Like night and day they say. More like heaven and hell. That’s what the differences between pregnancies can be. One thing that sets pregnancies apart is morning sickness. Some women have the worst case you could imagine. Others don’t have it at all. While other women are fine the first pregnancy and feel like dying during the next one.
My wife, when pregnant with our first, breezing through it like it was nothing. She had 1 day of bad headaches and nausea and that’s about it. She even worked up to and past the due date. A super easy pregnancy other then the birth, which I’ll have to write about sometime.
Two and a half years later she was pregnant again with our son. This time was completely different. My poor wife had maybe a week of feeling good during the first trimester. Morning sickness all day, heartburn daily, headaches constantly, and tired all the time. When pregnant with our third she was miserable during the first 1/2 of the pregnancy and tired like she’s never been the whole time. What could I do? I can’t help her sleep, trust me I tried and she didn’t find me sleeping in as funny as I did. She also said my snoring is bragging.
I couldn’t make her feel better either. So I researched, that’s just about all I could do. I was willing to try anything to make her as comfortable as possible. I found somethings that helped.
A great deal of what helps is sleep, and eating correctly but the following might help your wife through this rough part of her pregnancy. That dreaded first trimester. Note: that it can last longer then the first trimester and it doesn’t just happen in the morning. I believe it’s call morning sickness because that’s the time of day when it’s the worst.
Legal Disclaimer: As for everything on this page, I am not a doctor. I have only experienced this through watching the following items work for my wife. Always check with your doctor before consuming anything.
Sea Bands
Sea bands are an elastic fabric with a hard knobby piece of plastic worn on the wrist. They put pressure on a pressure point that is known to relieve nausea and vomiting. Great if your wife can’t take the taste & smell of food, or keep anything down.
I found out about these online during the first pregnancy and ran to Target to get these right away. They worked great for my wife and for less then $10 you can’t go wrong.
Ginger Snaps
So ginger is known to help with nausea and vomiting just as the Sea Bands are. The thing is you can’t just chew on a fresh peeled ginger root. I mean I guess you could it wouldn’t kill you but blah. Also a pregnant woman shouldn’t have more than 1500mg of ginger per day. I did read you could make like a tea out of it but not sure how that works. The problem with cookies is the sugar but it does put something in the stomach. I found these in Sprouts, an organic store similar to Trader Joe’s. Admittedly, I have an inner fat kid and he loves ginger snaps too so I would end up buying two bags and eat one myself.
Ginger Ale
Another ginger based item. Soda is not that good for a pregnant woman but it does the trick when she can’t keep water down. Plus, they are usually on sale ever week or two. Just grab a couple bottles or 12-packs and you are set for a little while.
Coconut Water
This is great especially when your wife has been vomiting all morning. Coconut water is rich with vitamins, fiber, minerals, and electrolytes. On a side note this works great on hangovers as well.
Water
Maybe the most important thing she can do is drink water that is if she can keep it down. You can try flavoring the water with cut fruits, or cran rasberry juice.
Tums
The doctor said Tums were ok to take as needed. Just don’t over do it. Though it can be a good source of calcium, over doing calcium can cause some issues like kidney stones. Be sure to have your wife consult with her doctor before taking.
Omeprazole
This is an over the counter heartburn medicine, think Prilosec OTC. What it does is reduce the amount of acid in the stomach. Our doctor told my wife that it was ok for her to take. I know it worked for her and I’ve taken it for my heartburn and it helps. Like everything I’ve suggested consult with a doctor before use.
Saltines
Saltines, toast or any other bland cracker worked wonders with the nausea. My wife would keep a pack by the bed to help start the morning when she was feeling the worst.
Last bit of advice is to have patience, understanding, and compassion. Those 3 things don’t help with morning sickness but will help your marriage.
That’s everything that has worked for my wife through 3 pregnancies. I’m sure their are other things out there, some you could even make at home but when you need a quick remedy these might work.
Your wife will greatly appreciate you thinking of her by getting her stuff to help through the first trimester trenches. Brownie point if, instead of just handing her a bag of stuff, you make a “sorry I did this to you and you’re feel this miserable” gift basket.
Comment below with with pictures and a list what you added to the basket you made for your wife and mother to bee!
