I’m going to start this post by saying that I know it could have been a lot worse. I got off pretty easy compared to a lot of women.

That being said, I’ve never constantly felt so sick for that long in my life.

At weeks 5, 6 and 7, it was mostly the extreme fatigue that was knocking me on my butt. I would go straight from work to my shower to my bed. I would be asleep by 8:30 or 9 PM; my usual bedtime was around 11:30 or midnight (sometimes even later). Between weeks 7 and 8, the nausea kicked in. I went from feeling fine on a Friday to being in bed literally all day long on Saturday.

When the work week started that following Monday, I brought red beans and rice for lunch. You know, the usual. And I ate the whole portion.

I quickly learned that I could no longer eat a full lunch. And to the porcelain god, I begged for mercy.

This was a big adjustment for me. I’ve never been a picky eater, and I couldn’t eat the “complex” food I was used to.

I could eat:

• Hard boiled eggs with Sriracha sauce (two every morning and one before bed)
• Seafood (baked fish, shrimp, etc). Couldn’t get enough!
• Toast
• Crackers
• Brown rice with black beans
• Steamed spinach in soft taco wraps
• Plain steamed vegetables (broccoli, mashed potatoes, baked potatoes, mushrooms etc.)
• Salad with balsamic vinegar and pepper (no salad dressing)

I couldn’t eat/drink:

• Any of my mom’s cooking (stews, gumbo, casseroles, etc.)
• Anything that was a prepared “dish.” I could only handle simple food.
• No sweets. YUCK! And I’m usually the person who makes the treats disappear in the office…
• Any meat. No chicken, sausage, ground meat. Nothing!
• Leftovers more than once. Normally I would eat every last bite of leftovers!
• I also couldn’t drink any liquid besides water. But not plain water – it was gross. I drank lemon water all day, every day. Goodbye, tooth enamel…

I ate small meals every two hours, and that helped to alleviate my nausea. I was always nauseated, but that strategy made it manageable. I also bought Seaband pressure point wristbands; I’m sure it was all in my head, but I think they helped a little for the really bad days.

Like I said, I was one of the lucky ones. It wasn’t so bad that I needed medication or a hospital stay. Thankfully, the nausea wore off around 13 to 14 weeks. Now that I’m in the second trimester, I feel better than ever, and the nausea is becoming a fading memory.