Life as a Lilly blog

Being pregnant with baby #2, I have had worse nausea, morning sickness, evening sickness & all day sickness.  So I’ve tried more remedies.

My goal was to stay away from the nausea prescription available at the OB’s office.

What works for one person won’t for another, but here’s what I’ve used to curb my all-of-the-above pregnancy sickness.

SEABANDS

The day I found out I was pregnant, Little Dude I I hopped in the car and buzzed over to Walgreens.

I was on a mission for Seabands!  I used them with Little Dude but couldn’t find them – but for $12, it was an investment I was absolutely happy with reinvesting in.

What are Seabands? They are a “bracelet” with a round ball-thingy that fits tightly over an acupressure point on your wrist. It is exactly where an acupuncturist would insert a needle for a nausea treatment (I asked my friend, who is an acupuncturist).  The instructions are in the box and really easy to follow.

Find the crease on your wrist (closest to the palm of your hand, and line up three fingers next to it. Where the 3rd finger rests is where the acupressure ball goes.

After doing some research on YouTube and Pinterest, I found that you can wear the Seabands 24/7.  That’s what I’ve done.

Whether it is the placebo effect or it actually works, I keep them on – because when I get brave and take them off, I throw up. I am praying that I can take them off without tossing my cookies any day now.

-UPDATE- I finally took them off just shy of 13 weeks.  Whew!

NUX VOMICA & SEPIA by Boiron

Huh.The.What? Yep, this is probably a new one to you!  It was to me – I didn’t get to use these last time I was pregnant!

They are homeopathic pellets made by Boiron you chew up and swallow to help with nausea.  They WORK!    Both pellets target a different kind of nausea.  I did not figure this one out myself; my homeopathic nutritionist/nurse friend recommended them to me.

You can get them at Vitamin Cottage (Natural Grocers, Whole Foods, Sprouts, etc.) and they are about $6/vial (which has multiple doses).  Totally and completely worth it!

FREQUENT, SMALL SNACKS

I set up reminders on my phone to eat frequently. Even if it sounded horrible, I eat a small snack to keep my stomach from being empty and to stabilize my blood sugar.  No, I’m not diabetic, but it’s important to fuel your body while it’s working so hard to grow your baby!

I didn’t care for the saltine crackers everyone flocks to.  I had more luck with bagels, mini pitas, English muffins, dry cereal, toast – all the carbs I normally stay away from.  Let’s face it, you do what WORKS when you are pregnant – and that’s all I could handle for a while.

Then I graduated to cottage cheese & applesauce, Greek yogurt (full-fat) with a drizzle of agave nectar, or strawberry yogurt.

Sounds boring but it is quite the decadent feast and victory when it tastes good and stays down!

Once I could tolerate some proteins with the carbs, I made sure each snack/meal had some sort of protein in it.  That really helped me feel better.

Portion control will help, too – just measure out 1/2 a serving size and see how it makes you feel when you eat it.  I use a food scale because I’m very bad at eye-balling food portions.

AVOID FOOD SMELLS

Poor hubby.  He knew this was coming… I put a semi-ban on cooking from the kitchen, asked him to grill as much as possible outside, or (if cooking was in the cards), I make a b-line for bed when he and Little Dude started to prep the food. Not only does food sound unappealing, but the smells of cooking food are no where tear tolerable for me.  Some smells I can even get nauseous over all the way upstairs, as I hide in bed.

Hubby has been working insane hours, so I picked up some microwave dinners for him from Vitamin Cottage.  Not ideal – but he can use them for lunch or dinner and doesn’t have to cook or clean up.  Little Dude is still working on trying new foods, so his dinner has been the basic go-tos: leftovers, sandwich, quesadilla, breakfast for dinner, etc.

So my tip here is obviously to avoid food smells or any smells that make you yak.  Easier said than done, but with a little rearranging and discussing short-term expectations, it is very doable and helpful!

HOT TEA

I found three teas that I’ve enjoyed this pregnancy so far.

Ginger, with a generous squirt of agave nectar, helps when I feel VERY nauseous.

Peppermint helps before or after a meal.

And when I’m bored with both of those, I mix it up with the Pregnancy Tea.

Being pregnant you have to stay hydrated.  You’ll feel overly hydrated at times, but it is better than being dehydrated (which can make you feel more sick).

So when you are sick of plain water, make some tea. If you don’t like hot tea, brew it and let it cool for a yummy iced tea.  If you want to freeze it into ice cubes and make yourself a homemade slushee, DO IT!  If it sounds remotely good, give it a try.  :)

ESSENTIAL OILS

You have to be VERY careful with essential oils because they are SO effective, but I like putting a drop of doTERRA peppermint oil in my water.

First reason: plain water can get boring.

Second reason: peppermint is beneficial for nausea.

I would NOT recommend using the cheapest oil you can find.  There are different grades of oils – and even those that read “pure” may contain synthetic ingredients. eek!

I specifically use doTERRA because I know it is pure, therapeutic grade, safe and beneficial   Especially while pregnant, you want to make sure there are no fillers or harmful substances in essential oil you use.

I called my OB’s office and specifically ASKED about using peppermint essential oil in my water and the nurse said it was actually a great idea.

Before you try essential oils in your water, or topically, please check with your doctor and read up on what each oil does.  I just ordered Modern Essentials *4th Edition* a Contemporary Guide to the Therapeutic Use of Essential Oils so I can read up on any oil or condition and feel confident about what I’m using.  You don’t want to use an oil that causes contractions, for example (well, I might retract that statement at 40 weeks pregnant).

SLEEP

When all else fails: sleep.  Yes, during the day if at all possible.  Get some blackout curtains or a sleep mask (I love mine!) and go for it!

I would nap when Little Dude napped. If he didn’t nap, I told him I needed to nap so I didn’t throw up and he would kindly say “ok, momma – sleep big!” and have quiet-time in his room (with a baby gate on his door so he wouldn’t wander around & get into trouble). Thank you Lord!

During the early weeks, hubby would get home from work and send me to bed.  The guys would handle dinner and bedtime routine as I quickly drifted off to sleep.  I could easily knock out 12 hours of sleep a night.  Listen to your body and sleep as much as you can.

MUSIC

For me, worship music helped curb the nausea.  Come, Holy Spirit, heal me! NOT joking!

If worship music isn’t your thing, try your favorite kind of music for a good emotional distraction.

TAKE A BATH!

I love baths!  When I had melanoma, I was soooo sad I couldn’t soak in the tub (stitches, etc.) because it is one of my favorite ways to de-stress!

200% yes, you have to watch the temperature on your bath water while pregnant.  I’ve read to invest in a non-mercury thermometer and make sure it is below 100 degrees for your bath.

My confession is that I don’t check the temperature but it is NOT hot.

The warm bath allows me to relax mentally and physically.

I hope this list helps you!What are some of your favorite and most effective ways to help combat morning sickness, all-day-sickness and pregnancy nausea?

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