Morning sickness, though typically not harmful to you or your baby, can sincerely affect your quality of life, especially in the first trimester. To start, the term “morning sickness” is often a misnomer, since nausea and vomiting can last the entire day. Morning sickness also typically peaks at a time when many women are trying to hide or remain private with their pregnancy, especially at work. If you find yourself in this position, know that nearly half of all women who experience nausea in pregnancy feel complete relief by 14 weeks. Until then, try a few of these tips and tricks for nausea relief.
- Eat small meals throughout the day. Don’t skip meals.
- Take note of what foods and smells are triggers for queasiness, such as raw meat, garbage, greasy foods, or strong body odor, and avoid them.
- If you can’t avoid an offending smell, pack decoys in your purse: citrus lotion for your hands, a pleasant herb pouch with lavender or mint, or a small washcloth with a dab of lemon oil.
- Keep crackers at your desk at work and by your bed. Eat a few before you get out of bed each morning.
- Favorite pick: one serving of Trader Joe’s 12 Grain Mini Snack Crackers has 10% of the daily value of iron.
- For a gluten-free option, try Food Should Taste Good Brown Rice Crackers made from brown rice flour, sesame seeds, flax seeds, amaranth, and quinoa or crackers made from chickpea flour.
- Try acupressure wristbands, such as Sea Bands used for seasickness.
- Put gentle pressure on your wrist (in the groove between the tendons below the top crease of your wrist).
- Put a cool compress on your neck.
- Drink a cold Gatorade or freeze beverages with electrolytes in ice cube trays for hydration. Suck on frozen fruit or a healthy frozen yogurt bar.
- Take a prenatal vitamin daily for adequate vitamin B6, which is linked to relief of pregnancy nausea. If you suspect that the iron in your prenatal vitamin is making you sick, talk to your doctor about a slow-release option.64
- If the size of your prenatal vitamin is too big to swallow (calcium is a bulky mineral), talk to your doctor about a smaller pill.
- Avoid sitting in a front of a computer monitor outside of work. Unnoticeable monitor flickering can make some women nauseous.
- Drive rather than riding as a passenger in the car.
- Wear loose clothing. If your pants or skirts are tight around the belly, it may make your nausea worse.
- Finally, if you just need to “let it go” and you want to look chic doing it, don’t leave home without a designer barf bag from morningchicness.com.
Try these food suggestions for nausea:
- Bland foods: chicken soup, broth, plain baked potato, potato chips, pasta
- Whole grains: toast, bagels, brown rice, oatmeal
- Cold foods: sandwiches, raw veggies and hummus, avocados, cheese
- Fruits and vegetables: cold applesauce, pears, citrus, potatoes
- Ginger: ginger ale, ginger tea, ginger snaps, Gin-Gins candy
- Crackers or pretzels, with peanut butter or almond butter for protein
- Lemons: sniff them, slice them and put them in water
- Peppermint: decaf tea, mints
- Popsicles: Italian ice, real fruit bars, frozen fruit, homemade yogurt and fruit pops
- Lollipops or hard candy: Preggie Pops, Preggie Pop drops, B-natal candy
- Beverages: sparkling water, water with electrolytes: SmartWater, Vitamin Water, 365 brand