Eating for Two Despite Morning Sickness

Posted on Dec 18, 2012 | Articles, Treating Morning Sickness Category | | Print This Article

 

 

When you first let everyone in on the good news, you’re bound to get lots of advice. One old adage that you’re going to hear over and over is, “You’re eating for two now.”

So, how do you go about eating for two when you’re dealing with morning sickness, which, by the way, doesn’t always bother to confine itself to mornings? Here are a few of the best tips for eating while you’re going through morning sickness:

• Start your meal by nibbling saltines, ginger snaps, potato chips, or other foods which settle your stomach. Often, you can avoid the mad dash to the bathroom if you start out with something that settles your tummy before launching into a regular meal.
• Eat often, in small doses. No need to eat everything you and the baby need at one sitting. By eating several small meals and snacks, you’re more likely to keep most of it down. Try not to skip meals.
• Take in fluids before and after you eat. A glass of water or ginger ale half an hour before and after you eat can help quell nausea. Make sure you drink plenty of fluids over the course of the day, but avoid drinking with your meal, as this can actually trigger morning sickness.
• Resist the urge to lie down after eating. You need plenty of rest when you’re pregnant, but give your food at least half an hour to settle before you lie down. Otherwise, you probably won’t be lying down for long.
• Eat bland foods. You can always go back to eating triple cheese chili burritos in the second trimester when morning sickness is past and you’re developing weird cravings anyway. For now, avoid spicy foods and stick with bland food which sets easier on the tummy.
• Avoid trigger foods. Every pregnancy is different. If a food (or even a smell) makes you nauseous, stay away from it.

Morning sickness calls for lots of changes to our daily routines, but it doesn’t usually last very long. For most pregnancies, morning sickness stops towards the end of the first trimester or beginning of the second.

Morning sickness is actually a sign of a healthy pregnancy and is usually nothing to worry about. If your symptoms become severe, contact your doctor. Severe morning sickness symptoms which should be brought to your doctor’s attention include pain while vomiting, inability to hold any food down for more than a day, weight loss, and inability to hold down fluids.

   Top of Page