There are a few women out there in this world who sail through their pregnancy without so much of a glimpse of queasiness. The rest of us have no such luck. Chances are you are the type of woman who the mere smell of what use to be your favourite food sends you running to the nearest toilet. The mere sight of steak can send you heaving and just thinking about eating that salad turns you greener than the romaine lettuce it contains. You probably curse the silly fool who named it “morning sickness” when all pregnant women know it is more like all day sickness.
There are different degrees of morning sickness. Each woman and each pregnancy is different. I spent the first three months of my first pregnancy over a toilet and was unable to look at any sort of vegetable or meat. However, I made it through my second pregnancy with only a few spurts to the bathroom and hardly any aversions. The good news is though, this is usually only temporary. Most women start feeling better between their 12th and 14th week of pregnancy. The even better news is that your baby is handling this much better than you are. As hard as it is to eat healthy during this period there are some things you can do to help ease your discomfort.
For starters, eat often. It has been shown that an empty stomach tends to make your morning sickness even worse. This is why so many of us feel so bad when we first wake up. We’ve had nothing in our system which means our stomach acids are going crazy since nothing is there to soak them up. The trick to this is to eat often. Try eating six mini-meals a day and make sure you have plenty of snacks. Make sure you eat often in bed. Before you go to bed for the night have a snack that is high in protein and in carbs such as nuts and raisins, yoghurt and bread stick or a slice of cheese and crackers. Keep a stash of crackers or ginger cookies by your bed and make sure you have one before you even think about getting out of bed in the morning.
You will always want to eat mainly carbs and protein. Stick with crackers or fruit to give you some comfort during those first few months. Other good snacks are pretzels, saltines and whole-grain toast. For fruits stick with melons and bananas. For your protein add a little cheese or some nuts to your snacks or any time you are feeling a little green. Yoghurt is also an excellent choice when fighting morning sickness also.
Make sure you drink your water. If you are vomiting it is essential that you stay hydrated. Making sure you stay hydrated is probably more important than making sure you eat those first few months. Becoming dehydrated can cause a problem for you and your little one so make sure you drink at least 8 glasses of water or juice throughout the day. You can also suck on ice chips or fruit juice popsicles if you are having problems keeping liquids down.
The most important thing to keep in mind those first three months is not to beat yourself up if you can not eat as healthy as you would like to. You will still have plenty of time to make up for it after you get through this storm. Just make smart choices when it comes to what you eat and snack on and that will pave the way for when you can eat as a normal person.
