7 Simple Tips to Combat Morning Sickness

UPDATE- This is no longer 3 simple things because during my second pregnancy I found more. So below are 7 simple ways to combat morning sickness.

Pregnancy cravings can get pretty intense. I remember having multiple vivid dreams when pregnant with my son about Krispy Kreme donuts. Finally, one morning after waking up from a vivid donut dream at 4 am, I started googling where to find them.

Since the nearest store was over an hour away luckily I found out that a local 24/7 gas station carried Krispy Kreme donuts. I sped over, bought 2 and before even starting my car I ate one right then and there and boy was it delicious!

Despite being sick the majority of my first, and a lot of my second pregnancies, I went through months of having very distinct cravings. I guess I always thought that if I was really sick or nauseous I wouldn’t have food cravings but I found out that that is false. It is actually when I’m really nauseous that my cravings are the strongest because nothing sounds good except that one item. For me I have found that when my nausea decreases so do my cravings.

I’ve learned some helpful tricks that work to help combat cravings and nausea (at least they work well for me).

Eating regularly helps combat nausea. I have to set my clock so that I eat something small every few hours. This helps me to avoid getting too hungry and then nauseous. Eating crackers before I even got out of bed helped a lot.

Think of eating like a hobbit. 1st breakfast, 2nd breakfast, mid day snack, lunch, afternoon snack, etc.

1- Eating often is effective.

Something that helps me even more than eating regularly is wearing Sea-Bands! These Sea-Bands helped a ton in this pregnancy! You can use the Mama Sea-Bands or the regular Sea-Bands they work the same way (the difference is the color).

Originally, while pregnant with my first, I didn’t think they would work so I didn’t try them. After my aunt found out that I was so sick while pregnant with my first she told me that I NEEDED Sea-Band Mama wrist bands the next time I got pregnant. She said they practically saved her sanity and helped immensely with her morning sickness.

The next time I got pregnant and as soon as the nausea hit I bought Sea-Bands… And WOW I was shocked at how well they work!

I wore Sea-Bands all day long. I keep them on my night stand and put them on immediately when I wake up. If I take them off and I begin feeling nauseous again I put them back on and the nausea goes away. I would also wear them during the night too (if I woke up feeling nauseous). I wore them the entire first and some of the second trimester. I only threw up maybe once or twice which was a huge improvement from my first pregnancy.

I haven’t had too much nausea in the last few months so I haven’t been wearing them. But now that I’m nearing the third trimester and I’ve started getting bouts of nausea again. When I do, I put on the Sea-Band Mama wrist bands and in about 15 minutes the nausea goes entirely away or fades enough that I can still function fairly normally.

If you haven’t seen or know what they are (I didn’t either to begin with) Sea-Band makes a wrist band that puts a light pressure (acupressure) on the P6 Nei Kuan pressure point that is on the inside of the wrist which helps the body calm nausea and vomiting. They are washable, very inexpensive, and obviously drug free.

I have told all my friends about this. They’ve told me that they either work great or not at all. It seems like its hit or miss for people. But if you are suffering from morning sickness, I highly recommend at least giving them a try for a few days before making the mistake I did on my first pregnancy and assume they wouldn’t work for you.

2- Sea-Bands were by far the most effective morning sickness fighter for me.

Another couple of awesome finds that have worked super well with combating nausea are

3-Preggie Pops and Sea-Band ginger lozenges .  I suck on them when I need extra help with combating nausea. I also pack them in my purse to suck on them if there are bad smells in the air while in public. They taste very differently. Sea-Band ginger lozenges are very strong and even are made with ginger essential oil. Preggie pops are very strong but taste like different flavored sour candy. I read the ingredients and didn’t even see ginger on the list. They are effective because of how strong and sour they are…but I don’t think they contain much ginger. I like both.

4- Essential Oils and a Diffuser– This is another thing I never tried while I was pregnant with my first. I really wished I would’ve known about them! I kind of stumbled upon this by accident. I started getting really bad allergies and I didn’t want to take any allergy medicine in my first trimester so I studied up on essential oils.

I learned that Lavender, Peppermint, and Lemon diffused in the air would help a lot with allergies. As soon as I started diffusing these oils by my bed each night and I noticed that I would wake up with considerably less morning sickness. After my allergies went away and I stopped diffusing these oils I started to get much sicker. Now, I keep it running day and night and I’m amazed at how much this combination of oils helps with my nausea around the clock.

5- Tums Ultra 1000– I ate Tums all the time once I started suffering (yes suffering) from acid reflux while pregnant with my son. But the problem with Tums is that they cause air and gas in your belly. After eating Tums it can become very uncomfortable due to the gas they produce…hence the next item…

6– Simethicone (aka Gas X)– This is a very inexpensive anti-bloating anti-gas tablet. I usually buy the peppermint and suck on them or just chew them up (they are similar to Tums) right after I’ve taken some Tums.

7- Alkaline Food Chart– Acid reflux is a common symptom that plagues many women while pregnant. I learned that by eating alkaline based foods (instead of acidic) I significantly reduced the amount of acid I was battling. An alkaline chart is very helpful during pregnancy!

I have also heard that milk of magensia and doTerra women’s pack vitamins help a lot. I tried the women’s pack and it didn’t help me (in fact all prenatals and vitamins made me even more sick!) and I never got around to trying the milk of magnesia. But you may have success trying them out, let me know in the comments below. It’s worth it if you have morning sickness!

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