[Milan]

My wife is pregnant with our second child and she is having a bad dose of morning sickness. It's constant and she has been bed ridden 24/7 for almost three weeks now. I feel sorry for her. It's like one continuous hangover. She hardly eats and her weight is dropping quickly. She was really ill with our first one, 5 1/2 months total with two or three of those months in bed. We thought that the second time round she wouldn't be as ill as the first. Same deal. What makes it worse out good friends are also pregnant and she has no ill feelings at all. None, zilch! This fact makes her more depressed. She just want's it to end but it may go on as bad as this for another month or two...ouch!

Questions directed towards our lovely lady friends:

Where you ill during your pregnancy?

How long did it last?

Did you find anything that helped with the nausea?

I'm curious because I don't know too many women that have had such strong ill feelings from pregnancy. I hope that someone can suggest something that may be of help to her.

Thanks,

Milan

 

[sleepingbeauty]

i have not had kids but i am a girl and have a suggestion. it seems since she cant keep food down she should simplify her diet. my suggestion would be to give her frozen fruit smoothies in very small amounts throughout the day.

the great thing about the smoothie method is it helps you ween yourself back into eating more solid foods. and if and when they come back up, its not nearly as unpleasant as lets say, a crunchy taco laden with fire sauce. she should definately stay away from foods that can cause digestive trouble like dairy products, meat(for the contamination factor and also because the body has to exert more energy than it wants to breaking it down) and fast food. have her start with the smoothies and when she feels ready, move onto warm broths like miso, and tea. slowly introduce solids like bread, rice and steamed vegis to the mix. if done slowly and patiently she should start to see her appetite and tollerance for food return.

the very best smoothies are 100% frozen fruit. bananas are the best base and to that you can add just about any other fruit but remember it has to be ones that wont make her feel ill, so stay away from the more highly acidic fruits like pineapple and citrus. banana strawberry, banana papaya, banana blueberry are all great combos. water or apple juice are the best liquid bases. i would stay away from yogurt completely or at least until she starts feeling better, and NEVER put milk in a smoothie cause that is just nasty. use soy, rice or almond milk as an alternative. NEVER use sugar. sweeten with honey if you must but you shouldnt need to. and stay away from protein powders. they are gross and only cause your tummy to work harder than it needs to breaking it down. and if you dont clean all the powder gum out of the blender before you use it again, you risk contamination because protein powder rots just like meat does. we want the food to go through her, not come back up!

so your ingredients are:

2 parts frozen banana(broken into peices)
1 part frozen fruit of your choice
1 part liquid base

*blend until smooth. feel free to add more liquid until desired consistancy is reached.

hope that helps!!

(fyi, smoothies make excellent baby food! my mom only fed me smoothies, and fruits and vegis processed with a baby grinder. the first time i tried gerber i was 16 and babysitting!)

 

[Snowy]

I was sick for the whole nine months when i was pregnant. I had morning sickness for most of the day, but i wasn't confined to the bed, i would have periods of relief on and off.
Some tips to relieve sickness are eat small frequent small meals every 2 or 3 hours. Avoid strong odours. Stand up slowly and do not lie down immediately after eating... try this website http://www.sosmorningsickness.com/ the tips are also on there.
Good luck.

 

[terri*]

Wow, SB, how great about your Mom making your stuff. I love that.

I bet the website Snowy listed will be helpful, too.

I also wonder about asking this up in the main forum because we have had many girls on here who have been pregnant. You might get more response up there. Just a thought.

I do wish you both some help with this problem so you can go on to enjoy the pregnancy.

 

[Milan]

Thank you girls for your posts.

SB, first a of all I like to comment on your avatar, very cute. Is that you?

I came home yesterday after work and my wife was hugging a bucket dry reaching. She has only thrown up once but she feels like she is going to most of the time. A little later she was feeling a bit better I suggested the smoothies but she wasn't interested. What I'll do is prepare it for her and when she feels like she needs to eat something I'll try to give her some. The recipes sound delectable, I'll make extra for myself.

Snowy we seem to be doing most of the things you and the website suggested, it helps in the sense that if she doesn't do that stuff she would feel a helleva lot worse. I noticed there is a drug that can be taken for the nausea but it's only available in Canada. We are seeing her obstetrician tomorrow for an ultra sound and I'll ask if there are any similar drugs available in Australia.

Terri I thought this topic would not be appropriate in the main forum that's why I posted it here but I was thinking that more women would respond if I posted it there. So do you think I still should?

Ladies, I take my hat of to you all for having to go through this torture just to produce the little rug rats we love so much. Your advice has been appreciated.

Milan

 

[terri*]

Hi Again,

I did ask if it was okay and it appears it is. Of course, as Janine said, you really should feel comfortable on your own. As for me, I just went ahead and jumped right in your business. I did want to speed things up this morning. Get help for the poor gagging woman asap.

Oh, they have moved it to the very top of the page, left hand side, under the red word Research.

Thanks for being a fella that cares about his gal.

terri

 

[Guest]

sleepingbeauty's avatar is the acrobatic pollyanna from a very obnoxious children's show.

nausea can persist for the whole pregnancy-- it varies woman to woman.

Weight gain isn't that significant in the first 2 trimesters, after week 24 weight gain is more important.

Your wife should avoid any food with grease, and shoud eat many very small meals throughout the day. She should never let her stomach be empty. An empty stomach will make her throw up. Dry toast, plain crackers, plain sweet potato, and lemonade might help. Teas that can help are: ginger tea, chamomile tea.

Also if she gets dehydrated that is serious. If she can't even keep water down she should see a dr. Some pregnant women have to be hospitalized with dehydration.

 

[Milan]

Thanks Terri and Janine.

You guys are the best.

She has been following the docs orders and it helps a little. I'll get her some extra strength stimatol tablets and see if they give her some respite so she can at least have a half normal day.

I took her for an ultra sound and blood test today which was to check for chances of down syndrome. Unfortunately the test only works when your between 11 and 12 weeks. We found out she is 10 1/2 which means we will be back next week. Saw the little 4cm parasite move during the ultra sound....very cute, also got a lump in my throat. I'm still totally amazed at the miracle of birth.

I'll keep you posted.

 

[ShyTiger]

I havnt been pregnant but i used to get really bad nausea and vomiting with my period. I would not eat and it made things worse. A dietician gave me a liquid meal that would cover all my basic vitamin and mineral needs, of course as she is pregnant you would have to consult with doc to make sure to get appropriate one. I had to experiment with foods to see which ones i could tolerate. Green grapes were the only food i could eat for a while!! Anyway i do hope this lifts for her soon. Is great that she obviously has some wonderfull support.

 

[Guest]

hiya Milan,your post sure took me back a couple of decades and a half.

I had THE WORST morning sickness when preggers with my son.

A commonly used natural remedy is ginger.
You can buy tablets in the health food store or even better grate some natural ginger to make tea.

Today I suffer with bouts of nausea(no more preggers though).
I drink copious amounts of a low sugar ginger beer.I like the way it makes me burb too .

Good luck,
ever wonder why they call it morning sickness,mine was there all day.

 

[Milan]

Thanks Shelly and Shytiger,

I have asked her to try Ginger Ale but all she did was grimace.

She is feeling a little better the last couple of days. Her obstetrician recommended she take the Stemitol drugs daily. We'll see if that helps her over the next few days.

No doubt one of use will be going for the snip after this pregnancy