Anyone out there who has/ had severe "morning sickness"? How did you cook for older children?

[beakysmum]

I am 34 weeks preg and have had morning sickness to some degree throughout the pregnancy. It is getting worse again towards the end and I am really struggling with hot foods.

I have a 5 year old and a 3 year old and am OK with providing cold lunches or beans / eggs on better days. For dinners I can do pasta with a baby sauce sachet and have been able to do microwave meals for kids, but recently even this makes me vomit.

I have asked my Mum for help (she lives 2 hours away) but she say it is "the sort of thing I just have to get on with".

DH doesn't get in from work until 6pm.

I just feel so aware I am not providing a good diet for the children, never mind me and I feel really upset about it.

Any ideas?

I am sure the DCs could live on sandwiches and fruit for 6 weeks if the worst came to the worst. It is summer and perfectly possible to give them a cold balanced diet although mat be less varied.

Is the MS worse in the evenings (my MS is dire then)if so, could you give the DCs a hot meal at lunchtime and cold meal for tea/supper.

I take it you have tried the usual anti MS tricks, eating regular small amounts, anti nausea bands, sipping small amounts of cold fizzy drinks/ice etc.

I had hyperemesis with both pregnancies. When I was pregnant with ds2, ds1 just ate whatever I could manage (he ate a lot of crisp, crackers and bananas). Don't worry about providing a "good" diet if you can't. What you've been giving them so far sounds absolutely fine (and Good). I agree with PinkElephant it's for such a short time now it wouldn't really matter if they ate absolute rubbish for the next few weeks, as long as they are fed and watered.

Hope get some relief from the sickness. Have you got any friends who would have the dc's round for tea? That way you could have a rest from them and they would get fed. I know I wouldn't mind any of my friends asking me for that.

Oh god it's hideous isn't it? I couldn't even open the fridge without being sick at one point, and felt so guilty about DS's diet.

Can you get your DH or someone else to prepare some batches of meals in advance to freeze or put in fridge so you just have to microwave them (if you can stand the smell)?

Will they eat cold pasta salads? (Either shop bought ready made or made by DH or someone in advance and put in fridge?)

Otherwise, agree that sandwiches, fruit and maybe some raw veggies if they will eat them, can provide a pretty nutritious balanced diet in the short term.

Only a few weeks to go now!

I am 12 weeks and have terrible all day sickness,I also have a 5 & 2 year old. I feel slightly better around 4ish so I have tweaked their mealtimes, give them their dinner around 4.15 but I am microwaving a lot, easy meals etc, and to be honest sometimes I stick their dinner on, be sick, serve it, run and be sick, and be sick again after washing the dishes!!! I give them sandwiches/toast if they are hungry around 6ish before bed. Not ideal but nothing else we can do.

I was a mess for the first five months with ds2 ad the kids had alot of plain pasta, scrambled eggs on toast, oven food... basically the sort of thing that required very little time in the kitchen.

Also, dp came home at 6pm and i usually waited to feed the kids til then... eating at 6 is fine for that age as long as they get food during the day

With the days so long now in the summer, could you not tweak dinnertime so dh can give them dinner?

Alternately, maybe he can leave things prepared that just go in the oven (and aren't too smelly!)?

If you can afford it, an occasional meal delivery service like cook?

I am in this situation and the kids are living on anything I can bake and boiled/ steamed veg (ie. fish fingers, nuggets, smiley face potato). I do feel bad but I see it as a short term thing and DH does the cooking at the weekend and Weds eve. DS1 also has lunch at nursery 3 days a week. They have cold lunches anyway (sandwiches, humous, salad etc). If I try and cook them something involving meat, sauces etc I just end up puking in the sink.

Thanks so much for all the ideas.

Wiggle - I really identify with the "open microwave door, puke, serve up dinner, puke, wash dishes, puke..." scenario. And opening the fridge door, then running for the sink!!! Blimmin awful and def rules out any more babies for me!

The thing is, it's not just for 6 weeks, this has been going on for 8 months. I think I feel so down about it now because it had got a bit better, but seems to be back again. And where DS had been having school dinners, now he's at home.

My MS is least in middle of day, but I still wouldn't be able to cook then. On bad days even fish fingers, boiling veg etc makes me retch.

Will leave much more to DH, as so many have said, it is summer.

Have you considered asking for some anti nausea medication? It might just get you through the last few weeks.

I am on anti nausea medication and have been all the way.

Ondansetron/ Zofran, and it's supposed to be the best.

Oh no. Sorry.

I only got Prochlorperazine/cyclizine/phenergan

and one precious shot of metoclopramide at the beginning!

Nothing worked that well so I do understand.

Sorry things are so difficult.

My dd has eaten a great deal of toast.........fish fingers made me puke, chicken made me puke infact anything has made me want to hurl with a smell. I don't think dd will ever eat toast again but......

ds1 was 3y4m when ds2 was born. he has a lot of weetabix & banana for tea when I was pg.

Have you tried a clothes peg on your nose and breathing through your mouth? That will stop the smells.

Really, Brownpaper? Have you had severe morning sickness? And have you tried the peg idea?

Flight - it's so true no medication works that well. But it does take the edge off it I think.

Good to know I'm not alone and that other children had a limited diet!

I do have morning sickness but not severe and it doesn't seem to be smells that set me off - it just runs all day regardless.

BUT if it is smells that are the trigger, then a peg on your nose will stop you from being able to smell, so hopefully that would help while trying to cook for other LOs? Likewise, you can't taste if your nose is blocked.

There is nothing to say that food has to be hot to be a proper meal - I did the same as lots on here and just temporarily restricted what we ate to stuff that didn't set me off too badly.

Soft cheese with breadsticks and carrots to dip, possibly with cucumber slices and cherry tomatoes too, is a balanced meal. It'll only be for a few more weeks too, and then you'll have your baby. :)

I remember this - OP like you was sick all the way through and it is horrible I think I used the microwave a lot - also toast.