Staying hydrated - help! (NOT hg)

[1980Gal]

I am 11 weeks pregnant and have had all day nausea and occasional vomiting since week 6. Eating often helps but often things don't sit well and I've had bloating and some heartburn. I have a 2 year old already and am pretty shattered, but by cutting loads of corners getting by. I am finding it very hard to drink enough however because of the nausea and the fact my guts are just not settled and functioning as normal. I know that this is nowhere as bad as what women go through with HG but it's getting me down and worried about UTIS. Have tried lots of different things... Plain water is far too heavy, anything sparkling leads to bloating, have aversions to tea and coffee, I've discovered pretty much all squashes have sweeteners in now (even if not 'diet' ones - grrrrr) which I can taste and am repulsed by, milk doesn't sit well either and can lead to heartburn, and I am too busy running around after toddler to successfully manage the 'sip stuff little and often' approach. I need something that I can have a proper glass of when I get a minute to sit down. Has to be away from eating too as any liquid plus food together is a no-no too . Sorry for the moan but any ideas of how to increase fluids without feeling worse?

Rocks squash doesn’t contain sweetners.

I'm eating lots of jelly as I struggle with liquids, but that has sweeteners in it. Could you eat soup for lunch and get liquids in that way?

Otherwise, I don't think elderflower cordial and similar have sweeteners in, just sugar.

You could try juice and water. I also went through a hot water and lemon phase when I went off the and coffee, which is something I'd usually be horrified by!

Other things you could try:

• crunching ice
• nibbling high water fruit like melon. I ate so many easy peelers

Hope you start feeling better soon

Lemon slices in water or cucumber slices, or if you can eat cucumber is very hydrating. I went through the same phase and it sucks. Also mint leaves in hot water as I found peppermint tea too strong. Hope you find something that works for you

Fruit tea?

There are a fair few squashes which only contain sugar. I’ve got about 10 different ones at the moment! (I had a phase when it had to be squash without sweetners, but now it mostly has to be water, so they’re just sitting there!)

Belvoir do a lot of different cordials. I think that they can be found in most Sainsbury’s and Tesco’s near me.

Mr Fitzpatrick’s have an amazing range. Whichever one is in the photo (cherry, hibiscus and grape) goes down really easily. I adored the one with liquorice in before I was pregnant, but only managed one mouthful of the stuff since. It’s good that this one doesn’t need refrigerating. I have consistently found it at Booths (northern supermarket - there isn’t one anywhere near me 😢) and nowhere else (except a health food shop in Leeds) but to be fair I couldn’t remember its name until I bought some, and then I had some and didn’t need to look for it!

Bottlegreen normally comes in green bottles. It, too, can normally be found in Sainsbury’s and Tesco. The flavour here came from Booths - it’s hard to find - but it has a few decent flavours normally available. Its ginger-containing one is quite spicy, so be warned!

Tesco do a few own-brand cordials. This one has strawberry in, which I normally hate in a cordial, but it’s actually not bad!

My favourite was Blossom Cottage Morello Cherry cordial (not pictured because I drank it all). It has to be kept refrigerated (always check on these cordials - Tesco, Belvoir and Bottlegreen have that requirement, too), and is the weakest of the ones I’ve tried, meaning it doesn’t last nearly as long, but it goes down very well. My local Sainsbury’s has stopped doing it, but it’s on their website: www.sainsburys.co.uk/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/gb/groceries/blossom-cottage-morelo-cherry-cordial-500ml?langId=44&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIiKzu0oL33wIVR7DtCh1HgwcIEAQYASABEgKTYvD_BwE&storeId=10151&krypto=xx%2FZRlcv4s3prcIY09OU0%2FAn2ZuQxU58KtaZKGtxsfgfpd9Fb0D%2FscjDEkErMs1DxBM%2BC4%2BU6MIiZIpeentHLw4G0B%2Bfdt48XQRCC9NC139N%2BxDHBl29T46ujOUKCH1a%2BSUBVU4eMwCbgzWYECjhWq3dwipwjW4rnXNfDAhPiZYfnbD68Q%2Fn311yqTiS9DpLxxkOVuGUebxx9tkEfBEmKkTdKjjSpJR0fuMLSBB1u02Pjvt%2BNZz6Lrebex1RU5a5h16X6t4mUzhAwsNyLb0nncjZ3mGdyBfl5qJv1up9x5E%3D&ddkey=https%3Agb%2Fgroceries%2Fblossom-cottage-morelo-cherry-cordial-500ml

My local supermarkets, you might have guessed, are Sainsbury’s and Tesco - you can probably find these in Asda and Morrisons, too, but I’ve not looked. They should mostly be in Waitrose and Booths, as they are the expensive cordials!

Good luck! It’s a pretty horrible time when you’re feeling so unwell that drinking isn’t a favourite pastime (I remember it, but I’m trying to forget it!).

Could you squeeze lime or lemon into water with ice?

Thank you so much for the suggestions, really appreciate it. I had totally forgotten about cordials but have been to a supermarket and got myself a blackcurrant one which is currently going down nicely with some ice. I think the fact many cordials aren't over-sweet but also not as acidic as some pure fruit juice may be the winning combination!

Spargle you are a cordial queen! Impressed by your knowledge and collection .

I had that unfortunate thing with fruit/herbal teas and lemon in water whereby I came to associate them feeling awful as that's what I was (trying) to drink when my nausea was at its worse. Gah, first trimester can really suck!

I could have written this and am so exited for more recommendations. Have been living off Appletiser as the only thing I’ve found that I like that doesn’t have sweetners in and isn’t too fizzy! All my old faves, Ribera, Sun exotic, even fruit juices like cranberry and cherry bow have sweetners in and are now ruined. In 21 weeks and keep hoping it will go away at some point....

Galia melon has also been my saviour.

That cherry cordial looks amazing and is now on my hit list to buy tomorrow.

I had a lot of watermelon in the first trimester too. Very hydrating