My wife is about 7 weeks pregnant and has been nauseous for the past 2 weeks. She can pretty much only eat crackers and seltzer (and her vitamins).
First: Is there anything she can do to alleviate the nausea?
Second: I’m concerned that she isn’t getting enough protein in her diet. Do the unflavored protein shakes on the market really have no flavor? Can it be mixed with water?
Any other tips?
She should talk to her doctor to see what he recommends.
My wife had good luck with Preggie Pops (she liked the drops better than the lolly pops).
Her doctor also told her to take some B-12 vitamins and Unisom (over the counter sleeping aid). I don’t remember the dosages, but this worked very well for my wife.
Ginger worked for my sister. She likes ginger ale (you have to look for stuff with real ginger…I think Canada Dry is ok) and had some ginger candy that worked for her. My wife doesn’t like ginger ale, so we didn’t try this.
Again, talk to her doctor about it.
I’ve known other peope who had luck with ginger. Ginger tea may be worth trying. Also, peppermint tea. Other friends have reported that dry crackers are good, but only if you eat one literally before you get out of bed in the morning.
Unless directed by the doctor, don’t take the vitamins on an empty stomach–even if it just crackers. The iron can increase the feelings of nausea.
IANAD, and second the advice that she speak to hers.
Why do you think she is not getting enough protein? Most of us get much more than we acutally require. From my reading and experience, I’d remind you that at this stage the fetus is still very, very small, and does not take much nutrient. It’s important to have a balance of nutrients (presumably the M.D. has given advice about supplements) and to remain hydrated of course.
One theory I’ve heard is that the nausea is somewhat beneficial in that it helps keep the mother-to-be from ingesting anything remotely harmful to the fetus.
I never had nausea during pregnancy, ever. My daughter did, and it eased up a lot when the doctor decreased the iron supplement.
From the OP’s description, his wife is eating nothing with calories in it except Saltines. I’d be surprised if shes getting 500 calories daily (equivalent to two “tubes” of Saltines.) That’s not enough to sustain her own life, much less anyone else’s.
OP, once I went for three days unable to eat anything but nibbles of banana and little sips of cola. It’s no way to live, and your wife has my sympathies. I hope she can find some relief soon.
Ginger tea is the one I’ve heard most often for nausea, or bits of sugared ginger. For food that will go down and stay down, have you tried broth, rice, applesauce or toast? banana in teensy bites?
She sould definitely talk to her doctor. Some women end up taking medication like Zofran or something similar if they just can’t stop the morning (noon, and night) sickness.
None of the ones I’ve tried. Unflavoured means that it has no deliberate flavouring, but the underlying whey or soy flavour still remains. Soy ones taste somewhat like wholemeal flour, which is fairly bland but quite distinct. The whey ones taste vaguely yoghurty, but the taste is hard to describe.
Most can.
However you should probably see your doctor first, especially for the soy protein. There have been some reports about the effects of the phytoestrogens in large amounts of soy product may have adverse effects during pregnancy.
Don’t have children?
If she can keep anything down at all, have her eat constantly. An empty stomach makes it worse.
Oh, also don’t obsess over nutrition. As someone else mentioned, the baby is tiny at this point, and will take very little from her body in terms of nutrients. Her own reserves will suffice unless the lack of nutrition is really extreme. Once the nausea eases up (hopefully by around 12 weeks), that’s the time to eat right.
I want to second the comments about iron. I can’t take iron containing multivitamins except on the fullest of stomachs. Disobeying this rule leads to vomiting within five minutes. She should talk to her doctor about skipping any supplements until she can hold something down.
Forcing yourself to eat more, enough protein, and at regular intervals often helps alleviate it. My friend who is 13 weeks has been having such a terrible time, she has started waking up during the night every 2 hours to snack so she’s not sick all morning from an empty stomach.
Ginger candy has been the only thing that could alleviate my nausea during migraines and punishing periods, it’s worth a try!
Thanks for all the tips!
She tried the ginger ale (even though she hates it) and it kinda works!
I wasn’t concerned for the baby’s health - I was concerned for hers.
I’m glad the ginger worked for your wife. I was told to eat apples, which sometimes worked and sometimes failed spectacularly.
I lost weight during my first trimester and the midwife said that was common, normal and nothing at all to worry about. By 9 months I was back in the ‘ideal’ range.
And congratulations.
My wife had serious nausea throughout both of her pregnancies. She took (after consulting her OB) one half of a Unisom containing doxylamine, each night before she went to bed. The unisom cut down the nausea and helped her sleep better at night.
Second the advice to ask her OB/GYN. There are effective prescriptions such as Zofran to treat bad pregnancy nausea.
Hyperemesis is one very good reason why I only have two children.
If she’s miserable or if you’re seriously worried for her health, one of you should call whoever is handling her pre-natal care. If she can’t keep water down over a period of more than a couple hours, CALL THE DOCTOR. The big risk here is dehydration.
I found that it helped to sip lemonade. I used those little Kool-Aid packets and added as little sugar as I could possibly stand, then drank the result while nibbling on pretzel sticks. Something about sour and salt together seemed to work, at least sometimes.
I had good days and bad days. More bad than good, especially the second time around. On good days, I ate what I could - some days I was hungry and ate like a pig, others I could eat a little. On bad days, I tried to focus on keeping myself hydrated. Tried not to worry. Our GP was encouraging.
In spite of all this, the babies weighed 4.7 and 4.0 kilograms. I shudder to think what sort of mutant monsters I would have had if I had been able to eat normally. Both are healthy and have never showed signs of problems from the rough pregnancies we went through together.
There’s a drug I was prescribed for both my pregnancies called Diclectin- it’s a vitamin B12 plus antihistamine. It helped a lot, and I had terrible nausea both times (stopped taking anti-nausea pills on the day I gave birth).
Eat anything you think you’ll be able to keep down. A lot of women I know could eat bland processed or greasy even if they threw up at the idea of leafy greens.
Sugar can help.
Cranberry juice and water aren’t too bad coming back up.
Congratulations!
Please check with your doctor before self adjusting iron supplement dosage since I have heard that it’s very important at the beginning of pregnancy.
Also I found some foods helped quite a bit. White grapes, crackers, fruit juice. It may have been the sugar, I’m not really sure.
It does go away eventually 
I’ll have ask her doctor about the drugs y’all mentioned. Thanks again!