What can I eat to feel better?

[redexpat]

Hello all
Am 8 weeks pregnant. I've been feeling weak, and really tired, which leads to nausea. I'm training to be a social worker and am on placement atm, and it's at a cafe for drug addicts. Some of them don't have the best personal hygiene, and (am in a forrin' country) there is a smoking room, which means that smoke is always in the air. these things also bring on nausea. I've been sent home twice when my energy just ran out, and have taken today off too as I nearly threw up my breakfast. But I'm only allowed 12 days off, or I wont pass, and I'll have to do it all again when I go back from maternity leave. I finish placement on the 20th June, so a while to go yet.

What can I eat to help keep my going? If any of you have tips for small things to snack on that would be great. No hummous in resident country

Cereal bars - ideally the dry crunchy ones rather than the chewy ones - were great for me.

Plain pasta with butter was also a winner but I'm guessing you really need things you can just have in your bag at work.

Anything fairly plain and dry and starchy was the way forward. Breadsticks, rice cakes, biscuits, that kind of thing. Don't worry too much about nutrition at this stage it's mainly about whatever you can keep down.

Best of luck OP.

Cheese and crisps (salted or salt & vinegar) and cold ribena/vimto.

stem ginger biscuits saved me

I always had a bag of mini rice cakes (from the baby food section) with me or by my bed. I found they were the only thing I could stomach. When you're not feeling awful, focus on getting as much protein in as possible - baby bel or peanut butter (in a tiny tub) or nuts are good portable ways to do this! X

Poor you.

Tonic water (hold the gin)
Hula hoops
Dry toast
Pasta with a bit of grated cheese
Polos

Hope you feel better soon

Everyone told me ginger snaps but I didn't find that helpful at all. Think everyone must be different. Anyhoo what worked for me was a cup or two of peppermint tea when I first got up and if at any point during the day I was feeling rather queasy. Might not work for you but worth a shout just incase. If I remember back to 10 weeks pregnant (AKA the worse week in the history of pregnancy ;) ooh dear lord!!) I was pretty much willing to try ANYTHING suggested by ANYONE!!! if it helps someone else then so be it :D

I had a little box of raisins every morning at about 10.30am, and later found out that raisins are good for warding off nausea.

Of course, as I was puking at 7.15am on the dot every day, maybe I'd got it over with early

Grapes were good for me too. I used to eat them at about half 10 and then I'd have something salty with my lunch... usually a pack of salted crisps. It just seemed to balance things out.

oh and slightly flat lemonade. It still had some fizz but not mega fizzy. Hope it gets easier.

carrying steaming mugs of ginger/mint tea that you can inhale/sip as needed. also mint extract on a hanky to sniff can help.

Muller rice, apples, ginger biscuits, raspberries, beetroot. And i learnt to eat something the minute I felt hungry, before it turned into nausea.

I agree with the salt and vinegar pringles and lemonade. They kept me going with my first. I always had a pack of polos with me as they masked smells and tastes in the air. Strangely I really liked kiwi fruit. The salt and vinegar pringles and lemonade makes quite a bit of logical sense as you are getting the salts, sugars and fluids you need just like the rehydration fluids just tastier! I also agree with little and often and would have food and drink waiting for me when I woke up before I even got out of bed.

I was so sick when pregnant with my twins that the first thing I said to them when they were born is - "my God you made me so ill" - which offend so many people - but hey….it was so bad I was still being sick a week after they were born - just hell….the only thing that worked was top of the range - acupuncture - at Zita West's clinic in LOndon…you have to pay for the top woman - extraordinarily expensive …but worth every penny…..I don't envy you but my beloved twins are 4 now and soooo wonderful - its soooo worth it!!!!!!

Capri sun and crisps

Clear chicken broth - a stock cube will do. With thin noodles, very fine carrots, spring onions and slices of fresh ginger. Comforting, tasty, good for you…like a hug from yourself. I lived on it until the sickness passed with all 4 pregnancies. Still love it!

Cold grapes
Mandarines
Dry biscuits
Sparkling water with lemon
Salt and vinegar crisps
Eat small and often

Everything that you really think that you shouldn't eat when pregnant - the junkier and unhealthier, the better!

I found that salty crisps, really sugary drinks (I think it was passion fruit tango for me!), crunchy nut cornflakes (without milk) and sugary ice lollies were what kept me going.

The important thing is to never let your blood sugar levels get too low, so eat small amounts as often as possible. I kept lucozade tablets on me all the time and used to suck one if I felt the slightest bit nauseous. And don't let yourself get dehydrated - sip at water with rehydration powders in it, if you can't manage anything else (the GP told me to have a teaspoonful every 5 minutes, if I couldn't keep anything else down)

It's also better if you rest as much as possible - although doesn't really sound like your job allows this!! I was in my first year of teaching when I had hyperemesis, so I sympathise.

The only positive thing to say is that you will feel AMAZING the minute the baby's born and everything (even hospital food) suddenly tastes wonderful!!

Potato has Beene friend this pregnancy it's plain (even with a bit of cheese and butter) and gives you some energy

I found little and then often best (every hour)! Carbs were best so toast, crisps, crackers and pasties!

sip with a straw, ice cold or hot drinks, suck ice cubes, freeze caprisuns, suck hard sweets, lollipops, ice lollies, any way to keep hydrated.. melon, grapes, cucumber watery fruits are great if you can

cereal bars, nibbly cracker-y things, pretzels,
agree throw the idea of healthy out the window, whatever you fancy - salty snack-y chips..
if you are vomming a lot and struggle to clean your teeth try different toothpastes, - eg kids' ones or mouthwash

if you struggle with smells take a cotton hanky and a few drops essential oil eg grapefruit to hold to your nose - some HG sufferers took to carrying essential oils around

buy ketostix from your chemist - about £3 if you are vomming more than 2/3 times a day /struggling to drink
they're about £3. you pee on them to see how dehydrated you are

if your ketones get above 2/3 you need help -emergency GP appointment for 3 or higher for some helpful medicine
many anti sickness tablets are considered safe during very early PG, there is no need to suffer unneccesarily

I used to sniff an apple. My colleagues loved coffee, it made me feel very sick. Sounds weird but it worked for me

You poor thing. I ate tons of chocolate cake. I put on 3 stone which was a git to lose after so definitely not recommended. But it seemed to be the only thing that worked for me.

I feel for you though, it's just the worst thing. Hope you feel better soon, keep your chin up

Soda water, crisps, TUC crackers

I walked around a supermarket and bought everything that didn't make me feel like puking when I looked at it. The winners were garden peas in their shells and yoghurt...