8 weeks pregnant nauseous and exhausted any advice?

Jennifer - posted on 05/29/2012

Oh, poor you! I felt the same way for the first 3.5 months. My doc said to eat whatever I could and to drink the syrup (light) from fruit cups to help settle my stomach, even if I couldn't eat the fruit. Hang in there!

Patti - posted on 05/22/2012

I am now 46 but remember that I could not take the normal prenatal vitamins or iron supplements without food...that in itself will make you feel sick. Try ginger ale. It's caffeine free and it really helped me. You have to eat some type of food or you can't take those supplements! Pretzels and salty snacks were my faves the first 3 months of my twin pregnancy. Hope that helps!

Elizabeth - posted on 05/16/2012

you can also make ginger tea, just grate some fresh ginger root on the tiny holes on a regular grater or use a parmesan cheese type grater and pour boiling water over it, or use a tea ball to steep it if you're not interested in having the bits of ginger make their way into your mouth.That way you're not taking in any extra sugar like you would be if you had ginger ale or ginger snaps.

I had terrible all day nausea with both of my pregnancies but much worse with the first one. I had a hard time keeping anything down for the first few months then. I found that eating small amounts of bland food were the best way for me to keep from throwing up. Hope you feel better soon.

Cory - posted on 05/14/2012

Try Psi Bands for your nausea ! They are plastic pressure bracelets that really help! Also they are water proof so you don't have to take them off ( like the fabric motion sickness ones) you can find them online or at drugstore.com. I used them with my last pregnancy and they were a life saver. Hope you feel better soon : )

Lora - posted on 05/14/2012

When I had my first child I had terrible all day "morning sickness". My OB/GYN, who was pregnant at the same time recommended having a protein snack like crackers with a little peanut butter or cheese. Ginger Ale is another good idea, just be careful not to drink too much as too much ginger isn't good for you or the baby. It is very important that you take the pre-natal vitamins and iron, especially since you are anemic. Iron is important in the production of red blood cells and helping the blood to clot correctly. Both you and the baby need that right now. Good luck with your pregnancy!

Katherine - posted on 05/13/2012

Ginger is supposed to be very good for nausea, and it helped me during my pregnancies. I would buy real ginger ale and ginger snaps. I also took my prenatal vitamin before I went to bed, and I kept saltine crackers by the bed. I felt worse if I got up on an empty stomach, so if I woke up hungry, I didn't wait until I made it to the kitchen. I ate a handful of crackers (washed down with ginger ale) before I moved! Hope this helps!

MamaTo2 - posted on 05/12/2012

Try taking your vitamin before bed. That works for some people, if you can sleep through the nausea. I did that through my first pregnancy because I had all-day "morning" sickness. Also I found that I felt worse lying down or sitting for long periods of time. I did best if I kept moving. Some people do best lying down. So if possible, trying changing up your routine and activities a little to see what works best for you. Sometimes the nausea is triggered just by smell or taste, so if all you can handle is fruit try making smoothies and see if you can stomach some hidden ingredients with other nutrients. Spinach is a great one. The taste is completely masked by the fruit. Also, ground flax seed is a great addition in smoothies! Google could be your best friend here for fruity recipes highlighting different vitamins and nutrients! :) I would st be wary of recipes with much sugar in them if all or mostly what you're able to eat is fruit, because of all the natural sugars already there. But you can substitute sugar with honey or other healthier natural "sweets." Hope this is short lived and you feel better soon!

Rachael - posted on 05/12/2012

yes you can actually take your prenatal vitamin even if you are eating asolutely nothing. when i was pregnant i threw up everything and so i basically stopped eating for the 1st trimester and i was told to take the prenatal vitamin to make up for what i wasn;t getting in food. try and eat some salt crackers, suck on mints, and eat salty food cuz that can help

Karen - posted on 05/12/2012

Good luck! Hope you start feeling better soon. It gets so much better in the 2nd trimester. :o)

ROSANA - posted on 05/12/2012

Thanks to everyone for your advice! I really appreciate it! :) I will try to follow you advice!

Sarah - posted on 05/12/2012

I found if I broke my prenatal in 1/2 and took half in the morning and half at night with a snack it wasn't as upsetting to my tummy. Personally I think that Hollywood stereotype of morning sickness being vomiting only does women a huge disservice. With my first, I vomited a few times, not much, and had mild nausea for about a month (weeks 8-12). With my second, I was sick from about week 7-15 and although I vomited more (probably 1-2/day), the nausea was CONSTANT. It was the worst feeling because unlike when you're sick and you vomit you feel better, this does not happen with pregnancy sickness, it's just constant. It's horrible, but you will get through it. Most women's morning sickness is gone by 12 weeks (so that's just a month away!). The first trimester can be so hard on your body, but try to look forward to the second trimester, so many fun things happen then (kicking, ultrasounds, belly pops, etc.). I always LOVED my second trimester, you get energy again and feel great! If you can eat fruit, that's great, eat away! You may want to try a dry carbohydrate such as soda crackers, dry toast. Many women find them great for staving off the sickness. I also found with me if I always had something in my tummy it was better. Usually I felt more sick when my stomach was empty. I pretty much constantly snacked. I didn't gain a ton of weight either by doing this, 27lbs in my first pregnancy (a lot of it was fluid, I had high BP and lots of fluid retention) and 2 lbs in my second pregnancy (I lost 12lbs in my first trimester from the vomiting, then had trouble putting it back on).

Karen - posted on 05/12/2012

When I was pregnant I would become nauseous if I didn't eat in time. So I started eating something small like crackers or toast shortly after I woke up to stave it off.

Kimberly - posted on 05/11/2012

I know exactly how you feel!!! I was the same for my first pregnancy and actually worse now with my second!!! I used to still take my vitamins as I needed to keep my iron up. If your already anmic they can help with the tiredness. I used to be able to eat fruit and just plain dry crackers and drink plenty of water seemed to help and at least that way if you do throw up the water helps!! It will hopefully stop by 13 weeks or at least seem not so bad. Also when you do feel better try to have a health meal like salad and a serve of meat as this will help up your iron. Good luck with it all

Elfrieda - posted on 05/11/2012

No, I can see why you're concerned if you tend to be anemic. The only bad side effect from the iron supplement is a stomachache, right? (at least it was for me) So you could just go for it and see what happens.

Or, something that worked for my first pregnancy is to eat a few salt and vinegar chips before you sit down for a meal, that way it sort of settles your stomach enough to get down a few more bites than you would otherwise be able to eat.

If you start actually throwing up, keep lemons around. I find smelling a freshly cut lemon helps with the nausea tremendously. And nap as much as you can! And go outside for fresh air. I think this time around my morning sickness wasn't quite as bad because my toddler was constantly dragging me outside to play.

I guess you live in the States. I live in Ontario (Canada) and here you stick with your family doctor until 7 or 8 months when you transfer to an obstetrician. Unless you get lucky enough to get in with the midwives (they have waiting lists), and I did squeak in at 7 months last pregnancy which guarantees me an immediate placement for any future pregnancies. Here it's all regulated, all the midwives have to have the same certification, etc. I understand it's not like that everywhere. I much prefer the midwives, they're more personable and sort of put the responsibility on me for my care and just give me the information I need to do it, sort of thing. Not that I don't like my doctor, actually getting pregnant is what scored me a doctor in the first place! After finally finding a family doctor, we'd moved cities, and I'd called everywhere but they weren't taking new patients. But just mention I'm 7 weeks pregnant, and zoom, I'm accepted into a practice and my husband too! Don't know if you wanted THAT much information, but anyway, no one was forcing you to read it! :)

ROSANA - posted on 05/11/2012

Thanks for the support Elfrieda. I guess I forgot to mention I am a little bit anemic so that's why I am a little bit worried. Why did you decide to have a midwife instead of Ob-gyn doctor? I still haven't been to my first visit. My husband changed jobs and his insurance will start covering me till July.

Elfrieda - posted on 05/11/2012

Aw, poor you. I'm just over the morning sickness myself. Just eat what you can and don't worry about the rest. For myself, I was never physically able to take the prenatal vitamins during the first trimester, and the midwife said that was fine. She told me "just survive the first trimester and we'll worry about nutrition when you're feeling better".