If you’ve been following along here (or on instagram) over the course of the last few months, you’ll probably have heard that Mark + I are expecting our first baby! This whole pregnancy journey has been a bit of a surprise and totally uncharted territory (as it is for all first time parents, I guess). In some ways it has been the absolute coolest and sweetest thing ever + in other ways, it’s been really hard.
If you read over my first trimester recap, you’ll have seen that I struggled with quite a few not so fun pregnancy symptoms. And before I dive into them, I want to acknowledge that it could have been a lot worse. I didn’t throw up once, which was such a blessing, but I also felt not at all like myself. Those weeks were such a mental battle, constantly teetering between allowing my body to rest + do its thing, but also trying to find things that would alleviate my discomfort + support all of the hard work that my body was doing.
While symptoms like muscle weakness, extreme constipation + nausea often took the wind out of my sails, I was able to reflect on how grateful I’ve been for a decade long chronic illness journey that has given me the gift of knowing how to really listen to my body during all of it. The silver lining!
And I’m also SO THANKFUL for the gift of Ultima. In full transparency, this post is sponsored by my amazing friends at Ultima, but I promise you that every single word + feeling is my own. Ultima and I worked together a few months before I found out I was pregnant + I had NO IDEA how life saving it would be to have their products on hand as my body (and its needs) started changing.
Let’s dive into HOW I managed my first trimester symptoms + also a few of my fave tips if you’re struggling with some sort of sickness too:
What symptoms did you struggle with?
You can read in depth about my symptoms in my first trimester in my recap post, but the hardest hitting players were: nausea, fatigue, muscle weakness + constipation. SO not fun.
What does morning sickness feel like?
Morning sickness feels a lot like having the stomach flu…just mostly the tummy part. I know that sounds like a really generic answer, but it’s the most likeness that I can think of. You know when you have the flu + your body is trying to decide if it’s going to throw up? Yeah, it’s like that, except that it lasts for hours (and for some, all day) for days or weeks or even months.
I was really lucky – my morning sickness/nausea was mostly confined to the first trimester and a few random bouts in the second. I’ve never actually vomited either, which, as I said is a huge gift + one that I don’t take for granted. But, morning sickness still sucks regardless of how intense or severe it is.
What causes morning sickness?
Honestly? This feels like a cop out, but in truth, the cause of morning sickness is unknown! Changing hormones are believed to play a role, but there’s not really an explanation for why it can vary so much between pregnancies!
Does every woman experience it?
Nope! Some women don’t experience any nausea at all, while some women have severe bouts of nausea and vomiting that can last their entire pregnancy! It seems that not even women who had nausea with one pregnancy are doomed to have it for their others. Every pregnancy (and it’s accompanying symptoms) are all different.
What did you do/eat to make it feel better?
Okay, so to be REAL honest: whatever the heck I could. I practiced deep breathing, TONS of resting + getting down whatever I could whenever I could.
I know some people really need bland, carby foods, like toast or pasta for weeks on end, but my body was a little different than that, ha! I definitely ate lots of toast while cooped up on the couch, but also my body fixated on new foods every day for my first trimester. So, on Monday I’d ONLY be able to even think about eating Thai food, that was all I could stomach. My handsome + understanding husband would order it, we’d eat it + then the idea of ever eating it again made me sick. The next day it might be Five Guys Burgers or soup? There was really no rhyme or reason, so I just had to ride it out.
I did find that avocado toast with fried eggs was the only regular food that I could eat almost all of the time + not be bothered, and so I literally ate it every day.
But I couldn’t go near coffee or cook vegetables or meat for myself. I know that some people really find solace in foods like ginger, but my MO was to just eat WHATEVER I could.
What happens when you can’t even stomach water?
Perhaps the “scariest” part for me of my morning sickness was the fact that regular water made me incredibly nauseous. I generally can’t drink water in the early morning for this exact reason, but in my first trimester of pregnancy, I really felt like this all day.
The reason this is scary is because your hydration needs only increase during pregnancy + my other symptoms (like muscle weakness + extreme constipation) only got WORSE from not drinking. I really was desperate to be able to hydrate myself + honestly felt so overwhelmed by it.
Were you worried that being dehydrated could hurt the baby?
MILD dehydration (like mine was) isn’t anything to freak out over. It mostly causes things like headaches or constipation or dry skin, but left untreated, dehydration that becomes severe during pregnancy, especially as the pregnancy progresses, can actually be quite dangerous.
Dehydration in pregnancy can lead to low amniotic fluid levels, which can affect your ability to carry to term and even play a role in your breast milk production.
Dehydration can also impact nutritional deficiencies during pregnancy which can affect both mama and baby. So, it’s safe to say that I KNEW I needed to figure this out.
How Ultima helped me survive my first trimester
Of course I spoke to my doctor/midwife about each and every one of my symptoms + unfortunately, the response was often, “that’s common during pregnancy, just do what you can.” And I was. I promise you, I was doing everything I could think of. But it wasn’t until one random morning when I stumbled upon my jar of Ultima tucked away in my cabinet that a light switch went off for me.
I wasn’t able to stomach water, use the bathroom regularly or even exercise because of my muscle pain and weakness. Ultima literally offered me a solution to every single one of those problems.
- Ultima tastes great: Even though regular water made my stomach churn, I could mix some Ultima lemonade into some ice water + suddenly guzzle the stuff. It was like magic.
- Ultima is FULL of electrolytes + minerals: Muscle weakness + aches are often associated with dehydration, but are also impacted by a depletion of electrolytes. Ultima killed both of those birds with one stone AND it contains magnesium, which in particular, is known to help with muscle issues.
- Ultima helped to get things moving: My constipation was pretty chronic + did require the use of a prescription stool softener, but Ultima is what helped to ensure that my electrolyte levels didn’t get off balance + also that I had an adequate amount of liquid in my system to combat the huge amounts of fiber I was consuming in my medication. I imagine that without it, my digestive issues would just keep getting worse.
Whether you’re also struggle with pregnancy related woes or if your sickness or annoying health symptoms are just a side effect of not drinking enough (which we all know is SO important), Ultima really could be the thing you’ve been looking for. Here are 3 of my fave ways to drink it that really helped me navigate such a hard season:
My favourite Ultima combos:
Lemonade Ultima + Decaf Iced Tea
Simply make some decaf tea + allow it to chill in the fridge. I love to steep 4 tea bags in a big jar of hot water to have extra servings ready to go. Once it’s chilled, I simply add it to a jar, mix in 1-3 scoops of Lemonade Ultima + give it a shake for a divine Arnold Palmer style drink. On days when water felt like a big no, this always sounded good.
Sparkling Water + Ultima of Choice
If I’m feeling fancy or if a still drink just isn’t doing it for me, I love adding Ultima to my sparkling water. I usually double the amount of water recommended + add in one serving of Ultima – any flavour works, but their new Mocktini collection is something special. (The Peach Bellini – OMG!) I tend to stir mine together rather than shake to save some of the bubbles in the sparkling water. SO GOOD + the bubbles really help with nausea too!
Ultima + ACV Drink
For when my stomach really wouldn’t settle, I loved to mix up a serving of Ultima (generally in lemonade again) with 1-2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar + 1 tsp of fresh grated ginger. The ginger helps to settle the stomach + the ACV helps with stomach acid production. It honestly also tastes like a kombucha! So good!
If I could, I would send each and every one of you + ANYONE pregnant a jar of Ultima because it really was that impactful for me. I don’t know where I’d be without the stuff.
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