Coping with Morning Sickness

There's nothing more exciting than the news of a pregnancy.  Such a blessing.  So much to look forward to.  A new child to love and nurture.

But as soon as morning sickness makes its grand entrance, that seems to be all I think about.  My whole day revolves around my level of sickness.  And then there's the food.  Eating constantly so that there is always something in my belly, even though nothing sounds particularly appetizing.  I call this "preventative eating".....though it doesn't so much prevent as it just helps from feeling worse!

I don't know about you, but I'm one of those who is willing to try just about anything to help with the nausea.  I'm one of those worst case scenario women who enjoys the blessing of morning sickness all day...and lasts upwards of six months.  Seven months is my record.  But I've also been one of those who don't find much relief in remedies and even a couple of prescriptions I've tried.

But this time, something is working.  No, morning sickness is not gone, but I am not nearly as sick as I usually am at this point.  So I'll share what I've been doing.  But first, I'll share all that I've tried in the past...'cause it might just help someone else.

In The Past

Phenergan-Ugh!  Made me super sleepy and didn't take any of the nausea away.

Crackers before getting out of bed-Really?  Does this help anyone?  I must know. 

Ginger- Mostly in tea form.  For me, helps with the saliva issue.  Anyone else deal with that too?

Zofran-Very expensive!  I was told it was a miracle for most women so of course I said, "sign me up!"  Unfortunately, wasn't my miracle.  It did take the edge off, but wasn't worth the high cost for me.

Unisom and B6-Out of all the remedies, this one helped the most.  While it didn't take away the nausea, it did take me from vomiting all day to just once or twice a day.  It helped me to get off the couch and function.  I would take one half of a Unisom (store generic version) and a 50mg B6 twice a day.  Usually at 7am and 7pm.

The Bean Cure-I tried this in my last two pregnancies.  It did help temporarily, but I got so tired of eating beans that I would give up on it fairly quickly.  You can read the fascinating article here.

If you're struggling with morning sickness, these things above do help many women, so give them a try.

As soon as I found out I was pregnant this time, I began scanning the Internet for anything new that I could try.  I read about every theory behind morning sickness and made a list of things that could help.  And basically, I've incorporated all of them into my day.

Now

Cut waaay back on sugar and caffeine-Yeah, yeah, I know this isn't new.  It's just that I never put much stock in cutting back on them.  I don't do a whole lot of caffeine anyway, but sugar, you betcha...we're bakers around here!  I read that sugar and caffeine can exacerbate morning sickness...so after years of ignoring it, I decided to give it a try.

The Bean Cure-Okay, I know I mentioned this above...but this time, as soon as I found out I was pregnant, I began eating beans twice a day!  Yes siree!  In theory, I should not be having any nausea, but I am. 

Alas!  There's a difference. 

I didn't start feeling icky until much later than normal...and at nine+ weeks, I am not nearly as sick as I usually get.  I am still eating beans twice a day and am determined to keep doing it as long as I need to.  Thanks to Pinterest, I found myriad new bean recipes that have made eating beans twice a day much easier.

Alkalizing-I read that keeping your pH at an alkaline level can reduce morning sickness.  So far, I have not had access to pH or alkaline water, but I did do a search on alkaline foods.  Celery, watermelon, cucumbers, almonds, tomatoes, garlic, onions, and avocado (to name a few) are on the list, so I've been eating those often.  The watermelon is great for thirst since it is packed with water.  And I've made sure to keep celery, cut up into sticks, on hand.  I make myself a little baggie of celery, carrots, and red bell pepper sticks to take with me wherever I go.  (Update: A friend gave me some pH water, and it seemed to help a LOT the first day.  She said it was time/light sensitive, so after 12 hours, it didn't help as much.  Must go get more!)

Unisom-I read recently that B6 can exacerbate the nausea and that some women were finding relief with the Unisom alone.  At about 8 1/2 weeks, I felt another rise in my level of sickness (but still not as severe), so I decide to begin taking a half of a Unisom just at night.  So far, it seems to be helping.  Almost like it shifted my level back down.  I should say here that I am getting plenty of B6.  I get it in my food, that I can now keep down, and in my SuperMom vitamin that I can also keep down!  If you suspect you are B6 deficient, you may want to take the B6.  Oh, and also, caffeine destroys B6, so yet another reason to cut back or eliminate it.

Lots of protein-I usually get plenty of protein in the meat and beans I eat, but I have also been eating LOTS of nuts and seeds.  In addition to my veggies, I eat handfuls of nuts (cashews, walnuts, almonds, and peanuts) and seeds (sunflower and pumpkin) throughout the day.  And Greek yogurt, which has twice the protein as traditional yogurt, has become my new dessert. 

Apple Cider Vinegar and Lemon water-I read that using about 2 teaspoons of ACV in warm water can relieve nausea.  I was very hesitant to try this since it doesn't sound appealing.  But to my amazement, it does help.  It settles my tummy pretty quickly and helps with the excessive saliva that  is a huge issue for me during morning sickness.  Since ACV was working, I also tried squeezing a half a lemon's worth of juice in hot water...and that works too.  I tend to feel great the first half of the day (which has never happened), and then begin feeling a bit more queasy as the evening goes on.  This is when I reach for my ACV or Lemon "tea"!

Peppermint Oil-My sweet friend, Kim, sent me a sample of Young Living Peppermint Essential Oil.  In addition to the hot lemon water for those sudden waves of nausea, I put a drop of Peppermint oil on my tongue.  Or even just smell it.  This also offers quick relief for those sudden waves of nausea.

I think it's important to add that I started doing all of these things (except the unisom) as soon as I found out I was pregnant...before morning sickness came.  I think it's important to mention because all this collectively may be what has helped.  For example, once I am in the throes of morning sickness, I usually cannot eat raw veggies...and most things good for me just don't sound good.  So I eat what I think I can tolerate, but probably make me worse in the end.  Maybe?  I also think because I made a habit of eating these things, they're what sound good now. 


Some Additional Coping Tips

Prepare if you can.  As soon as you find out you're pregnant, and before sickness sets in, do what you can to make things easier when it comes.  Stock your freezer with meals for your family.  Make individual portions of foods you can eat quickly when the need arises.  Have a variety of high protein go-to snacks like nuts and seeds in your pantry.

Accept help!  If you have a friend or church family willing to provide meals, care for little ones, or clean your house, accept it!  Allow them to be the hands and feet of Jesus!  It blesses you, and it blesses them as well.  Don't be stubborn!

Embrace it!  If you're like me, where nothing truly takes it away, you've got to come to the point where you can embrace it.  I've learned over all these pregnancies that God uses this time to draw me near.  I am in constant communion with Him.  Even if I am crying out in despair, begging for Him to have mercy on me, I am talking with my Lord.  He teaches me what it means to trust Him and to rely on him every second.  It also helps to keep in mind that this won't last forever and that a wonderful gift comes at the end.  It's not for nothing.  It's worth it!  God is faithful!


What are your favorite remedies?  Please add to this list the things that have helped you!


Photo Credit

9 Weeks

Baby

I never grow tired of tracking a new baby's miraculous and rapid growth. At nine weeks, my baby's brain waves can be measured. The main construction of the heart is complete. The baby has begun movement and can flex at the joints. Fingerprints are evident, and the most fascinating fact is that the baby can even curve its tiny fingers around an object placed in its hand. My baby is about an inch long, and happily swimming around in the tiny bag of fluid.


Mommy

I am hanging in there.  I am feeling pretty queasy, but I can't complain.  At nine weeks, I am not nearly as sick as I usually get.  I am so thankful...and hopeful that maybe this time it won't be so challenging.  In fact, I am finishing up a post detailing the things I've done differently this pregnancy, and new things I've tried that may be helping this time around.  I want to share them for other mommies who may be struggling with morning sickness....so stay tuned. 

I am also still somewhat enjoying food.  I have a few aversions, but a lot of things actually still sound good.  I don't seem to be suffering from my usual super-human sense of smell that exacerbates the nausea.  So I think that's made a huge difference as well.  All considering, I am doing well and so thankful that this pregnancy has been more manageable.  I have my first OB appointment on Wednesday, so looking forward to seeing this sweet baby, knowing it will give me that extra boost of perseverance through the morning all day sickness!


Are you expecting?  Care to share your stats here?

A Change of Heart

(L to R: Ethan 5, Chloe 7, Sophia 9, Jonathan 2, Seth 10, Cheyenne 19, Amelia 1, Celeste 16, and Genevieve 4)

I originally published this years ago.  But since I get asked about our story often, I thought it would be fun to update it and republish.  Please keep in mind that this is our story and we know that God does not lead all families to the same conviction.  Here is our story....

Our Journey to Many Children

I am no stranger to large families. My mother is the sixth of fourteen children, my dad is the oldest of five, and I am the second of four children. Even in the generations before, there were many children in our family line. I grew up surrounded by lots of family and LOVED the chaos of family gatherings and reunions. My husband, however, is an only child, and so is his mother. You'd think that I was already signed up to have many children and that my husband would lean toward just one or two. But, that wasn't the case....

When Greg and I were engaged, I don't think we necessarily talked about a specific number of children.  Despite loving my large extended family, I had always said that I didn't want children.  Thankfully, just loving Greg changed that, but I probably didn't think we'd have more than two.  My husband, however, was in the "I want 20" camp right from the start.  I would just laugh and think "yeah right"!

Three months after we were married, we found out that we were expecting our first child. We were thrilled. But when I began experiencing death-like morning sickness (hyperemesis gravidarum), I wasn't so sure I would ever do this again! I was so sick for seven months. Continuous vomiting, dehydration, etc. We lived in England at the time, so we had no family to help out.  After this, I knew I would not be in a hurry to do it again. Our daughter was born and we were very happy first-time parents.

Yet, the memories of how sick I was haunted me. About two years later, I began feeling suspiciously queasy and took a pregnancy test. It was positive. Although I welcomed the "idea" of another baby, I was terrified of going through such agony again. And how would I do it now with a toddler? And to make matters worse, we were moving back to the states from England in just a few months.  How would I handle a major move, plane rides, a toddler, all while feeling terrible?

The morning sickness intensified and I just took it one day at a time. Our little two year old spent most of her days watching children's videos and I cringed each time she said she was hungry. It was difficult to get up and prepare food. Greg was working 24 hour shifts, so when he was at work, he was gone all day and night!  It was tough.

It came time to move. I left England a month before Greg so that I could spend more time with my family before heading to our next base. I was four months pregnant, still sick, and was now going to travel back to the states with our 2 year old daughter, by myself.  Sixteen hours and three plane changes later, I made it home. Barely! That night, my dad offered to go get me something to eat and food actually sounded good. The next morning, I woke up and felt great! God was good and faithful and allowed morning sickness to last only four months instead of seven! Our second daughter was born and we were the honored parents of two little girls. I was content.

I think I immediately felt like two was enough for us, although I knew my husband wanted more. He never pressured or asked, but I knew his heart welcomed more children. As time went on and the girls got bigger, I began to enjoy the independence and the freedoms of having children out of baby stage. I also began planning my future which included finishing school and possibly a career in the future. I had all kinds of ambitions, goals, and aspirations. And now that the girls were getting older, I could finally work toward these goals.

When our second daughter was three, I did become pregnant.  We were excited, though again, I was fearful.  But around nine weeks, I miscarried.  We were devastated!  And though I learned just how fragile life was, I was also in no hurry to get pregnant again.

Just a few months later, we were moving again. Greg was getting out of the Air Force and we were moving back home to CA. As soon as we were settled, I enrolled in school. Oddly enough, it was during this period of life that I began to question all of my reasons for only wanting two children. This was strange to me! I loved school, I loved the girls being older, and I was set on being able to afford to send these girls to college. How would we afford more children? And, do I want to go through morning sickness again?

Nonetheless, my heart was being pulled in another direction. I questioned why I only wanted to have two children when I had a wonderful husband who wanted more? Was God not faithful in getting me through morning sickness? Will He not provide for more children? Is pursuing a career what I really want to do? And is it God's plan for all of our children to even attend college? All these questions ate at my core until finally it was clear! My heart had been opened to more children! 

We were living in CA at the time and getting ready to move back to Texas for a new job. We agreed that as soon as we got back to Texas we would try for another baby. Upon a friend's recommendation of a fertility book, we began charting and trying. ;-) To our amazement, two months later we were pregnant with our third child.

Yep, sick again. This time for 20 weeks.  I survived and we welcomed our third child, our first son, six years after our second daughter! Seven months later, to our SHOCK, we were pregnant again! Sick again, still nursing baby #3, survived again and welcomed our fourth child, another girl.

Okay, at this point, I'm not sure what our "plan" was now. We still hadn't come to the point of welcoming "any and all" children, but we weren't saying we were done either. So we continued to chart. I would chart until I felt "ready" to be pregnant again. By now, I knew that God would get me through morning sickness, we knew He would continue to provide, and we were thankful for our four children. 

Our fourth child was about 13 months old when we "put the charts away". Soon after, we were pregnant again. Sick again and now living in a tiny rental home. Five kids, three very small bedrooms, no problem. Our fifth, another girl, was born and we were thrilled!

God continued to do a work in both of us concerning our view of children and what scripture says about them. Over and over, scripture calls children a blessing, a heritage (Psalm 127: 3-5)! Although I think most people would have agreed that our quiver was certainly full and probably overflowing, we weren't content with that. Don't get me wrong, we were content with our five children, just not content with deciding five was "it".

During this time, I was at a home school meeting, when a friend shared with us her journey to having nine children. As a matter of fact, it looked and sounded a lot like ours. She shared of how Hannah, the mother of Samuel, prayed fervently for a child. She went on to say that she realized there were only examples of women in the Bible praying for children! There is not one example that God gives us of a woman (or man) praying not to have children. Yet, we see in the Bible that there were many varied sizes of families! And being that we know modern forms of birth control did not exist, we can rest assure that God was in control of family sizes!  Additionally, I have several friends who have always trusted God with their family size, yet only have 1, 2, or 3 children.

This, in conjunction with God's Word referring to children as blessings, arrows, and a heritage, was huge for me. God used my sweet friend's own story to continue writing ours! Thankfully, my husband shared the same conviction and we went on to have two more children. No charting, no worrying, just freedom.

You see, for us it really is freedom. Since we welcome any child God is willing to entrust us with, there are no worries about getting pregnant. We just enjoy our love for one another and welcome "the fruits of our passion", as my husband so sweetly puts it! ;-)  And this is coming from a woman who begins ovulating again 2-6 month after each baby, despite nursing around the clock.  Only God could make me this crazy!  (I mean this in a good way!) : )

Since then, we've had babies six, seven, eight, and nine, with morning sickness lasting from four to six months.  We've had some scares along the way, and moments of questioning our view.  We're human and raising nine children is hard sometimes.  But once we step back and remember where God has brought us, our spirit is renewed and we're reminded of His faithfulness.

If you know me, you know that I am NO supermom. I struggle daily just like every other mom does. I have days when I want to string these little blessings up by their toes or run away to a tropical island. But this I know....God is faithful, God has provided for our every need and then some, God has helped me not to fear morning sickness....too much, and God has freed me from the worldview ideals I held all those years ago. There's nothing I'd rather be doing than raising and growing our heritage.

I understand that this is not every one's conviction or desire.  This is simply our story, which we hope will encourage anyone who may be on the fence in this area.  If you've adopted a worldview of limiting children for reasons contrary to Scripture, I challenge you (and your spouse) to pray about it and ask God what He would have you do in this area of your life, trusting He will lead you. 

Blessings,
Candace

Pregnancy Update

Pregnancy Update

Well, I've hit the nine week mark now and if morning sickness is ANY indication of a healthy pregnancy, than I can assure you......this baby is HEALTHY!!!! This pregnancy has already been more difficult and challenging than the last one, but God has been faithful to get me through each day......even when each day feels twice as long!

My mind is all over the map. One moment I'm thanking God for this new blessing in our family and the next I'm wondering why we keep doing this! ;-) I can think of so many things I'd rather be going through than enduring nausea daily. I'd rather go through natural labor ten times IN A ROW that feel nauseated. I'd rather have a broken leg.......I'd rather have my wisdoms surgically removed again.......I'd rather go to the dentist......I think you get the point. Nausea is the worst part of pregnancy. It's not that I don't want to be pregnant........on the contrary......I love being pregnant.....just not the first four to five months. But as I'm reminded daily, when this is all over, I'll have received a blessing that makes hugging my garbage can all worth it!

Okay, enough complaining......now the good stuff! It's amazing to see God at work in our lives! Just when I think God has forsaken me and I'm doomed to a life of throwing up, He reminds me that He's right here beside me and that He cares for me. Whether it's a moment of feeling good, a meal brought by a friend, prayers, or a phone call from a fellow sicky, He reminds me of His love and His faithfulness.

So, I'll leave you with a sweet quote I stumbled upon:

Before you were conceived I wanted you
Before you were born I loved you
Before you were here an hour I would die for you
This is the miracle of Mother's Love.-- Maureen Hawkins

For Moms

What you do in your house is worth as much as if you did it up in heaven for our Lord God. We should accustom ourselves to think of our position and work as sacred and well-pleasing to God, not on account of the position and work, but on account of the word and faith from which the obedience and the work flow. —Martin Luther
You gotta love Martin Luther! This was especially encouraging to me today as I struggled to accomplish many things while feeling so sick! I hope it's an encouragement to you as well, sick or not! ;-)