5 Things to do to Combat First Trimester Nausea

The first-trimester pregnancy nausea is a pain, and quite frankly, just annoying.

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After about the sixth week it just sets in like a little-personalized rain cloud ready to hover over you for a good couple months… (at least! For some women, it’s even longer!) You just want it to lift off you, give you a break for just a day so you can do the things YOU like to do. (Or NEED to do!)

And you know what I’m realizing this second time round of being pregnant? Pregnancy prepares you for The. Baby.

Think about it, the constant presence of nausea is replaced by the constant presence of sleep deprivation. The waves of nausea prepare you for when you have waves of contractions during labor. The constant hunger prepares you for a constantly hungry infant. The list goes on.

5 Things I Wish I Knew the First Time I was Pregnant to Combat the Nausea!

#1 Always Hungry? Eat More Protein.

I know, we crrrave the carbs. The cinnamon rolls, the bagels, the irresistible pizza… I’m gonna stop there cause I’m starting to drool.

But have you ever felt like those carbs don’t sustain you for long enough? That you become bogged down and need more carbs as a “pick-me-up”? Try toning down the carbs and increasing your protein intake. I try to track my food with MyFitnessPal and get at LEAST 75g of protein each day. (On my best days I get 100g)

I know, I know, protein foods like eggs and chicken can make you gag so you don’t want to eat them! That’s ok! There are so many other protein alternatives out there, see these recipes on Greatist.com for some ideas of mouth-watering eats and meal prep for when baby gets here!

#2 Nauseous? Take those Vitamins on time, every time.

This has been my biggest change with my second pregnancy compared to the first. This, and now I chase around a toddler all day. All that I knew with my first pregnancy was to take my prenatal vitamins, nothing more.

Until I finally found my midwife who was the right match for me in my third trimester and she sent me out with an extensive list of vitamins to take WITH my prenatal. But it was still a little late in the pregnancy for those vitamins to have helped much… I wasn’t the healthiest eater and my edema had gotten to a scary extreme.

Luckily, everything turned out and we had a safe home birth in the end, but I vowed to take all the vitamins prescribed to me by my midwife my entire pregnancy the second time around!

I’ve held up to that vow, and if I take all these vitamins every day my nausea is half of what it was my first pregnancy! Here is a link to each vitamin on Amazon: Vitamin D3, Vitamin B6, Floradix Liquid Iron, Raw Prenatal, Vitamin C, and Nordic Naturals DHA (Take note that these brands are the best quality, no two vitamin companies are the same, and some have more fillers than others)

Vitamin D and the Liquid Iron were the biggest game changers… If you are looking for just a few more and not the extensive list, just choose those two.

#3 Still Nauseated? Sleep.

This one is easy. Just sleep. You need it and you will miss it when the baby comes.

Especially don’t be afraid to go to bed earlier than your usual bedtime! I get sicker at night than in the morning so this is a perfect cue for my body of when I need to get in my jammies and go to bed.

If you have a hard time going to bed or settling down in the evening, try drinking Magnesium or take a Lavender Epsom Salt Bath for your nightly routine to relax and unwind from the crazy day.

#4 Dizzy or Sleeplessness? Put down the phone, turn off the T.V.

Now, what if you can’t sleep?

I have a love-hate relationship with this rule, cause all I want to do when I’m sick is watch movies or Netflix all day and hang out on social media comparing my miserable state with everyone’s perfect life.

I also like to write for this blog, and looking at the computer screen for more than 20 minutes gives me a headache and waves of nausea.

So I say to follow tip #3, you need to schedule a social media cleanse and put the binging on pause for a little while so #4 doesn’t get in the way of #3. You follow me? 😉

Take up new hobbies, if the weather is nice to schedule time outside and walks, cook some new meals, learn the ukelele, the list is endless! Check out my post here for some projects you can order on Amazon to keep you busy!

#5 Tired even after naps and a full night sleep? Step Outside.

Though you’ll be taking your Vitamin D every day, like in tip #2, you may still need some raw sunlight and fresh air to keep your head from spinning.

We just returned from a camping trip where I spent the majority of my time in a camp chair or hammock, feeling the most perfect breeze at 75 degrees and surrounded by the smell of pine trees. It is honestly the best I’ve felt this pregnancy!

The truth is, our bodies are ULTRA sensitive right now, being pregnant and all. Hormones are brewing, tummies are turning, and things are moving around and making space in the most awkward ways. So we need to listen to the cues our nausea is sending us.

There are many ways to combat nausea, I’ve tried the wristbands which worked pretty well, ginger candies, regular candies, eating saltines constantly, taking pills, the list goes on… but nothing has been greater than stepping outside or letting more natural light in our home during pregnancy.

Now it the time to be the crunchy mama you see in movies or when you hear about Ina May. If there is no other time in your life that you are in tune with your body but now, do it now. With full force as this baby grows inside you. You will not regret it.

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