I discovered this post in my draft folder (it’s been about a year since I wrote it!) and figured I would share it now in case it can help anyone! <3
I want to preface this post by saying that these are snacks that specifically helped me (sometimes) to ease that yucky, nauseous, blahhh feeling that I had almost constantly through the first few weeks of pregnancy. (Morning sickness is such bad name for it and should really be named ALL DAY sickness). Obviously this is not going to work for everyone.
I’ve spent enough time googling “how to feel better when pregnant and feeling sick”, “how to deal with pregnancy exhaustion”, “how to get through a work day when pregnant” to know just how infuriating it is when you come across lists that say things like “get lots of rest”, “eat small frequent meals”, “take breaks and a nap at your desk” and you’re like - this is NOT helpful! Tell me something that’s actually possible!!!
So my sincere apologies if this causes that same kind of eye-rolling, frustrated reaction in you.
I get it, I understand that maybe you are just way too sick to even keep down any food, or that you might have food aversions and these things might sound disgusting to you. If that’s you I really feel for you and hope you feel better soon! **Hugs**
If, though, like me you’ve found that snacking does seem to (even just temporarily) make you feel a little better, I thought I’d share the foods I’ve been enjoying in case it could help you out a little too! These are pretty simple, easy snacks that are fairly light, didn’t make me feel too bloated and actually helped perk me up a little after eating them! Hopefully they can five you some inspiration if you’re in need of it!
1) Crackers - (Kraft Premium Crackers were my favourite)
Sometimes crackers were the only things I could really eat. I’d keep a packet in my bag and pull them out if I got really desperate, and having a little something in my stomach did seem to settle it a tad. I’d also snack on these as I was heading home from work.
The funny thing is that pretty much every tip you will read will tell you to nibble on “saltine crackers”. I had no idea what “saltine crackers” were and was like “well these ones seem to be somewhat working for me… later (like months later) I decided to google what saltine crackers actually were - and they are these exact type!!! :p
2) Trail Mix
The one I enjoyed had almonds, pepitas (aka pumpkin seeds), dried apricot and cranberry pieces and little white chocolate buttons. They were handy at work when I needed something I could grab super quickly between patients and would keep my stomach full(ish) for another few hours. Before figuring this out I would start feeling sooo hungry and gross before lunch time, but when I was able (sometimes it just wasn’t possible) to have a little snack mid morning it really did help me feel a bit better!
3) Carrot Sticks
Not much more to say about this but the fresh taste and crunchy texture helped a little!
4) Cucumber and Philadelphia Cream Cheese on Toast
I didn’t have particularly strong cravings for many things, but this was one of the few. There was something so so yummy about it! I think the freshness of the cucumber combined with the creamy-ness of the cheese! Also, for those of you who are feeling a little sad you can’t eat soft cheese, Philadelphia cream cheese is (kind of) a good substitute as it’s pasteurised and apparently pregnancy safe!
5) Frosty Fruit Icy-Poles
These were particularly good when I was feel my most awful and couldn’t stomach anything else. Cooling and a nice little sugar hit!
6) Scrambled eggs on toast
My mum kept telling me I needed to eat more protein and because meat sounded pretty unappealing, I figured I’d at least try and eat some eggs. They were actually really good on toast and this was definitely my go to dinner many nights.
7) Avocado on toast (basically anything on toast)
As you can see, toast was a common theme here. I think I ate a lot more carbs than usual but at least it was something! I found adding lots of lemon, pepper, a little salt and some chilli flakes made my avo toast particularly appealing.
8) Vegemite and butter on crumpets
I rarely eat crumpets so this was another random craving that I had in weeks 6-7 when I was feeling particularly awful. Something about the simple saltiness made me feel a bit better.
9) Potato gems (aka Tater Tots)
So bad but so good at the same time! I rarely have potato gems (although I always love them), but figured I would let myself enjoy them while pregnant. Not the healthiest of options but sometimes you just need some crispy potato goodness! I think I got this idea because Rory and Lorelai were eating them on Gilmore Girls and I was like “I need them!!!”
10) Homemade potato chips (for a healthier option)
Sometimes if I could be bothered (which was rarely to be honest) I’d make my own potato chips. Thinly sliced, drizzle with a little olive oil and a sprinkling of salt they were also really yum.
11) Fruit salad
A healthy and fresh option which I did try to eat as much as possible (although the potato gems and savoury things were much preferred!)
12) Pickles and Cheese on Crackers
This was towards the end of the first trimester. As you can see I was really enjoying all the salty, savoury things and I also really liked the sourness/acidity of the pickles!
Basically I ate things that are super easy to snack on and not too oily or heavy because they made me feel more sick. The first few weeks I felt so bloated and got full so quickly so it was best to just have smaller snacks that would fill my stomach and relieve that queasy sea sickness feeling (even for just a very little while!)
Easy was the key word too, because I was just too tired and couldn’t be bothered spending a long time prepping food! Tom was an angel and ended up taking over most of the cooking because I just couldn’t stomach it!
I didn’t realise at the time but pretty much all the foods I gravitated towards were savoury, I really wasn’t feeling the sweet things (except the frosty fruit icy-poles). Ice-cream and chocolate were pretty unappealing to me which is kinda interesting.
If you’re feeling nauseous and needing ideas of simple, easy snacks to try that won’t make you sick, then hopefully this has been a little helpful!
One last thing that I want to mention that I feel is SO important and that I felt there was very little advice on is how constant snacking or vomiting can affect your teeth.
I’m going to put my dentist hat on for a moment (for those of you who don’t know, I’m a dentist) because the number of patient’s I’ve seen over the years who say that it’s only since they got pregnant that their teeth started giving them troubles is huge. In my opinion, it’s not for the reasons that people often seem to blame it on (“the baby sucked out all the calcium” is a common phrase I’ve heard from older folks!), but really to do with the constant snacking, as well as the effect of vomiting - you’re basically bathing teeth in an acidic environment which leads to caries (decay).
So my advice is this (it’s nothing groundbreaking, but we all sometimes need a reminder) - after snacking always try to rinse your mouth out with water, and make sure you’re brushing at least twice a day. If you’re vomiting a lot, it’s especially important to rinse your mouth out well with water and wait a little while before brushing too. You can even do bicarb soda mouth rinses (mix about 1/2 teaspoon bicarb soda in warm water) to help make your saliva less acidic and decrease the chance of this causing decay.
Okay, dentist hat off now :p
If you happen to be pregnant too (or have been!) let me know what your fave pregnancy snack has been. (And if you’re feeling really gross right now, I really hope you feel better soon!)
As always, I’d love for you to come say hi over on instagram @laurennatalia.co and let me know if you enjoyed the post!
Lots of Love
Lauren
xxx