All Day Morning Sickness - Meals to Prepare?

[Asha]

Ok, I have nausea all day. The whole name "morning sickness" is a lie!! :D It got really bad around 10 weeks and isn't getting better now that I am at almost 14 weeks. Its probably been 6 weeks since I prepared a real meal. Just the smells of food make me gag. Going grocery shopping is torture as being surrounded by all the foods just make me feel so ill, and I often vomit when I come home. I am resigned to the fact there are only a few foods that I can actually eat that don't make me vomit. Poor dh has been surviving only on frozen meals. I have tried to choose healthier and tastier options at Trader Joes but dh is getting real tired of it. I feel badly as he works 15 hour days, 6-7 days a week, so he literally has no time to cook.

So, my question is what foods can I try to prepare that won't make me sick? I am used to cooking ethnic, spicier foods and those are just too pungent for me right now. Help me think of ideas of meals that are easy and don't smell. This is more for dh to eat as I can't stomach much right now. Thanks! :)

Btw, the only food dh won't eat is pork.

[jimmysgirl424]

Asha There's tons of recipes for stuff you can make in the crockpot. I'm not sure there's much you can prepare that doesn't smell, cooking in the crockpot means you put the stuff in and don't have to look at it again at all and your DH can eat what he wants when he gets home.

[daisysue62]

No good advice for you other then maybe buy foods that are easy for your Dh to put together last minute. Does your Dh like vegetarian meals? It might be easier to make them since they don't involve smelly meat. Maybe veggie tacos, chef salad (use cold cuts for the meat), spaghetti without meat?

[juliemag]

Asha - you poor thing! Hang in there. I remember that phase *very* well. One thing that always threw me over the edge with nausea was raw meat (cooking/preparing) and the smell of onions & garlic. I think I was 5.5 months before I started eating normal again. Until that point though, I lived mainly on buttered noodles, peanut butter sandwiches, protein shakes, and cheese.

Unfortunately, my DH was on his own during that time, in terms of food. I'd come home and he'd have prepared dinner. And so many times I'd take some on a plate, eat 1/2 a bit and get rid of the rest. I agree with jimmysgirl on the crockpot idea - there is virtually no cooking involved on your part. Plus, you could save the leftovers and DH could eat it for a few days.

[jessesgirl]

Grilled chicken! I ate that a lot around the second month of my first trimester. When discussing it with other women I know IRL, I've found it was the same way for them. It just settled the stomach. I've also been told there's some sort of hormone in poultry that gives you a "good feeling," but as far as that being an old wives tale or what, I'm not sure.

I also agree with the above poster with peanut butter sandwiches and buttered noodles. Steamed veggies always sat well with me too as well as animal crackers. I still eat them as a snack at work when I start feeling hungry but it's not time for lunch yet. Ginger is also supposed to help ease the morning sickness, so I would stock up on ginger ale and maybe consider dishes that have ginger incorporated into them. I think there are even ginger supplements you can take. Starchy foods also help. Baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, noodles, etc.

Hope your m/s doesn't last much longer! I know I had to ease into eating spicier foods and red meats because it wasn't so much the morning sickness, but the heart burn that did me in!

[Asha]

thanks everyone for the advice on what would be ok for me to eat, but actually some of that stuff i can't stomach. i can't stand chicken right now even if it has been cooked ahead of time. unfortunately, i was told to avoid peanut butter bc i have a brother who is allergic. that is too bad bc i have been craving peanut butter with wonder bread for the past two days. ginger ale threw me over the edge - in fact almost all liquids do. i think i am getting enough liquids bc i having been drinking a lot of gatorade slushies (a tip i picked up on the hypermesis thread).

jimmysgirl - i may have to go buy a crockpot. i am trying to avoid buying things right now bc we are going to soon be in a downsized apt until after the delivery, but just throwing a bunch of stuff into a crockpot sounds easy enough and doesn't require much contact with the actual food.

daisy - oh, my dh can handle vegetarian bc that's how he grew up, but has turned into a carnivore and gets cranky if he goes too many days without meat. salad is a good idea since i won't have to heat anything up which is pretty much odor free. thanks!

julie - 5 1/2 months!!! oh gosh, i hope this doesn't last as long as yours did. you know up until very recently i wanted cheese all the time. now, i can't stand it. i should try drinking a protein shake in the a.m.

jessegirl - potatoes and noodles are a great idea too. no smell there as long as i don't add any garlic.

[TopDown]

I'm nearly 15 weeks and have been exactly the same as you. It's been getting better this week, but I've got to be honest, it's going to be AWHILE before my I "cook" anything beyond pasta. I honestly think I have cooking/eating PSTD. My DH knows that my dinner consists of yogurt and dry cereal these days, so unless that's what he wants, he's on his own. He works tons of hours too, but he gets it. If your DH bitches, just show him the bowl the next time you yak. He'll be reminded that he's much better off in his shoes than in yours!

How about stocking up on cold cuts for him? He can make a sandwich very quickly and those are (fairly) odor-free.

[Asha]

If your DH bitches, just show him the bowl the next time you yak. He'll be reminded that he's much better off in his shoes than in yours

maybe, i shouldn't flush next time and give him a surprise! :) yeah, he tries hard not to complain but i think his mother and i have spoiled him over the years.

[jessesgirl]

Asha, that really sucks that you are finding yourself so limited on what you can eat. I really hope it doesn't last too much longer for you. Thought I might add that macaroni and cheese really sat well with me too. Good luck!

[kimthebride]

Oh Asha, you must be a really, really nice person. :) I went through this for almost 5 months and basically DH knew he had to cook himself dinner or simply not eat, lol!

A few things that helped keep DH alive while i was Gag Reflex Queen:
- Grocery shopping online, so food arrives and your only exposure is throwing it into the fridge & cabinets
- Premade Meals from said grocery store. Mine does everything from roasted chickens to baked ziti to meatballs and side dishes. They are really good!
- If I had a time (an hour, whatever) that I felt ok enough, I'd prepare what I could so when he got home he still would have to cook for himself but do as little as necessary. Such as, put the pot on the stove, mix dry ingredients, set out his place setting, cut up/season what food I could, etc. This prep could save him a good amount of time and energy after his stressful day.

Can you pay a friend to make some meals and freeze them for you in single-serving sizes, then pop them in your feezer? You'd of course pay for ingredients, containers and whatnot. This way he is eating home-cooked meals but he just has to heat them up first. After going through what I did, I'd do this for a friend in a second.

Also, there are places you can order frozen meals and just pick them up. My friend due with baby #2 just did this to stock up for when they are too busy to cook. I can find the name of the company if you are interested.

[CarolinaGirl]

The premade frozen meals are a great idea. I've been nauseated too and the Stouffer's lasagne is easy for me to put in the oven without having to prepare a bunch of nasty meat for my husband (I'm not a vegetarian, but with this pg I may become one). Then I just make a salad. For myself, I've only wanted fruit, cucumbers, and salads. I've also eaten yogurt and cereal easily.

[Asha]

jessegirl - yup, i love macaroni too right now. though, i particularly like macaroni salad from the deli.

kimthebride - thanks for all the tips.

carolinagirl - yup, i pretty much don't want meat either. though, i do have cravings a few times a week for a macdonald's hamburger, so as soon as that strikes i go and make a run for mcd's bc i feel like i need to get in as much protein as i can.

***
i had a melt down this morning when dh complained again that i am giving him the same thing for lunch. he doesn't get it bc he's like "do you eat the same thing every day?" that's when i broke down bc he he has no clue as i have been eating the same thing. croissants and gatorade! now, i am just upset and i don't even feel like trying to make him something else bc i feel like that just reinforces his complaining. i am also really upset bc i had the worst case of vomiting i had so far last night and didn't even make it to the bathroom. i felt badly bc i had to clean up the vomit myself bc dh was at work. sorry for all the complaining. i am just trying to figure this out. i also feel really badly right now bc i am staying at home at the moment, and i really feel the least i could do is prepare meals for my dh.

[daisysue62]

I'd be mad if my Dh complained about eating the same thing every day when I had m/s! ALL I could gag down for two months were Cheetos and vegetable soup. That's it. Sometimes I would have Dh make me Pasta Roni and it would last me 3-4 meals because I could barely eat. I usually make Dh's lunch and when I was sick he just started buying them at the cafeteria which worked (though spendy). He did all the grocery shopping and cooked both his and my own meals for me. I literally couldn't even heat up soup in the microwave!

I was thinking about making a trip to Costco before the m/s hits me this time around (I'm fully expecting to be sick as a dog within a week or two!) and stocking up on frozen dinners for Dh and my brother who's living with us. I figured they're both capable of heating up a frozen chimichanga and my brother can actually do something with a frozen chicken breast. What I'm worried about this time around is feeding my toddler when I can't stand to look at food! I made a list of foods she eats for my Dh and brother so that if I can't think about food again they'll at least know what she likes. As a SAHM I do most of the baby meals so Dh knows some of what she eats but not everything.

[kimthebride]

Asha
You poor thing, it really sucks doesn't it.
I don't know your DH so I don't know what would work, but there has to be a way for you to get through to him that you are really sick. You are limited in what you can eat & do, and he needs to accept it and work with it.
Heck, I looked at my DH like a God because he almost never complained about my never (yes, NEVER) making a meal for him for months on end...and he even would make me Ramen Noodle before bed.
Ramen cooked fast, sat well and was salty enough to keep me in decent shape (relatively).

BTW: can I assume you have checked out the m/s and severe m/s threads for tips to try and help you feel a little better for now?

Take care.

[Kanga]

Huge Congrats to you!! I didn't know you were expecting!!

Dh is the cook in teh house, so when he's gone for dinner I can totally relate to your dh on how it feels like you eat hte same things over and over. The crockpot and frozen meals have definitely been lifesavers for me, and I think you should be able to get a crockpot for $20 or so.

The other night we had chicken with cream of mushroom sauce. Just put in how ever many chicken breasts you want (I can't deal with raw chicken, so we used frozen) a can of cream of mushroom soup, canned mushrooms, and some veggies (we had green beans, but you could do whatever). Your dh could even do this himself before going to work.

Chicken nuggets

Frozen pasta - stuffed shells, tortellini, ravioli, etc with spaghetti sauce or butter and garlic.

Along with deli meat, you could also get some ham salad.

Do you like apple butter? I lived off of peanut butter and apple butter sandwiches during the worst of my morning sickness.

Canned soup

Baked potatoes

Skillet meals - these are so easy, throw in a skillet, add water and stir. Again your dh could easily do that himself.

Do you think you could handle orange julius? Not the healthiest, but hey it's something different.

[Smittenk]

Asha, hopefully your nausea will fade soon...Mine went from about 6 weeks until 15 weeks and it was all day sickness too but especially after 3pm. Dinner did not exist for me and therefore DH either made a grilled cheese sandwich, pizza or heated up a convenience meal. Hopefully your "morning" sickness will soon fade and you two can get back to your normal eating pattern...in the end it will only be a few weeks he has to deal with non fancy food.

Although saying this, I am almost 21 weeks and DH still doesn't know if he is coming home to a good meal or scrambled eggs on toast...I feel like I have forgotten how to cook dinner since I was off of it for so long :p

[Asha]

daisysue - yup, i have stocked up on frozen costco meals. dh liked those frozen chimichangas for about a week. i wish dh didn't have such a stick up his arse about eating out. he would definitely have more variety if he just had take out for lunch. he works in nyc, so there are definitely a variety of take out options for lunch/dinner. i don't mind preparing lunch so much bc its mainly just cold foods that don't really smell.

kim - i'm glad i'm not the only one who hasn't cooked in ages. yup, i have lurked in your hypermesis thread, but haven't really posted there as i don't think i have it as bad as some of you gals. i was actually gaining weight in the beginning of the pregnancy (about 7 pounds), but now i've lost about 2 pounds in the past two weeks.

thank you, kanga. thanks for the list of foods. that was helpful.

smittenk - yup, like you its especially bad in the evening. that's the only time i really throw up. funny about the eggs and toast. that's what i was preparing my dh for awhile until it got worse.

***
well, i went today to get a crockpot. i ended up making cream of chicken. hopefully, the smell doesn't get to me too much as the evening progresses. if it does, i will just sequester myself to the bedroom. i figure i can boil some canned green beans and rice and that'll be the dinner. its enough for about 4 meals, so at least he's set for a few days. i also picked myself up some ginger and lemon cookies and ended up getting peanut butter bc its the only protein i can actually think of eating right now. i also stacked up on some mac n cheese for myself too.

i do have one worry. i am worried that this lack of good food is going to hurt the baby. i am worried that some of prenatals didn't even get absorbed bc i feel like i just vomited them up.

[roadrunner]

i do have one worry. i am worried that this lack of good food is going to hurt the baby. i am worried that some of prenatals didn't even get absorbed bc i feel like i just vomited them up.

It shouldn't. The baby will take what it needs from you, and you do still have lots of good in your body, even if your body does not feel very good right now. My OB said that you should eat or drink anything that you feel like having, just to get something in you.

And, FWIW, I had pretty severs Hyperemesis with both pregnancies, and did actually go days without eating during both, and I was 95 lbs when I found out I was preggo (my normal weight). I lost weight initially with both, and both babes were perfectly fine.

Try not to worry yourself, and just eat what you can, when you can. Oatmeal was a saviour for me!

I think your DH needs to be told that he has to become very self-sufficient over the next few weeks, because you are just not doing yourself any good worrying about feeding him, while you are so sick.

Take care.

[ejs]

I was sick from week 12 until the night before I delivered. There were very few foods I could tolerate, and that list changed throughout my pregnancy. DH was pretty much on his own when it came to dinner because we never knew how my body would react to food. And to be honest, we would have had a huge problem if my DH wasn't understanding about the whole issue.

Don't worry about not eating good, healthy food. Just eat what you can keep down. The baby will take all the nutrients it needs. I pretty much lived on carbs during my pregnancy. I had very few fruits and vegetables. I was very worried that the baby would be unhealthy, even though all my doctors assured me that he would be fine. My baby was born at 37w5d and was 7lb, 9oz and perfectly healthy. So even though I was sick for most of my pregnancy, he was fine!

[kimthebride]

True, true. The reason we look and feel like such sh*t is because these babies are cute little parasites sucking all the good stuff out of us no matter what we eat. So we may be a mess, but they come out fine! :)

[jimmysgirl424]

Asha, try taking your prenatals at night, preferably with a glass of milk if you can stomach it. Lots of women find more success taking them at night rather than in the am or during the day, particularly if the vitamins themselves were making them sick. I took mine at night from the beginning, right before bedtime.

I compiled all of our crockpot recipes from Thread 1. If you would like a copy of that document, just PM me with your email address and I will send it to you right away.

Another suggestion:

I wonder if you have a friend who would be willing to go to one of those places where you prepare a weeks worth of meals and take them home to stock your freezer with? I don't think it costs that much. That might help with the your DH feeling like he isn't getting any home-cooking. On that note, I really do think he needs the reminder that you are growing a human being inside of you that is literally a little parasite making you sick as a dog. For some reason, men at time have difficulty grasping that whole concept. :rolleyes:

Here are some other ideas as far as ordering meals online and having them delivered:

www.omahasteaks.com (they often have specials and give a big discount to first-time customers)

http://www.familychef.com/

www.dinewise.com

www.housespecials.com

www.zonechefs.com

[Asha]

roadrunner - its comforting to hear both your babies were fine.

ejs - i can't really stomach fruits and veggies either.

kimthebride - funny image of the baby as a cute parasite. :)

jimmysgirl - i am going to pm you for the crockpot recipes. thank you also for the list of home cooked prepared meals. my parents gave us some money to use as we needed for the pregnancy, so i am thinking of using that towards home cooked meals, though, dh will probably not want to spend the money on that. i couldn't convince him to use the money for a robotic litter pan for the cat.

**
well, yesterday was a day free of vomiting and little nausea for me. :D i still took it easy with food. today i am a ravenous beast and polished off a whole box of mac n cheese and ended up caving in to my craving for a 7-11 slurpee. i haven't had one of those since high school. i am afraid that my body is going to go on strike bc of all the food, but maybe its just trying to make up for lost food. i am not feeling that great after eating so much but i couldn't really stop myself since i felt so hungry.

my mil is going to be in town on weds. she may stay for awhile. at first, dh guffawed when i told him i was happy there would be someone to make him food, but i then lectured him after that and he saw that i was making sense. after all, his mother loves to cook him food. i probably won't be able to eat much of what she cooks bc she uses a lot of beans and spicy stuff, but at least dh will be covered.

[Sare79]

What i used to do was come home from the grocery store and prepare all the fruit and veggies into baggies and bowls so it was ready and portion the meat. I would also cook a pot of rice. I knew I would be throwing up anyways so I would just suck it up for the hour it took to do so and then my DH would have things to make a salad (which for him is tomato and bococini) or he would make fried rice to last a few days.

Hang in there! My morning sickness lasted until about 5 months and came back at the end, so I got used to trying to make it work, and I just ate what I could stomach. I always took my prenatal vitamins at night before bed, too. I think towards the end, all I had was orange juice and vanilla ice cream made into a milkshake.

[cr8zyforaf]

Oh you poor thing. DH was pretty much on his own as I was sick for about 7 months - I wanted to add that I took Flinstone vitamins as my body wouldn't tolerate the prenatals and I ate nothing but junk for 7 months (I could only tolerate cereal, milkshakes, more cereal) - I couldn't even look at meat or smell it cooking...

hang in there - soon this will be a distant memory!

[Asha]

sare - mmmm orange juice and vanilla ice cream shake sounds delicious. you are a brave woman to cook while feeling nausea.

cr8zyforaf - oh, that's so tough that it lasted 7 mos for you. i was wondering if i could just switch to regular vitamins as opposed to prenatals. i am going to talk to ob next appt anyways as dh is paranoid bc i switched to a prenatal without dha. i just couldn't tolerate the monster prenatal vitamins.

***
like jimmysgirl suggested i have switched to taking my vitamin at night before bed. that's when i took my vitamin before pregnancy. i just stopped doing it bc the vitamins come with all these weird instructions like no lying down for a half hour, etc.

****
well, dh is the pickiest of picky. i was so happy this a.m. bc i made something different for his lunch. i made a chef salad like a pp suggested. then he complains that he doesn't like cold meat. when did this happen? he has ate lunch meat in sandwhiches many times before. i am almost ready to go on a full fledged strike and not even prepare his lunches. he then complained about the crockpot chicken bc he said he doesn't really like reheated chicken either. he also complained that he didn't like the sauce. i ended up eating a bit of the crockpot chicken and i must say that it actually tasted good, imo. though, the crockpot did provide a bit of a light at the end of the tunnel bc he said that looks easy enough for him to do, and he said if i show him how to use it he will start making some meals in the crockpot.

so that's it. i am just going to make vegetarian crockpot meals, and if he complains about that. i'll insist we spend the money my parents gave us for a prepared meals or he is just going to have to fully fend for himself. my mom has said before i should just go and spend that money.

well, i did have a reprieve for a day or two and made sure to fill myself on food, but last night i was back to vomiting. i think i have decided i really just can't consume anything after about 3 or 4 p.m.

thank you everyone for your advice and support!

[Amuse Bouche]

Man Asha, you are a saint. I would have told my DH to suck it a LONG time ago.

Something I like making in the crockpot is chicken or beef with canned enchilada sauce, then you can make it into soft tacos.


We've been ordering takeout almost every night. I can eat, but part of my problem is that I never know what I'm going to feel like for dinner, so grocery shopping is a pain. (and if I don't feel like something I WON'T EAT IT).

[daisysue62]

I agree with the PP you're a SAINT! I already warned Dh that he'll be on his own for food soon and he gave no complaint. Has your Dh witnessed any vomiting/dry heaving episodes? I found that once my Dh witnessed a few of those he became a LOT more helpful and it's even carried through to this second pregnancy ;)

[scout]

I wonder if you have a friend who would be willing to go to one of those places where you prepare a weeks worth of meals and take them home to stock your freezer with? I was going to suggest that too. YOu wouldn't even have to get a friend to do it...for a small extra charge, they make the food for you.

http://www3.dreamdinners.com/images/english/theme1/home_content_feb07.gif

[Asha]

thank you everyone. i don't know about a saint bc i dont know if saints have a sailor's tongue. well, dh ended up eating the chef salad bc i wouldn't make him anything else, and he admitted to actually liking it. dh has asked his mom to come stay with us for awhile to take over cooking duties. she totally won't mind at all, but i am afraid she will be a bit bored here all day. i don't mind either as she isn't intrusive at all.

[jimmysgirl424]

Reading this thread has really reminded me of how spoiled our DH's get after we take care of them for awhile! Your DH sounds like mine, Asha, as far as being picky goes! Sometimes he'll eat food for awhile and then tells me he doesn't like it anymore and not to make it. And then he gets all huffy when I tell him how picky he is! :rolleyes:

Let me know if you want that word document of crockpot recipes. I know there are some vegetarian ones in there! And some links for you for additional vegetarian crockpot recipes:

http://www.recipezaar.com/recipes.php?categ=crockpot%2Cvegetarian

http://southernfood.about.com/library/crock/blveg.htm

http://crockpot.betterrecipes.com/crock-potvegetarianrecipes.html

http://www.a-crock-cook.com/crock-pot-vegetarian-recipes.html

http://www.cookingcache.com/cat/vegetarian_recipes/crockpot_recipes