Many women complain of experiencing nausea at all times of the day when pregnant. That was true for me as well. I was one of the “lucky” ones and it only lasted for the first couple of months with all three pregnancies.
As terrible as I felt, I still considered it lucky that the sickness went away because some women experience it throughout their entire pregnancy. For me, the morning sickness became worse with each pregnancy. (This, of course, meant that every person told me that I was having a girl but all three times I was pregnant with boys.)
I would sleep with saltine crackers on my nightstand so I could eat them if I woke up at night or first thing in the morning. I needed to eat. I could not go more than two hours without something or the feeling would hit me. It was like I had just gone down that first drop on a rollercoaster. It would hit that fast. First the wave of nausea, then my mouth would start to water. Also, I sometimes would get dizzy so this frightened me enough that I would always carry food. But eating it was a different story.
My mind knew that I needed to eat but forgot to tell my stomach. For those first few months, most foods made me gag. Throughout the pregnancies, I had different foods that I could not eat with each of my sons. With my first, it was fish and all other seafood. Learning what foods were intolerable was just the beginning. One evening, my husband made me grilled Mahi-Mahi with wild rice. (This was before we had any kids and had time to have really good meals, not just like tacos and pizza, once a week, every week.) I sat with my feet up as he cooked for me and I couldn’t wait to enjoy my meal. Once it was ready, we sat at the table, with fork in hand and I took my first bite. “NO THANK YOU!” my stomach groaned. “I am so sorry honey.” I sadly admitted to my husband. “I can’t eat this.” This was the beginning of no fish or seafood until I had my son. Prior to knowing that I was pregnant, my husband had booked an anniversary trip to Maui. We are probably the only couple ever that ate at every Italian restaurant on the island because all my stomach would tolerate was plain fettuccini alfredo.
Another pregnancy, it was chicken. I simply could not eat it. Also, I could not think about cooking it. Even looking at raw chicken would make me sick to my stomach. Luckily for me, my family was very good at adapting to what my body was limiting me to. For many weeks, I made it through with Costco quantities of saltine crackers, gingersnaps, and peppermint tea. But once the sickness lifted, it was like tasting things for the first time.
I remember having lunch at a friend’s one day. I complimented her on the best chicken Caesar salad that I had ever had. And red meat was something that I craved, something that was not usual for me. Juicy burgers and grilled steaks were fueling the growth of the little person inside of me. Like the morning sickness, the hunger would hit without warning. I didn’t have to eat a lot, just right away. I ate way better when I was pregnant than I did normally. Of course in the beginning, I depended on bagels, waffles, pancakes, just about anything that was solid and plain enough to keep away the sick feeling and stay down. But once I made it through the rough spot, I was careful to eat plenty of fruits and vegetables, follow a healthy diet and limit my sugar intake. Already, the little life inside of me was changing my world.