7 weeks PG and all potato diet

[AmpleSwan]

Ugh mumsnet please help me feel better. I'm 7 weeks pregnant with my first and in the last few days the morning sickness (which should be renamed as all-day sickness) has become awful. I have a fridge full of spinach, and low-mercury oily fish, and organic vegetable stews I've batched cooked, and even fucking algae smoothies, all of which were going to guarantee my child a place at Oxbridge. They are all rotting and the only thing I can both get and keep down is potato, mashed, baked, air fried.

Please pile on in and reassure me that 1) It's not a sign of immense personal weakness to be sinking into a potato bog, 2) my child will draw all nutrition needed from my good intentions and 3) that the nausea will pass.

Absolutely fine! Potatoes are actually really good for you, especially if you eat the skin.
I lived off potatoes (and orange Lucozade) when pregnant with DS. He's now 11 and a sports superstar with a serious interest in History.

I survived on chips, scotch pies and cheese and coleslaw sandwiches washed down with Irn Bru for weeks with both my pregnancies, they were both fine. Just eat what you can.

Just eat what you can, OP. Potatoes are pretty healthy.

And enjoy this very early lesson that all the best laid parenting plans can go awry!

If you can any keep food down, that is an excellent sign. If you are actually being sick (hyperemesis) that is serious and you should go to A&E without delay.

For many of us, the sickness phase passed in a few weeks. I couldn't stomach the pg vitamins so gave them up. My DM was horrified! I ate a lot of cream cheese and apples with both DDs. They are fine.

Also, you may discover that your nausea has a 'rhythmn' and that you can eat normally at certain times.

Potatoes with some butter or milk actually contain a lot of nutrients, it’s probably better than only eating rice or pasta

Thank you all! I'm glad I'm not the only one who's best laid plans went out the window!

Now I want some mashed potato.

Potatoes are one of the best rounded things to eat in terms of minerals and vitamins!! What helped me was eating before I even felt hungry because the hunger very quickly turned to nausea.

It could be worse, I had awful morning sickness and anaemia through a big part of my pregnancy and had massive cravings for raw potatoes which I’d peel and eat like an apple.

Riddle me this, why can I not face a single bite of the lovely healthy meals I normally love but managed half a portion of Tesco's Finest Dauphinnoise potatos nicked from DH last night. It was greasy and garlicky and the opposite of bland. Is this psychological? Could my Irish heritage be contributing to this tatty mania?

Eat what you want, it will be fine. I had about a month only eating bread and butter and rocket ice lollies and me and baby were perfectly fine.

If you are actually being sick (hyperemesis) that is serious and you should go to A&E without delay.

Hyperemesis is repeated vomiting, and not being able to keep any food down. Not the occasional being sick.

Well not quite, they’re nutritionally poor… a steak or an egg have fully rounded nutrition.

Eat what you can when you can.

Actually, a diet of potatoes with milk/butter and occasional porridge would give you pretty much all the nutrients you need.

www.bbc.co.uk/future/article/20170224-what-food-would-keep-you-alive-the-longest

I was the same with my first pregnancy,
it’s awful!
I lived on beige for the first 12 weeks.
It does get better though, it won’t harm your baby at all and you just need to do what you need to to get through it.
My DD is 14 now and very healthy and doing amazingly at school!

Don't panic, you'll both be fine, especially if you are already well nourished and have had a good diet until this point. Don't struggle on if you are really nauseous though, there are medications to help.

I was never sick when I was pregnant, but I had constant low level nausea that got worse if I let myself get hungry. I ate a lot of salt and vinegar crisps and Haribo. I had a weird phase with my first when I got full very quickly around 16 weeks. For a few weeks I could only eat half of my dinner.

Have you tried eating some gingernut biscuits, OP. They help some people.

Promise it’s fine to just eat what you can. The sickness does stop/reduce… It’s miserable but worth it!

You will also be learning that "morning" sickness is a misnomer. It can strike at any/all time of day!

Try using chips to scoop up mashed potato

Another one who was mad for the spud in early pregnancy. The only other food I could face was the occasional Burger King burger - just the meat patty though, nothing else. It had to be BK, no other fast food outlet allowed. Weird.

Add some crisps in and you’ll be golden.

Prior to pregnancy I was pretty healthy. When the nausea hit I really couldn’t stomach anything green or fish. I lived on salt and vinegar crisps for a while.

The first post made me laugh, I loved lucozade too. Lucozade sport though! Had to ration myself to 1 per day. Potatoes of any kind, all beige food and the cheapest nastiest white bread I could get saw me through to nearly 42 weeks. Can’t comment fully as DD is only 10m but she’s hitting all her milestones on time or early. You’ll be fine, do what you can to survive!

This brought back memories! White carbs, ready made omelettes (the kind that are made with powdered egg🤢) and service station lollies got me through my pregnancies. I was normally a veggie, lentil weaving type. Rest assured my kids have grown up OK and 2 have actually made it to uni... Not Oxford though, maybe I should have laid off the lollies.

I was exactly the same. Usually very healthy, vegetarian diet. I wasn’t actually ever sick, but all I could face was beige. Quorn nuggets, mash, chips and white bread featured heavily. Beans if I were feeling fancy. It did fade after 12 weeks!