How to Survive the First Trimester
We’re having a baby! I’m over the moon excited about welcoming another baby into the family. Lots of happy feelings. And then reality hits and I’m nauseous, gassy, and could sleep all day. So, I wanted to share a few of my pregnancy morning sickness tips with you.
I think I discovered the moment I was pregnant. With my first two, I didn’t find out until 12 weeks or so. So although I’m only 13 weeks pregnant, I feel like I’ve already been pregnant for wayyyy longer. Add the extreme nauseousness and it seems unending.
Pregnancy morning sickness tips
In the beginning, my morning sickness was so severe it seemed like it would never end. I tried everything to combat my nauseousness. And now that I’m experiencing “normal” nausea some of these tips have helped a lot!
So I’m sharing them with you here in hopes that one or two might help you find some relief from your nausea. So whether you have severe morning sickness, general nausea, or somewhere in between, I hope these pregnancy morning sickness tips will provide relief.
Seabands
I had multiple people say that these helped take the edge off of their nausea. I never did buy them to try them out but I was going to if my nausea didn’t get any better.
Swimming
Swimming seemed like a strange way to relieve nausea. But I was desperate so I tried it. It actually worked! A friend on Instagram recommended it and said it had helped her. I’ve only tried it once so far. I went to our gym and swam laps for 25 minutes – with lots of breaks – and felt relief. But at the end of swimming, I was super tired.
If you have a gym with a pool, it’s worth trying! If anything it felt good just be in the water. And it took my mind off of the nausea.
Unisom + B6
I was so reluctant to take this because, well, I try everything else before medicine. Plus, Unisom is a sleeping pill and I’m sensitive to anything like this so I knew it would affect me. So I bought liquid vitamin B6 and started to just take that first. But it wasn’t working. So one afternoon I so sick, I sent my husband to the store to pick up Unisom. I took half a pill + 1 tsp B6 and slept all afternoon. But when I woke I felt so much better.
The combination of Unisom and B6 has a way of relieving nausea. I did a lot of research before I finally decided to take it. Normally, women take a pill + 1 tsp B6 in the morning and then again at night. I was so sensitive that I just took it in the evening. A ½ pill was usually okay for me. It would start to wear off in the evenings, but provided relief in the mornings. You can take it in the morning, and from what I’ve read, other women say they were just a little tired. So if you can handle it, try it!
But for some reason after a week or so of taking it, it just stopped working. So I stopped taking it at that point. I do still take the B6 in the morning.
Prenatal Vitamin
At first I was taking a prenatal vitamin that my sister had recommended but it made me sick. I didn’t even think of the prenatal causing my sickness until someone mentioned that their prenatal had upset her stomach.
I knew it was worth a try to switch so I switched to New Chapter Prenatal Multivitamin and immediately felt better. My nausea decreased and became more manageable. You can read all about New Chapter Prenatal Multivitamin and why I love it so much here.
Eat frequently
If you’re super nauseous this is going to be difficult for you. But it’s important to eat frequently. Eating something small frequently keeps you feeling full and prevents you from getting too hungry.
I found that when I didn’t eat enough or frequently enough nausea would get worse. Eating small snacks throughout the day has helped keep nausea at bay.
Pink Stork
I got an incredible package from Pink Stork geared towards helping with pregnancy morning sickness that included morning sickness teas, morning sickness candies, a prenatal probiotic, magnesium spray, and a few other items. I was super excited to try them out to see if they would help with my nausea. I absolutely love their Blood Orange Nausea Tea. It’s soothing and helped settle my stomach.
I used these products when my morning sickness was the worst – when nothing seemed to work. I can’t say exactly how effective they were at relieving morning sickness and overall nausea, but I found the tea to be very soothing. I still take the Prenatal Probiotic and drink the tea. I would recommend trying the Pink Stork products to see if they work for you.
Acupuncture
I told you I was desperate! I actually did acupuncture with my second pregnancy to help induce labor so this wasn’t my first time having needles stuck in me. Acupuncture is one of those things that builds upon itself. I only did it once for nausea and I really should have continued weekly to see if it would help. I will say I did have some relief immediately after the needles were taken out so I’m really curious to know if I would have continued if they would have improved my symptoms even more.
In addition to the above tips for relieving pregnancy morning sickness, the following suggestions will help you stay healthy during your pregnancy.
Working Out
Some will not understand this but I chose to workout 5-6 days a week even though I was really sick. It sounds crazy but I truly believe it helped me...maybe not physically, but mentally it sure did.
I wasn’t able to go as hard and often went a lot slower than normal. But it felt good to move and do something normal when everything else about my body felt unusual.
I did my normal workouts but modified if I needed to or if I just wasn’t feeling up to it. I also took the opportunity to try something that maybe I wouldn’t normally do like swimming or riding a stationary bike. I found the stationary bike to be a lifesaver this pregnancy. It’s perfect for days that I don’t want to run or lift weights and just need a mental change.
Now that I’m feeling a little better I’m glad I stuck with working out. For me, working out is a form of therapy. It allows me to have some me time, listen to a podcast, release endorphins, and some days, get my frustrations out. Since I continued to workout during the most intense time of morning sickness, it’s made working out through pregnancy much easier.
Listen to your body. If you need rest, then rest. If you need movement, then move. But I encourage you not to stop working out during your pregnancy (unless your doctor advises it!) because it will benefit you during your labor and delivery and help you recover faster.
Rest
I enjoy working and being productive. So I find it difficult to rest at times. I had to train myself and allow myself to rest more.
There were days I couldn’t get out of bed because the nausea was so bad. I felt guilty because I still wanted to get everything done. But at the same time, I knew I needed to take a step back and take care of myself.
If you struggle with this, then force yourself to realize it’s just a season. Even though it seems unending, your morning sickness will pass.
Grab a good book from the library, watch Netflix, take a nap...anything that allows you to rest and take care of yourself. Ask for help if you need it. A friend, family member or spouse. I know it’s hard to ask for help but if you’re trying to take care of kids and dealing with morning sickness it can be unbearable.
Be kind to yourself during this season. Listen to your body and what it needs.
Nutrition
Where do I start?! I think we all know that we should be eating healthy while we are pregnant. But wow, it can be difficult! This pregnancy has caused me to have so much more compassion for pregnant women because I now know how hard it is to eat healthy when you are just trying to survive!
I tried to choose better options when all I craved was junk food. But I wasn’t perfect. For 4-6 weeks I was incredibly sick, nothing sounded good and food was really hard to eat. I have never eaten out so much in my life as I did during that time. Cooking was a chore! But I did my best and now that I’m feeling better I’m choosing much better options.
Snack Healthy
I want to give you a few suggestions to help satisfy your cravings when junk food is the only thing that sounds good. The following six junk food substitutes will help curb your pregnancy cravings and still provide nutrition.
These were a lifesaver. I would always keep one on hand so I could nibble on it if I needed.
Fruit
Apples and berries were my go-to!
Trail mix “cereal”
I bought a bag of trail mix that had coconut flakes, nuts, cranberries, etc. and added some almond milk to it.
I struggled with eating protein during my first weeks of pregnancy. I kept turkey sticks on hand so that I could still get some protein into my diet.
Baked Potatoes
This brought back so many memories from when I was pregnant with London. I hardcore craved baked potatoes (with sour cream of course) during my pregnancy. And I’ve loved them just as much this pregnancy.
Tea
A warm cup up tea, especially in the evenings, became my nightly routine. I previously mentioned Pink Stork's tea, but I also loved my favorite tea from Trader Joes, Organic Ginger Tumeric Herbal Tea.
Kick the Bad Habits
It’s completely understandable to slip into some not-so-great-habits when you can barely stomach food and the only thing that sounds good are cookies and fries. Speaking from experience, this pregnancy completely threw me for a loop. There were about 3-4 weeks when I couldn’t stomach the thought of vegetables.
Instead of beating myself up I decided that on the days I did feel better – or when nausea subsided somewhat – I chose healthier options.
I think it’s so easy for us pregnant mamas to sort of give ourselves a hard pass and we just eat whatever we want. Yes, I completely believe in balance. But I also believe this is when we should care most about what we put into our bodies. We’re not only feeding ourselves but also the human being growing inside us. Plus, eating healthier now will make for a much easier recovery after baby is born.
Don’t let the bad habits you created in your first trimester continue on into your second and third trimesters.
I had to change my eating habits once I was feeling better. Carbs were the only foods that sounded good while feeling especially sick during the early days. So it became my goal to eat vegetables each day – even when it was hard. Many of the days I didn’t want to but I knew that I needed the nutrients.
Wherever you are at in your pregnancy journey, I encourage you to take a look at what habits you’ve created. Is there something you can do to change them for the better? Maybe it’s not nutrition, maybe you’re one of the lucky ones who CRAVE vegetables...yes, apparently some women do! Instead, maybe you need to move more. If that’s the case, go for a walk every day...even if it’s just 20 minutes.
Habits don’t have to be big and scary. Choose something small and work on in for a couple weeks and then add in another habit. Just because we are pregnant doesn’t mean we get to forget about our nutrition and fitness goals. It just means they might change a little and we have to be okay with adjusting them.
I’d love to hear from you, what are your pregnancy tips to kick the nausea or favorite healthy snacks? Comment below and let us know!