First of all, who are they kidding when they say “morning sickness?” For me it was all day, every day, all night, and every night sickness for a few weeks. We all experience different levels of nausea in the first trimester, ranging from none, to queasy, to full on revisiting each meal every single day for weeks. I had nausea. Plain old sickening nausea without the tossing of my meals, well, most of the time; I did have several sporadic days of throwing up, but mostly it was just the persistent, nagging nausea that really got me. I would say that I’d rather of been throwing up, because at least then I’d feel better for a while, but those who tell me they do nothing but throw up would give anything to just be nauseated without the vomiting.
So whatever you are struggling with, either way it is no fun. Also, if you lose weight during the first trimester (let’s be frank, it isn’t disappointing to see the pounds disappear from the scale), don’t worry about it. Those pounds will be back in a jiffy, and you eat properly, you’ll only be putting on nutrient-rich weight that will support your growing baby and come off easily after you deliver. That’s what we all want, right?
I lost about 7 lbs. during my first trimester, and then literally started putting weight back on around week 14. My doctor said that was perfectly normal, and fine. So don’t stress out too much.
If you’re like me, you tried every solution available for nausea. Drinking ginger ale, sucking on a lemon wedge, those Preggie Pops, the ginger candies, the B-Natal vitamins, dry toast or crackers, and nothing worked, right?
Physical causes of morning sickness are hard to pinpoint, but are more than likely a combination of your body getting used to brand new hormones (hCG first, then other new ones as pregnancy progresses) and the initial imbalances that this causes, coupled with a heightened sensitivity to odors, tastes, and a general feeling of “oh my goodness, I’m pregnant, what is happening to my body…”
Some of you lucky girls out there won’t experience a lick of nausea or vomiting, and lucky you! Your body is adjusting well to the new hormones. For the rest of us, let me share with you what ended up being the only “solution” for me, and one I’ve continued to use throughout my pregnancy.
This is the smoothie that saved my life in the first trimester. It was just about the only thing that I could keep down on the days I was really sick, and helped ease the nausea on the rest of the days. It gave me the comfort that my growing baby was getting all the nutrients that she needed despite my nauseated state. I got on the phone through a friend-referral with Jason & Nandi at Dine Alkaline, http://www.dinealkaline.com/ and was given a ton of information on alkaline living and dining. If you go to their website you can sign up for their smoothie report, but I’m also positing the link here at the bottom of this blog.
You can take it from there and do more research etc. as you want, if you want, or if you’re like me, take this smoothie recipe and run with it, it works! I’m living proof. Not only that but it falls right into our goal of having a fat-free pregnancy.
Implementing this smoothie into your daily diet (drinking it throughout the day) will ensure that you don’t have unhealthy cravings or binges on less than desirable foods. Now that’s not to say that just because you have 8oz of smoothie you’re not going to want to eat half a bag of Baked Lay’s in Southwestern BBQ flavor, as I’ve done more than once. BUT, it does help curb those cravings, and helps you choose more desirable foods to “binge” on, I think. Most of all, it kept me alive, well-hydrated and nausea at bay during that first trimester, and beyond. I drink this smoothie daily, although with several of my own variations, and now adding in more of the superfoods I mentioned in my superfood blog entry.
In this smoothie report, there are many recipes, and they all taste pretty good; each are a variation in one way or another, but here are the core ingredients, and you basically alter the flavor of the smoothie depending on which fruit you add.
You can add mango, banana, guava, berries, kiwi, pears, apples etc., whatever sounds good to you on that day. Some days I added some raw, grated ginger root, and that was really helpful. Other days the idea of ginger root was unbearable.
And as I mentioned, I add in superfoods as well. I make a huge blender full of this smoothie, keep it in my fridge and drink it throughout the day, especially a half hour or hour before I was going to eat a regular meal. This really helped. Here is the basic recipe, just give it a try; even though the sound of the ingredients may make your stomach church, it actually tastes pretty good:
Recipe: Super Green Alkalizing Smoothie
1 Organic Avocado
1 Organic English Cucumber (these are seedless) or Regular Cucumber (Peeled If Waxed)
2-3 Cups Baby Spinach
1 Cup Almond Milk (I buy the brand, Almond Breeze Unsweetened Vanilla, with only 40 calories per serving, and you can buy it COLD in your dairy section; Silk Almond Milk is another fantastic one)
1 Cup Fresh Organic Mango, Pear, Guava, Apple, Banana (fruit of your choice; add as much as you need to make it taste the way you want)
1 Dropperful Organic Green Leaf Stevia (to taste, only if free of imbalance and absolutely necessary; ) (see my blog on stevia)
1-2 tsp Super Greens Powder (of your choice; I have to avoid many due to the flax seed which I am sensitive too... but will use it in a jam)
1 Tlbs Hemp Seed or Flax Seed Powder (I prefer the Living Harvest Hemp Protein Powder)
1 T Udo’s Oil or Raw Coconut Oil (I use coconut oil, I think it gives the smoothie a tropical taste)
Several Mint Leaves (a cup or more really eases nausea)
1 Organic Lemon, peeled and seeded (you can also buy fresh lemon juice; this was key in nausea control for me)
Up to 2 Cups of Ice cubes... whatever your blender can hold!
Blend till smooth and drink. Enjoy!
Here is the link for the full smoothie report, and other variations of the recipe:
http://www.dinealkaline.com/freereport/smoothie.pdf
I hope this works for you as it did for me… keep experimenting with it until you figure out a way it works for you. Try not to omit the spinach, cucumber and avocado, as these are very water-rich ingredients that are going to keep you hydrated which is key in controlling nausea and when you’re vomiting.
Regarding the Addition of Superfoods:
As you are able to tolerate the smoothie, begin adding in superfoods. I mix up what superfoods I put in, depending on the smoothie or my mood that day, but I always add approximately 1 tsp of Spirulina Powder though, a Tbsp of Local Organic Bee Pollen, 1 Scoop Raw Maca Powder, a few drops of Marine Phytoplankton and maybe a few Goji Berries. Between sips of smoothie I take a shot or two of Aloe Vera Gel, or gut a leaf from my plant and eat the gel. Again, this is 'hard core' so you may want to wait until the next trimester to start adding in some of these superfoods.
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