Morning Sickness, Be Gone!

When I found out I was pregnant with baby #2, I was ecstatic! My previous pregnancy with daughter #1 went by without a hitch—no morning sickness, easy progression, minimal swollen ankles, textbook labor—so imagine my dismay when at 8 weeks with daughter #2, I found myself having debilitating bouts of nausea. 

The dreaded morning sickness reared its ugly head from then on to halfway through my fourth month. Just feeling the vibrations of pushing a cart through the grocery store was enough to send me into gagging mode—bumps on the road, getting up suddenly from a reclining position or even just seeing the swaying motion of clothes hanging on a store rack were enough to make me want to close my eyes and brace myself for another series of queasiness and gagging. 

I felt weak, unsteady and already at the point of mentally telling myself that this little one would be my last.

At the peak of it all, I sent an online shout-out to my fellow moms and begged for remedies (homemade, store-bought, mental exercises or otherwise) and got the following list that helped me through my morning, afternoon and evening sickness. 

I hope this helps all you struggling moms out there!

1.     Nibble on crackers: the dry, starchy kind helps neutralize stomach acids

2.     Eat several small meals a day: six small meals a day are better than three big

     ones and kept my hunger pangs and sugar level at bay. A hungry stomach is a

     queasy stomach.

3.     Avoid oily, fried and hard-to-digest food: your stomach is already in turmoil, keep your meals simple and easy-to-digest (ie: fruits, steamed vegetables, simple sandwiches, bran muffins etc)

4.     Eat hard candy: citrusy hard candy or lollipops that can be sucked through bouts of nausea really help control the urge but caution to eating too much of the sweet sugary kind—stick to natural and organic, if you can. Or better yet, freeze natural citrus juice in an ice tray and slowly suck on a cube when nausea strikes.

5.     Lessen or better yet avoid stress: stress has been known to trigger gastrointestinal symptoms and increase stomach upsets

6.     Take plenty of liquids: Do this especially if vomiting, to replace fluids lost. If liquids are the only thing you can hold down, make sure you’re getting as much nutrition as you can from each glassful. Try soups, broths, fruit or vegetable juices even milk shakes. But if liquids make it worse, stock up on food with high-water content in the form of fresh fruits and vegetables—melons, oranges, apples and the like, served cold, can alleviate the symptoms.

7.     Drink ginger tea (aka Salabat) : the cool, soothing taste have helped a few moms ride through this phase. Do it at home by steeping ginger slices in hot water for 3-5 minutes--depending on how strongly you like it--then sip slowly for relief.

8.     Use aromatherapy: for smell-sensitive moms, please test this first before going all out but it’s been known that peppermint essential oil can alleviate the effects of a queasy stomach. Place a few drops of oil in a large bowl of hot water. Rest beside it and breathe in (hehe, do NOT drink) leisurely. You may also use an aromatherapy diffuser.

9.     Rest up: your pregnant body is working overtime right now (and getting used to an onslaught of hormones) so get a few extra hours of sleep and relaxation to help your body do its job of preparing for baby.

10. Lastly, focus on your growing baby: you'll be seeing her/him in a few more months--this will all be worth it, believe me!

            

The (Maternity) Transformers

Your changing body doesn’t have to mean a major change in wardrobe. As the weeks start whizzing by from the first moment your pregnancy test comes back positive, you don’t have to spend big bucks on clothes you’ll only be wearing for a few months.

These three clothing gadgets can transform what you already have and give your existing wardrobe the mileage you’ll need to take you practically through the whole nine months (and beyond).

1. The Bra Extender

            As your belly grows, prepare to have cleavage (that is, if you don’t already have one!) on the horizon. Add a few precious inches of breathing room to bras you already have with this ingenious piece of fabric.

Armed with extra hooks and eyes, the extender easily attaches onto the bra’s back closure and accommodates the natural blooming of a mom-to-be’s body.

As the mom’s body expands to prepare for the baby—and breastfeeding—then normalizes after weaning, your bra does too! Perfect during and after pregnancy. They usually come in sets of 3 of nude, white and black of varying widths. Available at Maidenform or your local bra distributor, I found cheaper versions at Sogo and Bench outlets.

2. The Belly Belt

As waistlines stretch beyond your roomiest pair of jeans, this mommy invention will help take you through the most awkward stages of pregnancy with just a button and a tuck.

The Belly Belt Combo by Fertile Mind is the brainchild of an Australian mom who didn’t want to invest a lot of money on maternity wear. The result: a practical belt/fabric panel combo that attaches to the top button (or slide fastener) of your regular pants, skirts or shorts and discreetly covers the exposed tummy area with a fabric panel.

Just match with a flowing blouse or long top and voila! you’ve got bottoms from your closet that still fit! Each pack comes with three fabric panels (denim, black and white) and four fabric belts (2 with buttons and 2 with slide fasteners).

It’s a little pricey but a must-have when it comes to easing you into your new body. Check out http://www.belly-belt.com, just click on the Find Store button for the country you’re in for the store in your area.

3. The Tube Top

Ask any expecting mom about her shrinking top collection and you’ll find that at least half of her tops will be useless by the time baby’s 5^th month rolls around.

The answer: the simple tube top. A stretchy tube top that covers the whole torso (pre-pregnancy) can go both ways: as a bra alternative or as a tummy cover-up.

For the latter, layer the tube top under your favorite shirt/blouse and “lengthen” the hem of your now too-short top. 

With the bottom part of the tube top peeking out from under your regular shirts, a two-layered look is created—effectively hiding the tummy. Yay!

This goes hand-in-hand with the Belly Belt since this hides your bursting zipper closure. Play around with colors and prints for more variety. Find these at your local department stores (or your closet!) and buy their biggest size to take you through the next trimesters.

Back From The Dead

I'm baaaaack! The year 2010 was but a blur in this mom's eyes since that was the year I became a two-time (or is it second-time) mom! Found out I was pregnant in January, thought we were having a boy in May then had a bouncing baby girl weighing 6.12 lbs in September!

We are in love once again and named our newest cutie, Maja (pronounced Ma-ha) which means sweet, charming and "cute" in Spanish. A name that fits her so well, we credit divine intervention for giving us the perfect moniker (Maja at 3 months is pictured below with my then sleep-deprived husband).

To keep you, my one and only follower, up-to-date, I have kept myself busy these past few months writing for an online website which translated my entries into four different languages (woohoo!). Hence the year-long absence since I figured writing for bucks was a pretty good reason for the hiatus.

This is all very exciting, of course, but wish I could understand my published blogs, hehe. Yahoo! Asia published 12 of my blogs in their BabyCenter website and can be read in Indonesia, HongKong, Taiwan and Thailand! Amazing.

To date, they were published last July, August and September 2010 so it's safe to say I can finally post them here in easy-to-read English! Yay! Please excuse the slight change in tone since I had to write it in translatable (fewer slangs, less expressions) English. So please read on, my faithful follower. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoyed writing them.