5 Tips to Surviving Morning Sickness with Other Children in the Home

There’s morning sickness, and then there’s morning sickness. I have the latter. You too??? Yeah. I have the all-day, can’t get food down, can’t sit upright or move, seriously-sensitive gag reflex and strong smell-aversion morning sickness. It’s leveled me and I literally spend every waking moment just managing the symptoms. Today, I am sharing 5 tips for surviving morning sickness with other children in the home. It is no easy feat, but it CAN be done with a little creativity.

This is where it gets real- I am not a first-time mom. I have other small children in the home and it isn’t easy coping with daily responsibilities right now. I have no other family in the area to help, so it’s still on me to get meals done, take care of the house, and continue to be a mom to those who are here. If you find yourself in a similar situation, read on!

Thankfully, I have older children who can help with chores and other tasks, but because I don’t want to overload them with unfair burdens, I have come up with a workable plan for each day until this passes. And I really hope this passes by the second trimester- but if it doesn’t, lol, I have a plan. ? Update— I’m in my 2nd. trimester and still have most of the lovely symptoms! Sheesh!

First, consider letting your kiddos in on the secret early if you haven’t done so already. You’d be amazed at how supportive they can be. Discuss with your husband what you want and need, and brainstorm solutions together. Having your family’s support can make all the difference. Because I felt SO awful in the beginning, we told our children right away so they could understand why mom was so sick. For me, this has been a lifesaver this time around- my 17-year-old has been a wonder at helping with chores, my 12-year-old has stepped up to help prepare breakfasts and lunches, and my 8-year-old has been my mate as far as grabbing items I need or helping do quick clean ups around the house to keep things in order. When they see me pale and haggard looking, they have been so kind and supportive, often telling me to go lay down and that they ‘will handle it’.

Second, Running errands is not regularly in the cards right now, so I have successfully utilized doing the majority of our household and grocery shopping through Amazon Fresh for prime members. Let me just say, what a game-changer! I will continue with this long after the morning sickness is gone, let me tell you! If you can get it in the grocery store, you can get it through Amazon and Amazon Fresh. Groceries and household goods are delivered 2 days after your placed order right to your doorstep. This includes frozen foods and fresh produce! LIFE CHANGING.

I have a large family, and we homeschool so, grocery shopping really is a chore that takes about 3 hours from start to finish when I have to get to a store, sometimes longer depending on who is with me and how long the lines are. With Amazon Fresh, I place my order in my PJs while drinking my coffee, or lately, eating saltines and popping Zofran. I don’t have to fight for a parking space, stand in long lines, or load and unload my groceries multiple times before they are in my fridge. The children help me bring everything in and we put it all away. Voila! Their customer service is GREAT. Refunds are pretty straightforward. If a mistake is made and they are quick to ensure that you are completely satisfied. The only downside so far has been that if you have missing items, they can only refund you. They cannot replace your order and send replacements. This means you have to get your refund and replace the order yourself on the website. It can be inconvenient if you were planning on spaghetti and meatballs that night only to find that your meatballs didn’t arrive. This happened to me and I had to wait a couple hours for my refund, replace my order and rearrange my menu plan a little for the week. Again, it was no big deal, but just know that it can happen, especially if something goes wrong with the delivery times, if a truck is running late, etc. Amazon will NOT bring you an order or specific items that have been sitting past a certain length of time at their delivery center because they want your products to be fresh. While it could be inconvenient for this to happen, I kind of like that they are that committed.

*If I happen to need something that I forgot with my Amazon order right away, then my dear husband gets a text with a list and he picks up what I need on his way home from work.

Third, I set up camp on the couch in the living room OR in my room- lately I have been in my room more because it is in close proximity to the bathroom and this leaves the half bath downstairs for the kiddos. Gatorade, saltines, a small trash bin, a cool cloth. For some reason a fan gently blowing on me is helping, so that gets set up too. Blanket, pillow, laptop, books and certain homeschool supplies are in a basket so that I can continue to give lessons, check schoolwork and go over grades with the older kids. Play-Doh, activity books and art supplies are at the dining table all day. The littles can play and I can still watch over them. Or we have lunch trays that we keep on my bed for Lil Miss to be able to play next to me. My older kiddos have a schedule to follow with their schooling and they have a few check-in points with me throughout the day so that I can review their progress. I also have educational videos in our watch lists on Netflix and Amazon so that the bad days are not a total loss.

Fourth, Chores do actually still get done. But not perfectly or like normal. My two oldest boys are my main men in this area. They have zones they are in charge of every day. I still try to handle laundry and bathrooms. I give my 3-year-old a cloth and she ‘dusts’. My 8-year-old is in charge of the dining table, picking up toys and using the dust buster for stairs and floor edges. It’s like a game for him, he loves his dust buster and I love having dog hair and small debris cleaned up. I’ve learned to just let go of my crazy and be thankful that my kiddos and husband are helpful.

Lastly, Meals have become VERY simple here. Due to smell aversions that send me running to the bathroom, I haven’t been doing much cooking. My husband generally helps with dinner. Because it is summer, we have been enjoying lots of salads and sandwiches and grilled foods. I keep a variety of loaves of bread and cereals, fruits and smoothie ingredients on hand for breakfasts. I bought ‘warm and serve’ foods for the kids to make in the microwave for lunches, they love it because I normally don’t buy these items.

Ravioli, spaghettios, chicken tenders, various lunch meats for wraps, snack veggies, and fruits, crackers, hard cheeses, yogurts… anything that makes meal prep easy, it is in our pantry stock right now. One night, we sliced up some wonderful rosemary olive oil bread. We toasted it and served it with cheese and fruit for dinner. It was so good, yet so simple. Another night, we set out a huge bowl of chopped salad and various toppings for a make-your-own-salad bar. Some kiddos grabbed tortillas and made some really creative wraps. Of course, there’s been a couple of pizza nights too. Right now, I just need simple and I can’t tolerate cooking. Update- I am now able to prepare meals, mostly with the crockpot! Yay for progress!

Because none are working for me right now, lol. NONE. Ginger, lollypops, hard candy, peppermint tea, Unisom, and B6- NOT working, dry toast… nothing. Saltines and Gatorade don’t help my nausea, but they do serve to replenish me as needed. I also have popsicles in the freezer that are very refreshing on an especially hard day. JELLO is my best food friend. Just like my last pregnancy, Zofran has been the medication that has helped me most. It allows me to keep food down. If I push too hard and am moving too much, I still end up throwing up. But as long as I am slow moving, I can keep small amounts of food down at a time.

Be kind to yourself, to your body and to your baby. If you don’t have older kiddos to help, then set up camp. Delegate to hubby and anyone else who is willing to help. Allow yourself a little breathing room while your body does the miraculous task of creating life. If it’s one thing I know after having so many babies, it’s that this is such a very short season. I’ll see you on the other side!