this too shall pass
Filed Under Pregnancy and Birthing, Tips & Tricks | April 30, 2009
A dreaded pregnancy symptom, morning sickness is a…erm… joy that about 85% of expectant mamas experience. Caused by changing hormones, it can take the form of everything from food aversions to occasional or ongoing nausea and vomiting.
If you’ve experienced morning sickness you’ll know you’re willing to try just about anything to alleviate the symptoms. You’ll apply acupressure and brew up herbal concoctions, dreaming of the day you can enjoy the foods you once loved.
Unfortunately there’s no way to prevent morning sickness, but there are many ways to help manage it. Below are a few of the most helpful but be sure to talk with your midwife or doctor for additional suggestions.
Eat: The best cure for morning sickness is to maintain balanced blood sugar with frequent healthy snacks and meals with an emphasis on protein, complex carbohydrates and vitamin B6 – meat, brown rice, butter and wheat germ are good sources. Try a snack before bed and 15 minutes before you get out of bed to help prevent morning nausea. You may find you crave salty, sweet or sour flavours – experiment!
Drink: Keeping hydrated is an important part of keeping morning sickness at bay. Registered Midwife Kat Montgomery suggests drinking 2 litres a day, including drinks that help with nausea – ginger or peppermint tea, or a bubbly drink such as ginger ale.
Smell: Morning sickness can cause acute sensitivity to smells. Try using essential oils such as lavender, peppermint or lemon to counterbalance those smells that make you feel ill/want to hurl/run to the nearest washroom.
Acupressure: Acupuncture and acupressure have been used over thousands of years for morning sickness. Raeghan Siemens, DTCM, suggests placing direct pressure with your finger or using seasickness wrist bands (available at any pharmacy) on a spot called pericardium 6 to relieve nausea.
Trust: While you’re in the thick of it, the best thing you can do is listen to your body and eat what you can. It may seem never ending but one day the nausea will end (no really!) and you will eat again.
2 Responses to “this too shall pass”
Leave a Comment
Let us know what you think or share your great finds with us so we can share them with other Vancouver mothers!
It’s not morning sickness…it’s all day sickness. Had a difficult time of it for the first few months, hardly ever actually threw up, but the constant queasiness was awful.
What worked really well for me was ginger – in all forms. I had ginger snaps at my bedside that I would have when I first got up. Then, chai with ginger, and Reed’s ginger candies, and candied ginger in my purse.
Fortuantely, after the first trimester it did pass. And then the pregnancy was smooth sailing…until I got the flu and bronchitis in the last few weeks.
But, it’s all SO worth it in the end!
[...] find more healthy eating tips in our articles on keeping morning sickness at bay and guidelines for caffeine and alcohol intake while [...]