The all-encompassing nausea I mentioned in the last post has really affected life over the last few months.
Although I haven't had any of the infamous food cravings, I have plenty of food aversions: ice cream (what??), french fries, avocados, hummus, and garlic. I'm pretty sure I'm forgetting one, but my brain is mostly mush these days.
I am feeling slightly better, but there are still a lot of dicey moments each day. Earlier on, I spent every second of every day with my teeth clenched and every ounce of energy focused on NOT BARFING. I think because of the extreme effort that required, I had nothing left for anything else. When my phone dinged to notify me of new emails, etc., the sound made me physically ill because it meant that I would have to divert some of my not-barfing energies to checking my phone. I got seriously behind in my emails. I gave up reading blogs (all caught up now, thanks). I scrolled through Facebook in brief spurts and dropped Twitter altogether. Every time I opened a book, I'd make it only a few lines before I had to set the book back down and shut my eyes to attempt to regain the little control I had over my nausea.
The prescription prenatal vitamins I was taking were a daily source of trouble. It became more and more challenging to get the giant horse pills down my throat successfully. When I mentioned it to my nurse, she advised trying some OTC gummy prenatals. I left the office and went immediately to the store to buy some, but I've always disliked gummy candies (seriously, what is the appeal?) and the gummy prenatals quickly became another trial. So now, again at my nurse's recommendation, I'm taking two chewable Flintstones daily.
Here are some other things that have helped me so far:
Sea-Band Mama! These look silly and make me feel like I should be playing tennis, but I've been wearing them every single day since week 10.
Preggie Pop Drops. I carry these in my purse everywhere I go.
Ginger candies. I hate ginger. Hate. But my sister-in-law got me some of these and desperate times call for desperate measures. So I carry these in my purse too. I think they work mostly because they distract me from the nausea with their vile, horrible taste and texture.
SweeTarts. My nurse also suggested sour candies, specifically Sour Patch Kids, but ugh, gummies. No thanks. So I tried SweeTarts, which do seem to help, at least in the moment. Of course, they may also cause my teeth to fall out, but whatevs.
Although not for nausea, another essential I've found so far is what I call my "boob tube" for sleeping. It's a skin tight spandex tank top with a built-in shelf bra, which provides support when I'm tossing and turning, trying to find a comfortable position at night. Because tender doesn't even begin to accurately describe the situation.
It's also imperative that I eat almost non-stop, which I need to address immediately. Time for an apple!
(These are not affiliate links, just random things that have seemed to help me.)
6 comments:
I used to carry grapes around with me. They don't have a smell, which meant I could tolerate them. And I did find I had to eat constantly when I was pregnant. An empty stomach made me nauseous.
I will admit that I never took any pre-natal vitamins. I can't swallow pills. Luckily, I eat pretty well so my kids all turned out fine anyway.
I am eating horribly. Vegetables make me feel awful afterwards (stomach pains, etc.), so I've basically been existing on carbs. I'm not even drinking enough because my love for water has taken a hit too. How I miss just guzzling water.
I had terrible nausea with my first pregnancy--it wasn't as bad (but bad enough) with the second. I always thought the B vitamins helped with the second. (?)
I hope things improve soon!!!!
Oh yes, I've been taking vitamin B6 twice a day. I meant to include that in my post, but MUSH for brains.
I can relate, at least old-me can relate. Really old me just simply sympathizes.
When I was having babies, the most disgusting smell on the planet was my own husband. It kind of makes sense, biologically speaking, if you think about it... but I couldn't stand him near me! Poor guy. heh.
I've heard other women say the same thing, Smellyann, but fortunately there have only been 3 or 4 incidents when my husband smelled yucky to me. It had to have been something he ate and then was excreting from his pores, I think. Now he knows when I start demanding what he ate that day...
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