There’s nothing like the joy of expecting a new baby—and nothing like the nausea it can cause!

I’m not sure why it’s called Morning Sickness—cause I often had it all day and all night for 40 weeks of pregnancy THREE times!   As pathetic as it sounds, once I even had it during delivery!

However, it did seem to let up some around the 5th month and pick back up again in the 8th’; but at times it was so constant and intense it was like I felt nauseous even in my veins!

Of course, certain odors could kick-it off; but for me, the most offending thing was MUSIC.  Really!  Certain songs would come on the radio, and it was like instant nausea.  So weird.  Even to this day, I can’t listen to those songs.

SO WHAT WORKED?  WHAT DIDN’T?

Most likely the culprit is hormones—increased levels of estrogen and hGC throwing the balance off and a side-effect is nausea.  We can’t stop the hormones- we need those to do their work; but how can we minimize the effects?

For me, help came through starchy but high protein foods… hello bean burrito at Taco Bell!!   Even burgers seemed to help—maybe it was the salt, for sure the starches, that calmed the queasiness in the early months.

However, I am a pretty healthy eater- mostly organic- and I rarely trek to fast-food, but those just seemed to help at a time when I didn’t feel like eating- much less cooking- anything.

Another thing that seemed to help was—uh oh, Coke ICEEs! I guess it was the cold, slightly crunchy texture, along with the coke syrup that brought some calmness to my summer pregnancy.  You can also buy straight coke syrup (a little bottle with no carbonation) from most pharmacies. It is often used as an anti-nausea medicine.

I know—Icees are not something we want to live on; but when I was really feeling yucky, I could always seem to get a few ounces of that down.   That, and Gummy Bears.  Boy, this sounds like a junk-food diet!  But, I have to stress these were not daily offerings; but  they are what I defaulted to when nothing else was going to stay down.

But for the most part, the main thing I found helped was to stay hydrated.  Sipping water or Gatorade constantly seemed to ‘head off’ the really bad bouts.

Another thing that helped was chewing peppermint gum- that brought some freshness and seemed to relieve the symptoms a bit.  Herbalists say peppermint is a natural relief for various types of nausea. They seem to be right.

I wasn’t always motivated to stay moving; but I did find with the 3rd pregnancy light exercise did seem to help.  Maybe it was the endorphins?  But, just getting out and walking around the mall when I felt the nausea creeping on, seemed to stall it out and got me feeling normal again quicker than when I just sat on the couch in misery.

So for those of you who want to do better than I did—maybe you can find similar alternatives to Taco Bell and Coke Icees.

ANNIE’S has some organic bean burritos in the frozen aisle; and you could mix up your own coke syrup concoction or try HANSENS organic soda over ice.   You can even get organic gummy bears now!  There’s lots of  frozen organic beef patty options.  Plus that’s all easier to find in restaurants now than it was 8 years ago.

WHAT DIDN’T WORK?

I tried the Red Clover Tea, didn’t work for me.  I had a prescription for Emerol, but it was liquid and there was no way I was getting that down- and I just couldn’t do the saltine thing before I got out of bed.

PLEASE POST HERE WHAT WORKED FOR YOU!

Share with others and let’s get thru the baby-making process together.  While you’re at it, check out our new PRENATAL/POSTNATAL workout dvd.   SMART MOVES MOMMA! It’s awesome!!  (and way better for you than gummy bears.)

-Raven