How do you solve a problem like Morning Sickness?

It has been a looooong time since I have posted on here, and I apologize.  The bummer is, I have had all these new, delicious, healthy recipes to share as well as a few other things I have recently learned about health, particularly the vital role that estrogen plays in health.  However, the last few months have seen me struggling to just keep up with my family blog let alone get my basic daily tasks done.  The reason?  Morning sickness.

While it has been a very exciting time in our family getting ready to welcome cherub #2, morning sickness, for me, is far more than just "morning sickness".  It is a 24/7, puking-all-the-time, losing-lots-of-weight, and taking-multiple-trips-to-the-hospital-because-of-low-blood-pressure-and-dehydration kind of sickness.  Good thing I have my precious little cherub #1 running around the house to remind me just why I put myself through this.

So I have had some posts I've wanted to write, but have failed to find the energy to do so.  I tried some healthy and deeeeelicious recipes at the end of the summer that I had posted up on my fridge to remind me to share on this blog, but just looking at the recipes made the so nauseated that I threw them all away (I'm sure I will regret this someday).  So this post will simply be about a health topic that has consumed my life lately (morning sickness) and what I have been learning.....

Like I said, my morning scikness tends to be a bit more than just a morning barf session.  I feel like I have tried every single trick in the book to battle nausea: ginger, lemon, sour candy (which does help take the "edge" off for me a little bit), eating regular small meals, eating first thing in the morning, meds, essential oils, chiropractic adjustments, pressure points, massage, and so on and so forth.  While none has been a cure-all for me in the least, the two things that have helped the most that I would recommend to any sick pregnant momma are the following: zofran and acupuncture. 


Zofran:  The only medication that has successfully kept me out of the hospital (for the most part).  There are a few other nausea meds out there that doctors prescribe pregnant women, but I would recommend this over them all because it has definitely been the most successful at limiting the vomiting (it is the #1 anti-nausea med prescribed to cancer patients) and is very safe to take while pregnant with minimal side effects.  Hallelujah for Zofran!


Accupuncture:  Now this is a treatment I would actually recommend for many ailments beyond morning sickness.  I got acupuncture once when pregnant with my first child and noticed no difference so I never went back.  With this pregnancy, while I was in the height of weight loss and trips to the hospital to get IVs, my OB strongly recommended that I go get acupuncture treatments on a regular basis.  So I started going once a week and after two weeks, I was able to start eating and stop losing so much weight.  It really is quite miraculous!  In addition, I have been taking a few Chinese herb pills that have seemed to be a big help in conjuncture with the Zofran.  I really have been surprised at the results.  Plus, the treatments are so relaxing that I take a nice little snooze every time (and this coming from someone with a former needle-phobia).  So I would oh-so-highly recommend this form of therapy if you ever find yourself suffering from morning sickness that you just can't seem to manage or control.  Or, like I said, for any ailment, really.  My acupuncturist specializes in treating women with infertility issues and has remarkable success!  I also know people who's chronic pain is relieved from acupuncture or who are able to better fight off cancers with regular acupuncture treatments, so check it out!   


So there's my explanation for the long blogging hiatus, as well as a few ideas on how to manage morning sickness.  I can't claim to have the "cure", but find it interesting that I have found one western (modern) medical modality and one alternative therapy that have really made a difference in my health the past month or so.  I say, thank heavens for both.

And now that I'm going on 19 weeks pregnant and gaining back some weight and energy, hopefully you'll see me on here a little more often.......  :)