Tips & Tricks

Here is a list for those in the throes. These are things that were either helpful for me or I've heard testimony about (and I will continue to add to this list). Again, do your own research. This is not medical advice, but this is how I survived. Feel free to comment with any tips and tricks that were helpful to you. I remember being sick and just getting angry at anyone who offered advice because I've already tried everything!! But I've learned a little more each time. And sometimes the quirkiest little thing can make a big difference.

~ Drink highly alkaline water (Kangen water, Gerolsteiner bottled water)
~ Drink a large amount of room temp water before getting out of bed - this helped me start my day hydrated and I never threw this up.
~ Drinking through a straw eliminated excess air intake while taking in fluids
~ Adding fresh squeezed lemons to my water
~ Do not eat and drink at the same time
~ Focus on hydration vs food in the first trimester and in the mornings. The dehydration cycle is a major factor in the continued vomiting. In the first trimester baby has its own yolk sac and doesn't use any of your calories, only your already stored nutrients. If nothing else, this dramatically eased my own psychological anguish over the fear of starving my baby. Instead, I just focused on staying hydrated. Sometimes I wouldn't eat until 1 pm, when I could finally hold food down.
~ Lay semi-reclined on the left side when feeling nauseous
~ Lemon essential oil dabbed on the back of my tongue instantly quelled my urge to vomit
~ Eat small amounts of food. If you only keep one bite down. GREAT! In the second trimester baby still only uses a few of your caloric intake a day.
~ Bold flavors. Bland flavors would make me hurl.
~ Unisom tablet started the day nausea began. One half tablet in the morning, one half tablet before bed, with 50 mg B6. (Diclegis is now available, which is essentially the same thing)
~ Wild Yam Root tincture. This stuff tastes terrible, but I never threw it up, so it must have helped somehow.
~ Milk Thistle to aid the liver. 280 mg
~ Acupuncture with moxibustion - this dramatically decreased my nausea and increased my energy for a full week at a time. Though I did not begin this until 2nd trimester, supposedly it is even more effective when started in the 1st trimester.
~ Sea bands - which is basically acupressure
~ Epsom salt baths and Magnesium Oil topically multiple times a week

Other testimony:
~ Ginger pills - 3-5 taken before getting out of bed, resting until nausea subsides, then 3-5 capsules as nausea comes
~ Vit B complex
~ Broth