuring that each snack and meal you eat throughout the day has some protein can be a great way to curb morning sickness. There is a hormone called gastrin that is in protein, and when individuals can eat foods that contain this hormone, it can help with nausea.
Snack Often
Similarly, snacking more often or eating 5-7 small meals daily can help with morning sickness. Morning sickness can be a catch twenty-two. You feel too sick to eat, but then you get even more nauseous on an empty stomach.
A great tip is to make sure that your stomach never gets too empty or too full, and a great way of achieving this is by eating like a toddler and snacking throughout the day. As I mentioned above, making sure that each snack or small meal contains protein can also be another helpful tip.
Eat Your Cravings
Yes, eat your cravings even when it’s cereal every night for three weeks, that one specific type of chocolate bar, or something else that our society paints as unhealthy. Sometimes, the best way to get food down is to eat the food you crave the most. While eating these foods, you can add something with a little more nutrients.
Hydrate
Keeping up with your hydration can be a game changer, and many individuals state that water makes them nauseous, so how do you do this? Remember that things like broths, teas, and electrolyte drinks are all counting towards hydration. You can also incorporate fruits and veggies with a high amount of water, like watermelon, cucumbers, and strawberries. These cannot count towards your hydration, but they do seem to help.
If you are really struggling to stay hydrated, Liquid IVs, coconut waters, and other electrolyte drinks can help out much more efficiently than regular water. For some, the morning sickness is so bad that IVs are necessary. Finding a hospital or care provider who can provide your IVs frequently can help with the morning sickness in cases where you cannot hydrate orally.
Ginger and Peppermint
Sucking on a peppermint, chewing peppermint gum, drinking ginger ale or peppermint or ginger tea are all great ways to incorporate these foods into your daily life. For some, simply sipping on tea is enough to help. Others find that sniffing peppermint curbs the nausea when it comes on strong. Although these might not do the trick, they are easy enough to try out and worth a shot.
B6
Taking this as a capsule or incorporating more foods high in B6 into your diet can be another excellent tool for helping with morning sickness. B6 can be found in avocados, salmon, bananas, spinach, poultry, sunflower seeds, pistachios, dried fruits, and pork.
Avoiding Trigger Foods and Smells
If you find something that makes you feel sick or gag every time you encounter it, then it would be best to avoid it. There are some common trigger foods like anything fried or greasy, spicy food, and, in some cases, carbonation. It is common for individuals to struggle with the smell of raw meat, so having someone else cook for you and ordering out might be life savers in this phase of pregnancy.
Acupuncture and Acupressure
There are different points on our bodies that help with nausea and vomiting. During my first pregnancy, I found great relief in regular acupuncture. This is where they put thin needles into trigger points on your body, and although no research proves this to work, many have reported it helping.
Safe Medications
Lastly, remember that there are safe medications that you can take if nothing is working; just talk to your care provider and let them know you are interested. The medicines that care providers will offer have been used for a long time and have little to no side effects. You don't need to suffer during pregnancy if you have yet to try every option available to you.
Everybody is unique, so different tips and tricks will work for each person. I hope that you can find relief from something you find on this list, and if not, then I hope your days of morning sickness are short.
