(I wrote this two years ago when I was pregnant with my third child)

To all my pregnant sistas out there who are sick as dogs, I say TO YOU, “IT WILL GET BETTER!”

You are laying in bed, near a bowl/toilet, or just feeling green and thinking “shut up lady…”

That is okay, cuz I am here to help you out.  I know how it is!  I am not one of those idiots who says, (in my annoying know-it-all-whiney-voice) “Oh, I just would get up and do what needed to still be done.”  GOOD FOR YOU! SHUT YOUR MOUTH LADY!  I Have been laying in the fetal position puking my guts out for 5 months now.  I am now to a point where I barely even have the will to live!  GET OUTTA MY FACE!  WHOA there Lynnie….calm down…. hahaha….. Don’t tell me you don’t feel that way about some people and their “advice” HA!  Some women….

Well, if you are feeling sick like I was,  here are a few helpful tips I would like to share with you.  I hope at least one of them helps!! I lost 15 pounds in the first 3 months with my first child and lost 11 pounds from 2-5 months of my 3 third pregnancy.  And, yes, both times I took prescribed meds from my baby Doctor.   They helped a little, but I am just one of those people that will keep throwing up…stinky.

One of my awesome friends came over one day with grocery bags full of food and tricks that helped her AND she had another awesome friend in-tow with cleaning supplies.  They shared some laughs with me, shared tips that helped them cope with sickness during pregnancy, then put me on the couch while they cleaned my whole nasty house.

HAVE A FRIEND OR TWO LIKE THIS!  They are rare and I am not sure how I got so lucky.  But, I am forever grateful for these two ladies- still makes me cry.  Life savers!

So, here are some of the tips that go beyond the BRAT diet (Bananas, rice, apples, and toast) or the pills from the doc.  These are tips my friend shared with me and some of my own tricks I have discovered over the years while popping out kids. 😉

TIPS AND TRICKS TO SURVIVING MORNING/ALL DAY AND NIGHT SICKNESS

1. Lime slushy drinks.  Saved my life!  I would put about 2 cups of ice in a blender, fill with water about 3/4 of the way up the ice, add 2 table spoons of lime concentrate, a little package of Stevia sweetener (a natural sweetener), and a squirt of a fresh lime if I had one.  Blend it all up and slowly suck with a straw.  Some days this was all I could handle.

2. Bean burritos.  Mostly I would have my husband make these.  Just a can of refried beans and a tortilla.  Occasionally I would ask for a tiny bit of cheese if I knew I could handle it that day.  He would heat up the beans then lay some in a tortilla on the stove, fold up, and brown on two sides.  It sounds nasty and might be hard to make your self.  But YOU NEED the protein.  Getting some protein in your body will help you to not feel so sick.

3. Oils- Peppermint oil and Frankincense oil.  These will not take away the nauseousness completely, but they will give you a few mins or more of relief.  I would dab these on my wrists, around my nose, jaw line, and temples.  I have also heard that rubbing lavender oil on your feet will help your sleep at night, maybe try that if you want.

4.  Lemon Popsicles.  These helped more toward the end of my sickness phase to help take the edge off.  Buy the most natural ones you can find with the least amount of sugar.

5. Pebble Ice.  Some days all you want to do it chew on ice and can only sip water slowly.  On these kinds of days have your hubs go grab a bag of pebble ice from the grocery store.  It is usually sold in the back by the butcher.  AGAIN- Might not want to go back there and see the raw meat.  Have someone pick that up for you.

6. Vitamin B Drops.  These are nasty, but they help a lot!  Put a few drops under your tongue and in a few short mins you will get a little bit of nausea relief.

7.  Vitamin B6 pills.  These will also help you with your energy and nausea.

8. COKE! I really don’t like Coke, but some days when I couldn’t keep even keep water down Coke always seemed to do the trick.  BE WISE ABOUT WHAT YOU PUT IN YOUR BODY!  Moderation my friends.

9.  A Baked Potato with just a tiny bit of butter and salt.  Not sure why, but this staple was another life saver.  It filled me up and I always kept it down.  Nice thing too is that IF you’re out and about, you can pick one of these up at Wendy’s for like a buck.

10.  REST! It can be really hard to sleep when you feel crappy or have little ones that need something in the middle of the night, breaking up your rest.  Explain to the hubs that you need more help at night so you can feel better and be a better mom during the day.   Also ask your doc what you can do.  Mine had to prescribe some meds to help me.  I could only take them ONCE a month, but at least I got one night that I actually slept.

11.  PHONE HOME!  Call your mom, a sister, or a friend and ask them to take your kids for an hour or a day or two or more 😉  A break will do you so much good mentally and physically.  And while they are there, JUST SLEEP!  Throw up, sleep, and watch stupid TV, and sleep, and read your scriptures, go for a walk, or just open a window to get fresh air. This brings me to #12

12.  Fresh Air.  With my first pregnancy, fresh air felt soo nice.  And this time, I was in my sick part of pregnancy in the middle of winter in Utah. I didn’t want to go outside much cuz it was freezing and I didn’t feel like moving AT ALL.  But, opening a window and breathing the cool air seemed to help a lot too.  Sometimes you just need a breath of fresh air.

13.  Ask for, and accept help.  I really hate asking for help and accepting it when people offer it.  But, accept the meals people bring over, and say yes when they offer.  It will give you or your hubs a break for one night.  Even if you are not eating the meal, your family will be happy to have something to eat (after months of you not being able to cook)    Sometimes it helped me to be able to eat if I didn’t have to cook the food or see or smell it being cooked.    Let people help you and your family.  It is a good thing.

14.  Phone a friend again.  This can be a mental game, this prego sickness stuff.  A game that can be draining on you and your family.  Call a friend to talk about things other than your sickness.  It can really boost you up even if you aren’t thinking it will help. Do it!

15. Have a good cry, then try to cheer-up. Laying in bed and throwing up for months on end can get really hard.  So it’s okay to cry.  But, be careful not to let your self get too down and out.  Talk to your doctor if you can’t seem to pull your self out of a funk.  You can get depressed during pregnancy and that doesn’t mean anything is wrong with you.  It only means you need a little extra help.  You are creating a child and that is a big job to do.  Don’t feel bad asking for help.

16. Take a bath!  Throw some epsom salt in the tub, dim the lights, watch a show on your phone, Ipad, nook, and relax.  You deserve it.  Take a big glass of ice water with you and don’t get too hot.  I used to lay down on my shower floor before I realized I was allowed to take a bath while pregnant.  Then I took like 30 baths haha… just relax your tired body.

17.  Anti-Nausea Bracelets(motion sickness).  These may or may not help you.  It is worth a try!  I have tried TONS of different things.  Some helped right away, some helped only once or twice, and some made things worse.  But, if you are sick like I was, you are willing to try anything that won’t harm you or your babe.

18.  Pay it forward.  Sometime when you are feeling better, or when your children are grown up a bit, help out a new mommy.  Take her a bag of groceries of tricks/food that helped you.  Or, take her family a meal.  Or!  Go clean her house- don’t give her a choice- just push your way in and do it.  She will hate it at the moment, but be forever changed and grateful later.  😉  Or! Go bring her a meal after her baby is born.  Go hold the baby and let her take a shower or a nap.  Fold her laundry.  Go on a walk together.  Invite her out and remind her to get out  Tell her you remember what it was like and that you are there for her.  Be the friend that you wish you had had when you where there in that stage of life.  I hope I am this kind of friend, but I am hoping to really spread the love and help when I get to another stage of life.

19.   Be married to an amazing husband. Or tell him to shape up!  Hahaha, you are taking a big one for the team here, I HOPE he is helping you get through it.  This is my most important tip.  My husband NEVER complained about making me food, cleaning up puke, (sometimes complained out helping out with kids while managing his company- but rarely) OR  running to the store for whatever it was I needed that day to help,  OR holding me when I sobbed on days that didn’t know if I could do it one more day.  I give huge props to my husband for going through this with me and comforting/cheering me on every step of the way.  I married a great guy.  Talk to your husband, be honest and nice.  You both have a lot on your plates and this is a beautiful baby you both helped to make- BE A TEAM.  A team that talks nice, is open, helpful, supportive, empathetic, grateful, cheer each other on, and above all -MADLY IN LOVE.  Your baby needs you and your man to be this kind of team from here on out.

Be careful and smart with your body and your baby.   And, take care of YOU mentally and physically.  Talk to other people about how sick you are feeling.  Talk to your doctor and ask for tips or medicine if you are at that point.  Be open with your spouse about all your feelings and pains.  Hopefully, he will support and console you.  If not, tell him he has to 😉  OR call his mama on him – lol.  I’ve never done that, probably won’t make things better… but it’s funny to joke about.  And remember!!  This too shall pass.  It may feel like it won’t, but try your best to remember it will.  I promise

One last thing, don’t worry about being crafty with your hands right now, unless you need something to do while laying in bed feeling like poo.  But, chances are you just need to lay there and not do a thing.   Don’t worry about a dang thing besides your handsome husband, beautiful kids, and the sweet baby you have growing inside of you.  Those are the ONLY things that matter.  And YOU are the only thing that matters to them.  YOU ARE LOVED AND DOING SOMETHING ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!  Try to enjoy this baby or look forward to the days to come when you can enjoy being pregnant and/or holding this precious baby.

UPDATE!

MEET MISS RUBY LOU

I had the babe! She was worth all the hard moments, hours, days, weeks, months  

Much love!- Lynn