PB Pregnancy Question! page

[shiningprimal]

Hello! I am 7.5 weeks pregnant and have been extremely nauseous for the last 2.5 weeks. I've been eating crap (grains and dairy mostly) because it's all I"ve been able to stomach. I can tell I'm gaining some weight although I feel it is likely at least large part water weight.

Eating crap hasn't helped or hurt my nausea so I think after a brief vacation I'm ready to try getting back to eating primally - if I'm going to be nauseous anyway, might as well be eating the right stuff, right?

What I'm wondering is this: Does anyone have experience with a brief tough patch in pregnancy and then got back on track? Will the water weight go away? Will I still reap the benefits? Or are my hormones too out of whack at this point to see any physical benefits? (I'm not looking to lose weight - just make sure I'm only gaining what I need to and not retaining water).

THANKS FOR ANY THOUGHTS!

[Emseven]

Hey there,
I'm around 25 weeks along, and I had some pretty bad morning (read: all day) sickness in my first trimester. This is my second pregnancy, and I actually had it worse with the first.
I too fell way off track, since rice and oatmeal went down and stayed down, and I had aversions to many of my normal primal foods: eggs, raw veggies and chicken all repulsed me. It was a problem. But it went away in my second trimester, and I was able to get myself sorted out.
Here's one funny trick that helped me -- a shot of apple cider vinegar. Stopped some pretty bad nausea in its tracks. Might not work for everyone, but if you think you can handle it, it might be worth a try. And I found that having something, anything, in my belly helped keep me from feeling too bad.

You can definitely get back on track. The huge benefit of eating primal during pregnancy is that you'll be ensuring that you're getting a wide range of good stuff from all the nutrient-dense foods. My doctor has always been very impressed with my blood-work. (My answer: "Well, I eat a lot of red meat!") So without getting carried away (eating for two is a fallacy) I wouldn't worry too much about your weight gain. And you probably won't lose the water weight until after you've delivered, to be honest. Retaining water is a pretty common pregnancy symptom. You may just have to make peace with being puffy for the next 30-odd weeks. Sorry.

Personally, I tend to put on a lot of weight at the beginning -- a pound a week for the first 15 weeks -- and then slow right down. To the point that my OB was concerned last time that the baby wasn't growing towards the end. He WAS growing just fine, thank you very much, *I* was just tapping my own fat stores. In light of Mark's recent post on how women store fat, it makes a lot of sense, actually. But also remember that every body is a bit different.

And breastfeeding, if you're planning to do it, really is great for burning through your fat stores later.

Congrats and good luck!

[shiningprimal]

Thanks so much for the info! Yeah, this is my first pregnancy (primal or otherwise) so I'm still kind of battling the whole "crap I'm already gaining weight thing" - you're right: I just need to relax, do my best, and embrace the changes.

Veggies (most - cooked any way) are my big repulser right now. Meat I can do sometimes and luckily eggs and fruit still work. Nothing really tastes THAT great but it does help to eat.

That's interesting about the cider vinegar - how long did it stop it for? (I'm picturing shooting vinegar all day!)

Did you find breastfeeding helped the fat come off fairly steadily? Did you have any trouble getting back to primal post delivery? Thanks again for your thoughts!

[Dr. Bork Bork]

I'm 20 weeks along, and protein powder/smoothies were my savior. Also sludge (greek yogurt + chocolate protein powder + nut butter). Also crystallized ginger was fantastic as well.
Organic Crystallized Ginger - Crystallized Ginger

I understand that you're in survival mode right now (I'm just coming out of mine and starting to eat veggies again without gagging-- yay!). It's no fun. Try to stick with primal foods you can stomach.

[AyaPapaya]

Sorry, but for most women, pregnancy = water retention

Focus on keeping ANY real food down that you can. IMO staying hydrated and nourished is more important than sticking to a particular way of eating. If all you can keep down is grains and dairy, then rock that out until you feel better!
Plus, you'll most likely only deal with the morning sickness and nausea for the first three months, and then you'll be back in the game.

For what it's worth,
I had extreme all-day sickness for the first six months of my pregnancy...and all I could keep down was dry cereal and peanut butter sandwiches. Really.
Since the six month mark when my nausea finally went away, I've been able to get completely back on track with healthy eating.

[teach2183]

Try not to stress about the weight gain. Eat what you are craving and can keep down, because that's what your body needs.

I gained "too much" with both of my pregnancies. But with my youngest 2yo and still nursing, I'm back to where I started before either pregnancy. Everyone has different experiences with weight gain, but as long as baby is growing that's all that matters!

[Emseven]

Re: the ACV -- it totally stopped the nausea with one shot first thing in the morning, and then I was able to eat something, which settled my stomach. I still felt a touch queasy throughout the day, but I found as long as I had a bite of something in me, I was better. You may have to play around with what works for you.

In terms of getting back to primal post-delivery, it definitely helped that it was already my family's way of eating. We'd stocked the freezer with premade meals, so those initial days and weeks when it's so difficult to even consider making dinner were all taken care of. That's not to say we didn't take advantage of the food that our family and friends brought over. When you've got a newborn, you aim for "as good as we can" not "perfect."

Breastfeeding worked great for me -- the weight came off slowly and steadily. I will say, though, that I believe (from what I and my friends all experienced) that it actually causes your body to hang on to a bit of extra fat, you know, just in case; your body prioritizes feeding the offspring, as it should. So when I finally weaned the little guy, those last 5ish pounds finally came off, too.
Just remember you're in this for the long haul. Your good nutrition will set you up for long-term success.

[sunnysara]

I'm 14.5 weeks along and finally feeling better! There is hope for you!!! I had a rough weeks 6-12... very nauseous and tired. I found myself craving milk too. I mostly drank grass-fed whole milk and cream. I'm still loving the cream, but milk sounds horrible. I also found myself wanting a lot of carbs (or more than usual)... I tried to stick to fruit, potatoes, sweet potatoes but I've found myself eating rice a few times per week. I even caved and bought (gasp!) rice cereal. ;-)

For me, focusing on what TO eat versus what NOT TO eat has helped a ton. I'm loosely following the Weston A Price pregnancy diet. Mostly, I'm trying to make sure to get all the important nutrients in (without worrying too much about some extra dairy or carbs). Chris Kresser has some info on pregnancy nutrition too (I think he did a guest post on MDA not too long ago).

Liver and cod-liver oil have made me want to gag, but they're actually tasting OK now. I'm trying to get plenty of seafood, grass fed beef (I still cannot stomach lamb!), vegetables & healthy fats. I need to make some bone broth too (so hard in the summer!). And, again, I'm not freaking out if something "non primal" falls in there every once and a while.

[sunnysara]

Also, don't worry too much about weight gain... especially if you are eating healthy-ish! Your body will tell you how much it wants. With my first pregnancy I gained 42 pounds & lost it all in the 1st year (breast-feeding). With this pregnancy, I haven't gained as much weight so far, but I'm showing already!

[NZ primal Gwamma]

Shining primal how fantastic. Congratulations on your predicament and enjoy. At the time - pregnancy seems like forever, but looking back at my 8 x pregnancies....it all went in the blink of an eye.
Don't stress. Get that great natural food into your system, and just take the changes as they come. Don't expect too much while you are pregnant except to keep well. Walk a bit, enjoy the "D" and really enjoy this time with your man. Cos once this little bunchkin is here - 2 becomes 3 !