Smart Morning Sickness Tips for a Better First Trimester

Over the years I’ve gathered the best, most strategic and smart morning sickness tips for a better first trimester. If you are newly pregnant (or thinking about becoming pregnant) this information will be invaluable for you.

When I became pregnant with my first child I assumed I would not get morning sickness and would avoid any early signs of pregnancy. I think deep down I thought that if I acknowledged morning sickness as an option, I would therefore bring it upon myself and get sick. Ha! That was a classic first trimester mistake!

On This Page

13 minute read
↓What does morning sickness feel like?
↓When does morning sickness end?
↓Smart Morning Sickness Tips for a Better First Trimester
↓Morning Sickness Food Principles
↓Morning Sickness Tips for Food
↓Morning Sickness Aroma Principles
↓Lifestyle Adjustments for Morning Sickness
↓Unisom and Supplements for Morning Sickness
↓Morning Sickness Remedies eBook

What Does Morning Sickness Feel Like?

Every person’s experience will be different, but on average this is what a first encounter with morning sickness feels like. Around five weeks or so into pregnancy (or three weeks after conception) many women start to feel nauseas like their blood sugar is really low, and that if they don’t eat something to fix it they will become sick. However, after eating food many pregnant people still feel nauseous and may even throw up. Not fun.

When Does Morning Sickness End?

Many women experience the symptoms of morning sickness longer than anticipated. New parents look forward to the magical second trimester where at 13 weeks they will stop feeling sick. However, that may not happen. Many women feel sick well into their second trimester, and some even the whole way through. On average, however, it seems like most morning sickness tapers off after the first trimester.

Morning Sickness is Depressing

Pregnancy can be one of the most exciting times in a person’s life, but experiencing morning sickness can conversely feel so depressing. Because of this, some parents may not have the motivation to make changes to try to feel better. Some may give up, wallow in their misery, and feel sorry for themselves. Been there done that! 🙂

However, doing nothing is not very helpful. Believe it or not, there are absolutely things that can alleviate morning sickness symptoms. The following are my best morning sickness tips to feel better quickly!

Smart Morning Sickness Tips for a Better First Trimester

Morning Sickness Food Principles

It’s important to stay on top of eating and drinking throughout the day, hour by hour, minute by minute. The times new parents feel the worst and struggle to get back to feeling well again are when they spaced their meals or snacks out too far. Not keeping up with food intake can trigger a cyclic vomiting cycle, which should obviously be avoided. Take this seriously!

Getting hungry is not good, even though food seems like your enemy. My advice? Eat anything that sounds good, even if it is junk food. Not long after that eat something healthier and more sustainable – like a small meal. Priming the stomach with soda, crackers, or SOMETHING that sounds good will make eating in the future much easier.

Also, staying hydrated helps keep nausea away. Make sure to drink enough water to sustain a pregnant person. Keep a water bottle on you at all times and remember to keep drinking!

Morning Sickness Tips for Food

• Food is your enemy but also your friend. Eat even if you feel like you will be sick. Eventually, the food will make you feel better, so it’s worth it in the long run.
• Don’t wait too long between meals and snacking.
• Eat a mixture of protein and carbs/sugars, for example cheese and apples.
• In the morning, eat anything that appeals to you. A bowl of cereal is a good option. After you have eaten something appealing, try to eat protein like an egg. If you can eat this, it will carry you till your next snack or meal.
• Plan for snacking when you’ll be out of the house. Bring a bunch of snacks with you and carry them in your purse. Don’t assume you’ll be fine. Prepare for the inevitable and bring food.
• Ask your friends for food ideas. I got two suggestions of quiche and cheese sticks. I happily ate those for awhile but quickly got wickedly grossed out by both. Move on to the next food suggestions and don’t look back.
• Visit your mother or other friends and relatives, and have them cook for you. When I left my house and kitchen (which were big triggers for me) and someone fed me I felt amazing.
• After you find out you are pregnant but BEFORE you get morning sickness, cook 3-5 freezer meals for the days ahead when you CANNOT cook, but need something now.
• Also make some snacks for the freezer. You could try:
  • Energy Bites for Pregnancy and Postpartum (these freeze amazingly well)
  • Freezer Smoothie Packs

Morning Sickness Aroma Principles

If those with a keen sense of smell, watch out because this backfires in the first trimester. The following are basic morning sickness tips regarding smells in the home.

Clean the Kitchen

Keeping the kitchen clean even when you don’t have the energy is extremely helpful to ward off the yucky “first thing in the morning” triggers. At night, you and your partner should try your best to clean the kitchen, do the dishes, and take out the trash. This will be helpful the following morning making things much easier to deal with. Channel The Fly Lady and shine your sink ‘errrrr day!

Switch from Cloth to Disposable Diapers

If you have an older baby or toddler in diapers, some strategy is needed here too. Toddler poop is disgusting. Consider using disposable diapers during this time of heightened smell and being gag happy. You will be so happy you did this!

Some may say this is a great motivation to potty train the toddler, but most won’t want to deal with poop and pee messes… because it will inevitably become poop, pee, AND vomiting messes. When dealing with morning sickness we are in survival mode not super mom mode. It’s ok to use disposable diapers for a season!

Morning Sickness Tips for Aromas in the Home

• As soon as you find out you are pregnant but BEFORE you get morning sickness clean out your microwave, fridge, garbage cans, and clean your bathrooms. Clean anything that would have the potential to stink. This will lessen any weird lingering smells.
• Take the trash out every day. Do not let trash fester. Ever.
• Have your partner or husband open the fridge and take out the items that you need. Every time I opened my fridge I would gag.
• Make your house smell wonderful. Light your favorite candles or diffuse some essential oils for morning sickness, but make sure you love the smell. If the smell starts to stink, switch it up!
• Have some lemon essential oils or a lemon on hand. Keep it in your pocket or purse. Sniff it when you think you’re feeling sick. (Lemon is one of the essential oils I bring to every birth and is extremely helpful for nausea.)
• Refuse to let your partner/husband butcher deer and clean fish (or do other gross things) in your kitchen. (I have these awful memories of my husband bringing home deer and having blood and guts in my kitchen. The deer wasn’t as bad as the fish. Fish, and fishermen should be kept away from sick, pregnant people.)
• Get plenty of sleep and take naps when you can.
• Read How to Keep House While Drowning. It’s a great book for the rough patches of pregnancy on into postpartum.

Lifestyle Adjustments for Morning Sickness

Stay Active and Get out of the House

When faced with the yucky feelings of morning sickness I understand why women want to stay on the bed, couch… floor… or be put in a coma until it’s over. However, sometimes doing the exact opposite turns us into a more functional human being and feeling better.

Getting out of the house, going for walks, and generally staying active will help to feel better. Some of the worst memories I have with morning sickness were when I was not getting out of bed and just SUFFERING. So, even though it feels oh so wrong, I hope you’ll get on your feet and keep moving. It helps immensely!

Socializing and Adrenaline Helps Morning Sickness

Socializing or working may momentarily make your morning sickness symptoms disappear. When teaching my childbirth classes (or other similar work I do as a doula or childbirth instructor) I have always felt my best. Isn’t that funny? I also felt awesomely similar whenever socializing, especially with new people. I chalk this up to adrenaline and think adrenaline dominates morning sickness. Has anybody else noticed this?

Morning Sickness Tips for Work

• Keep busy. Some of my less sick times were when I was at work, very busy.
• Consider public speaking. I know this sounds insane, but the adrenaline from public speaking negates morning sickness.
• Keep a set of essential oils for morning sickness at work and/or in the car. Essential oils are perfect for preventing you from “losing it” in the worst of circumstances.
• Similarly, keep a stash of food/snacks handy.
• Light a candle and/or use a diffuser for essential oils at work.
• Keep a trash can handy and make sure it has a liner.
• Also, consider buying disposable emesis bags (see below). These are very helpful when dealing with vomit. It makes the whole experience neat and tidy. (I like to put drops of a citrus essential oil on the rim of these bags.
• Keep a stash of pads and a change of clothes handy as well. Sometimes the force of vomiting can, unfortunately, make us pee our pants.

Help from Partner/Husband

When dealing with morning sickness, partner support is key. For those who don’t have extra help from friends and family… you are amazing, and I wish I could lend you a hand! If you do have help, pass off certain duties that you’re either too tired to do or just sound disgusting… like dishes, trash, diaper duty, or opening the fridge. There is an excellent chapter about sharing the workload in the book mentioned above – How to Keep House While Drowning – that I love. Read it together with your partner to help you get on the same page.

Preggie Pops and Citrus Essential Oils

Preggie Pops and citrus essential oils won’t make morning sickness go away. However, they are an EXCELLENT tool to use in the moments where you think you might “lose it”.

When I didn’t have snacks in my purse and knew it would be a few minutes before I could get food, sucking on a Preggie Pop or sniffing essential oils gave me a few more minutes. If I didn’t have either of these options I’m pretty sure I would have thrown up.

(Since there’s a woman on the front of the packaging I have successfully been able to keep them away from my kids by telling them they are only for mommies. Winning!)

Unisom and Supplements for Morning Sickness

The following are was my drug and supplement regimen for morning sickness that I started at 5 weeks (three weeks after conception.

Milk Thistle

At five weeks pregnant I started taking milk thistle for morning sickness. Specifically, I took three capsules of Jarrow’s Milk Thistle (Standardized Silymarin Extract 30:1 Ratio, 150 mg per Capsule) every day.

Note: For best results take milk thistle a few months before conception.

Here’s my experience using milk thistle for morning sickness.

I think the milk thistle remedy, coupled with a few others have totally “taken the edge off” of morning sickness. In fact, this is the easiest first trimester I’ve ever had. No, the morning sickness is not gone, but I have only thrown up a few times and my biggest complaint is honestly fatigue. I’ll gladly take fatigue over morning sickness any day.

This week I ran out of milk thistle pills (I ordered them last night, whew!) and didn’t buy more to see if I could tell a difference without taking the pills. Before I stopped I was feeling SO good. Like suspiciously good. So good I thought for sure I am going to miscarry. However, a few days after stopping the pills I started feeling terrible again and I puked up bile this morning. Looking forward to getting my milk thistle in the mail tomorrow.

Unisom and B6

Many women find relief from morning sickness by taking the Unisom and B6 combo at night. As soon as they start experiencing morning sickness, they being the regimen. Many women feel extremely nervous about taking medications to help with morning sickness. They don’t want to take unisom, or any other medication while pregnant, which I get. Unisom is actually really safe (FDA Category A) and after discussing it with their care provider, some decide it would be a good fit.

Unisom + B6 Dosage:  Before bed take 1/2 a tablet or 12.5 mg of Unisom (also known as Doxylamine Succinate but better known as a nighttime sleep-aid) along with 25-50 mg of Vitamin B6. This was already in my prenatal vitamins so I only supplemented with a B Complex to round out my B vitamins.

Here are my thoughts about trying Unisom + B6 during one of my pregnancies.

Starting Unisom + B6 has been a game changer for me. Not only did it fix my pregnancy insomnia (UGH!) but it “took the edge off”, just like milk thistle did. I do think it makes me sleepier in the mornings but honestly, I’ll take it. Fatigue is so much better than nausea and vomiting.

Unisom and B6 also comes in prescription form known as Diclegis or Diclectin. The benefit of the prescription is that the medication is time released over the day helping women to feel more “even”.

Change to Gummy Prenatal Vitamin

After a few weeks of morning sickness, many women notice that their prenatal vitamins have become a trigger for nausea, gagging, and vomiting. Swallowing prenatal vitamins can become tortuous. Happily, many find a gummy alternative which makes such a difference!

Morning Sickness Remedies eBook

If you want more, I’ve written an eBook called Morning Sickness Remedies and I also have many articles all about morning sickness remedies. For all the information you need in one place, hop on over to Amazon to get your copy of Morning Sickness Remedies.)

——->>>>>>> link to Amazon