Twelve weeks. Yes, really, I’ve managed to hit the milestone that is meant to herald the start of pregnancy being amazing. You know, for all those normal people out there.
I was going to crop out most of the garden, but I thought some people might like to check out the edging of green. I had to change the angle of this photo from the last one, because my tomatoes have grown too high to be seen over. (Tomatoes in bottom left corner) Behind me is the black currant and jostaberry bushes, getting ready to drop their leaves and in the bottom right corner is the flowering perpetual spinach. It makes the whole garden smell like honey.
So far this pregnancy I have lost 5kg (11lbs), which has sent my Ehlers Danlos into a spin.
Normally my EDS is managable, provided I don’t lose too much weight, but obviously I wasn’t able to control the weight loss, even with anti-nausea medication and here I am.
Basically this means that my gastic system has gone on strike, leaving me unable to eat a lot of foods. Dairy being the main culprit, with meat being close behind.
Now, my anti-nausea medication is excellent for controlling morning sickness and making life bearable, but it is less effective on EDS nausea, merely stopping me vomiting while I wait the waves of nausea out. Not vomiting is always a bonus, but I’d prefer I was able to actually eat things.
Even worse, being unable to digest dairy means that I have effectively lost most of the fat content of my diet. Rich food makes me unwell at the healthiest of times and I’m left wondering what on earth I can eat to stop the weight loss and keep myself relatively healthy. Any ideas? Currently I’m living mostly on fresh fruit and crackers.
I recently bought a trail mix of dried fruit, seeds and nuts and have been snacking on that, but there is a limit and I’m afraid that my body is going to pull the same trick it pulled with Amy’s pregnancy, which left me incredibly unwell for the entire nine months and a good 10kg underweight.
So, there’s that.
On the upside, aside from the nausea and weight loss, this has been the least eventful pregnancy I’ve had, with only a tiny bit of spotting at 5 weeks and not a single drop of blood afterwards. A huge improvement from the pregnancy with Isaac, that included bleeding through all three trimesters.
Frankly, I am a little surprised at the lack of bleeding, knowing that there was a large patch of blood inside my uterus at my ultrasound. But I’m certainly not complaining about it.
No real food cravings, unless you count the fact that I want to stab everyone who mentions sushi or sashimi. I swear, I would kill for some sashimi right now.
And finally, I’m pretty sure I felt the baby move, which seems to be following the same path as the other two kids, both of whom I felt at around 12 weeks.
I guess there are benefits to being underweight, because the first thing I thought was “Thank God you’re not dead.”
Bonus.
Did you have any food issues while you were pregnant? How did you manage these?
I have no advice – having endured 21 weeks of severe morning sickness and STILL managing to put on a whopping 25kgs with Miss 6. I craved smoked salmon for that pregnancy, and I think it was because I was low on Omega 3s. Hope things settle down 🙂
Smoked salmon – YES. God, yes. What I would give for smoked salmon. Listeria is stupid.
My second pregnancy I was vomiting right up to the end with no breaks. Used to even wake up with a mouth full of vomit, fun times. I put on hardly any weight but bub was still fine. I have no advice on how to gain weight as I struggled with both pregnancies (post pregnancy a different story). But my fall backs for stomachable food were frozen fruits, something about them being frozen made them more palatable and easier to digest, rice, poached chicken with a little ginger, and dry toast. I didn’t find any meds helped with the nausea, but then again back then I had no idea what was wrong with my body. Plus I was living in Darwin which was about 50yrs behind the rest of Oz. On the dairy front, is it all dairy or just certain types? Just asking as I have lactose intolerance and I can eat certain dairy but not all eg a piece of fetta is fine, but some lovely fresh ricotta is like draino to my system. Well there you go not much help sorry. I do hope it starts to ease up for you as I wouldn’t wish the 9mth vomitfest I had on anyone. It makes you miserable, tired and cranky, or at least it did for me. I do make a broth now for when my nausea is really bad thanks to Dys. I use my own chicken stock (clear so no fat to make you gag), add fresh ginger, lime juice and a little chilli. I then sip it in a mug all day. If you can stomach that, maybe add some veg, coriander and the like to make it a soup.
I had the same thing with Amy – 9 months of nausea. I was a mess by the time she was born (seriously, I can’t look at my post birth photos because my skin is that terrible).
Rice is great at the moment, I’m thinking of making vegetarian sushi and seeing how that goes.
Re dairy, I seem to be okay with a little milk in a cup of tea (tested that this morning), and a little butter, but I can’t eat hard cheese (just cheddar) or a glass of milk, or cream, or cream cheese based things. I’ll try some feta and if that is okay, it might be greek salad all the way.
Chicken stock soup, as well as miso and seaweed soups are excellent too. Good for sipping and if I add a little extra salt, they keep my blood pressure up too.
Feta is a not ok listeria wise if it’s uncooked as it would be in a salad Veronica- just thought I’d let you know!
Oh god you poor thing, seriously…. I was hideously sick for 20 weeks with Stella and only gained 6kgs vs. the nearly 30 I gained with Amy! I don’t really have much in the way of real nutritional advice but maybe foods high in protein might help? Legumes, lentils, quinoa, grains, that kind of thing? I craved cold stuff like ice-cream, not so good for daily intolerances but fruit sorbets might help, also settled my stomach. I ate lots of roasted veg and salads which seemed to fill me up less but keep me satisfied for longer. Despite knowing how sick you are, it’s just so LOVELY seeing that bump! Xx
It’s really bizarre how each pregnancy is different. This feels much like the pregnancy with Amy (9 months of puking) rather than Isaac’s pg, where I had healthy weight gain by the end.
I was thinking along those lines too, hummus and chickpeas added to salad, and roast veg salad. I hadn’t thought of sorbet, probably because there is none in the house currently!
Congratulations on 12 weeks! I’m so happy for you! If you’re looking for fatty foods, what about avocados or olives or nuts?
They’re so far, the three things I can still eat. Now if I could magically make them all cheaper, it would be sweet!
And yes, am thrilled about 12 weeks.
My 2nd pregnancy had me heaving at the slightest thing for almost the whole 9 months.
My 3rd had me in bed for almost 3 months.
I’d take the enforced bed rest over the vomiting any day.
I had a (relatively) easy pregnancy, but sometimes cried because I genuinely believed there was not enough food in the world to stop me from feeling sick and desperately hungry. I was overwhelmingly hungry for the whole time! I have no idea how much weight I put on. I remained quite skinny but had a 4 kilo baby. Anyway, I would eat tablespoons of peanut butter straight from the jar, kilos of hot deep-fried chips, two breakfasts, two lunches, two dinners each day. Buttermilk by the litre, kilos of banana cake. Salad salad salad, loads of steamed veges with olive oil. And I developed an unhealthy obsession with Indian lime pickle.
I still love Indian lime pickle!
Hi 🙂 long time reader and I think first time commenter lol
I have EDS too so I know what you mean about the ‘EDS nausea’ – it is the suck lol…
I am not sure if you have heard of it, but for my lactose intolerance, I take Lacteze (available from most chemists and health food stores) – it breaks down the Lactose to make it easier for us to digest…and I also drink Lidells lactose free cows milk (they have removed it completely) – available at most supermarkets – they also have a great range of flavoured drinks and yoghurt if you can find them
Congrats on getting this far into your pregnancy with minimal issues – I know there have been a few but I read bits and pieces of what you went thru with your previous pregnancies – good luck with the rest of it! xx
I was pregnant at the same time as my (then) sister in law. I put on 25kg during the pregnancy, craved vegemite and chocolate milk and crumpets. She, however, lost 10kg and was sick every day. Both of us had healthy babies. I don’t really have any advice because considering your previous pregnancies and EDS this may be ‘normal’ for you. And CONGRATS on this milestone and the fact that it has been the least eventful pregnancy so far. You deserve to have at least one pregnancy that you can somewhat enjoy. X
Re dairy; have you tried eating yoghurt? Because of the enzymes that convert the milk, it’s known as a “pre-digested” food, (which I’m sure you already knew), so perhaps it won’t upset your system. Don’t forget to have your daily dose of apple cider vinegar with honey.
I can’t offer any other tips, I had no trouble with my pregnancies and back then things like listeria hadn’t been heard of and pregnant women ate everything without restrictions. There are some countries in the world where pregnant women still eat everything without restrictions.
can you eat avocado??? can you GET avocado?? (without having to mortgage your house, as i’d have to here….but mmmmm, avocado, so worth it!) – i was also gonna suggest peanut butter, plop it on everything! and i’m REALLY not sure about this one, but i’ll suggest it in case: fry up chunks of smoked salmon, fling in eggs, scramble….add cheese if you think you can stomach it….there’s your (safe, i hope?!?) salmon kick and LOTS of protein and yummy fats????
YAY for 12 weeks!!! Here’s to the next 31 being just as boring, but hopefully with less nausea?
*hugs* xxx
Congrats on 12 weeks!
I remember when my girls were Ill and couldn’t tolerate milk afterwards , I watered the milk down and then gradually reduced the amount of water. Might be worth a try ?
I have no advice but am sending hugs and love to you and your beautiful family. 🙂
I found buderim bears (spicy ginger jubes) really helped me with nausea and food aversions.
I craved sashimi like a psychopath during all my pregnancies, and (don’t shank me!!) but after my third child, now I cannot eat raw fish, ever. Cannot stand it and am devastated. Maybe one day I’ll like it again. I hope so.
If you are eating crackers, maybe just go for the most wholemeal-y, grainy ones you can get? Just to squeeze some nutrients in?
Could you manage some hommus? That is packed with loads of goodies and could go well on a cracker if you can stand it…
Could you handle freshly made sushi (sans raw fish, sorry I mentioned it again!) at home? A sliver of avocado might be the closest to the texture of raw fish, in a really bland sort of way?
Miso soup could also be another good one, it has lots of goodies, it’s just a matter of whether or not you can handle the taste?
I hope this is just a phase that you pass through, food aversions are no fun at all. I had them with my middle child, my son. Scarily, he turned out to be my fussy eater, flanked by two girls who eat really well. I found friend rice got me through a lot of fussy times with that pregnancy.
Friend rice=fried rice. Argh
When you want a momentary break from the nausea (ha, ha…okay a slight reprieve) slice a lime and eat it with salt. Also, chew on some ice. while applying it to your temples and the inside of your wrists..
It has zero nutritional value, but it helps, somewhat.
And Japanese women eat sushi and sashimi during pregnancy. Just sayin’.
I vomited for about 5 months of my pregnancy. And had insane nausea. Didn’t eat ANYTHING for months. Lost 12 kgs in the first trimester. Was the skinniest I’d ever been (ever). Morning sickness? Pah! 24/7 sickness. Eventually after not eating for a few months, I discovered instant chicken noodle soup. You know? Pour powder into mug and add boiling water? It was all I could bear. Sometime in my third trimester I stopped vomming and made up for the food-less months. I ate everything and anything in sight. Copious amounts of it. More than simply eating for two. I put on a total of (if you include the weight I lost and then put back on again) about 30-something kilos. I weighed 92kg the day my Kid was born.
Vomiting and nausea sucks. Badly. Makes me totally hesitant when considering another pregnancy. What if it happens to me again? I don’t think I could bear that….
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