The Humbled Homemaker: 5 Simple Tips for Combating Morning Sickness {A Natural Phenomenon}

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I have to admit that I feel a little inadequate writing this post on combating morning sickness. Out of my 3 pregnancies, I've only battled morning sickness one time--in my current pregnancy. (Don't hate me!)

One misconception about morning sickness is that it is only in the morning--and that it ends like clockwork as soon as you begin the second trimester. Every woman is different. My "morning" sickness actually lasted until about 16 or 17 weeks (although it did weaken in the 2nd trimester) and would start in the afternoon and go into the night.

Not all women with morning sickness even throw up. I never did (again, don't hate me...I have had TWO stomach viruses during this pregnancy!). Anything from a queasy stomach to severe vomiting can be classified as morning sickness.

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The following 5 simple tips are very basic. These are mainly what worked for me. They may or may not work for you. If nothing at all works and your morning sickness does not seem to let up at all as your pregnancy progresses (and you are vehemently vomiting several times per day), you may want to talk to your doctor/midwife about Hyperemesis Gravidarum.

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Without further ado, here are my 5 very humble, very simple tips for combating morning sickness:

1. Eat upon waking and eat small meals throughout the day (if you are able). My friend Stacy went through a period where all she could consume was Sprite! I actually stayed quite hungry during my morning sickness, but I could only eat so much at a time without feeling queasy. A lot of people like to stick to very bland crackers, rice, bananas, etc.

2. Avoid your food aversions at all costs. I will tout the benefits of consuming broths all day long, but I simply cannot make or really even consume them this pregnancy. I finally gave up cooking whole chickens and making broth/stock around 17 weeks--after throwing out an entire chicken and gagging every time I had to enter the kitchen. Remember this is only a season, and you will be able to consume your favorite foods again!

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3. Drink a ginger tea. Now, I'm sure the best ginger tea is one with freshly-grated ginger that you make yourself, but I know that even the most basic cooking tasks can sometimes be difficult during those first few months of pregnancy! I drank the Yogi brand ginger tea, and I recently discovered Earth Mama, Angel Baby's Morning Wellness Tea. You can get both of these at Vitacost* or iherb*. You can also order the Earth Mama, Angel Baby tea directly from their website.

4. Suck on ginger candies. This was honestly not my most favorite remedy. I much preferred the tea--but it could have been just the type of candy I had. I purchased an unknown brand from the bulk foods section of my local healthfood store. I also found several different brands on both the Vitacost and iherb websites. It might be worth a try if you cannot find them locally!

5. Change your vitamins. Some real foodies don't worry about taking prenatal vitamins. They figure that as long as they are eating well, their diets will give them plenty of what they need. I agree...BUT, the problem is that many of us with morning sickness simply do not eat well. So, I still take a vitamin.

However, about halfway through my bout with morning sickness, I realized that my prenatal vitamins were making me feel even more nauseated. I frequently took them in the late afternoon or evening, and that is when I felt the worst! When I ran out of my vitamins and took my daughter's vitamins in the meantime, I started feeling better! When I re-stocked, my morning sickness came back! I spoke to my midwife, and she said I could double up on the children's vitamins. I did this and felt much better--although I had to take one vitamin in the morning and one at night. If I took my full dose at one time, I still felt just as ill.

I am now taking the Vitacost brand Omega 3 with Folic Acid as well as 4 capsules of the Vitacost brand 42 Fruits and Veggies supplement.

Honorable Mentions:

Trilight Health's Morning Soothe liquid herbal formula. Since I did not start using any of Trilight's formulas until after I was over morning sickness, I cannot vouch for this particular formula, but I do use and love some of their other pregnancy formulas. I would definitely give this one a try if the morning sickness were to return!
Ginger Wonder Syrup, New Chapter Daily Ginger Extract. Again, I have not personally used these formulas, but I found them on iherb.com. If nothing else works, I would definitely give these a try!

What are your tips for combating morning sickness?

*I have mentioned both Vitacost and iherb several times in this post. I am not an affiliate of these companies, but I do have a referral code that, if used, will give both of us coupons. Vitacost's first-time customer coupon is worth $10, and iherb's is worth $5. If you are interested in any of the products I mentioned, I would personally just price compare at both companies--and go with where you can get the best deal! You can get your $10 off Vitacost coupon here, and you can get $5 off your first iherb order by using code: OZU663.

Want to check out another great post on morning sickness? Lauren from Serving from Home is running a 5-day healthy pregnancy series right now! Check out her post from Monday on The Morning Sickness Phenomenon!