Surviving morning sickness with older kids « Back to Group Discussions

[springmum]

Just wondering if anyone wanted to share tips for how to survive this with older kids around (and all the responsibilities that go with that)

My nausea is full time job in itself - if I ignore it or am too busy to deal with it, things get bad very quickly. If I stay on top of it I can manage okay - but my poor 3.5 yr old son is having a hard time with his usually energetic mama struggling.

Some things that we're trying

- more reading (but what is it about close personal space that makes me more nauseous!)

- more crafts, playdoh, painting (okay really it's just me throwing out a bunch of stuff and seeing if it's interesting!) 

- dress up games seem to be fun right now 

- I almost gave him a bowl of rice to experiment with, but the cleaning after didn't sound fun...

We're a t.v. "light" family - so I'm trying to keep that consistent, b/c DS's behaviour really deteriorates with too much t/v, so I'd like to keep him away from it if I can.

Anyone else finding some things to keep the older kids entertained?

[zubeldia]

I'm really struggling. I do work full time, too, so when I get home I am thoroughly exhausted. Honestly, I feel horrible about it, but DS has turned into a TV addict over night. My husband takes him out and plays with him as much as possible but Shaun the Sheep is on a lot. We do snuggle while he watches but I don't feel good about it. I have had hyperemesis a couple of times (including a pregnancy I lost) and it looks as though it's happening again. I say do what you need to do. Your LO will survive. Look after yourself, mama.

[Angelorum]

yeah, way too much tv going on here with the exhaustion :( I can't nap when he naps, because I'm a student and have to do my homework while he's asleep, so I end up turning on netflix and sleeping on the couch for a couple hours a day.  I'm not terribly nauseous yet as long as I stay on top of eating, but I'm soooo tired. 

DS did have a great time the other day throwing me a ball while I sat on the couch.  He was more than happy to run around and get it whenever somebody missed a catch. 

If it was warmer, I'd be sending him outside on our deck to blow bubbles or play with a little water. 

I built him a fort with blankets in the living room the other day, he wanted me in the fort with him, but at least I got to lay down. 

I really want to get one of those tension rod pull-up bars, and install it low in one of our doorways for a while, he loves hanging and swinging on railings by wheelchair ramps. 

He loves to color with me, and he's really interested in writing, so I write his name or other words for him.  He also likes me to help him type words on the computer. 

He likes to play games at the sesame street website, but I don't count that as being much better than tv. 

He also likes to make phone calls with me.  We call my mom or one of my sisters and put the phone on speaker. 

[pregnova]

For the entirety of this pregnancy thus far, we've been living near extended family that hasn't seen ds in a LONG time, so I've been literally handing him off for hours at a time. They don't know yet about the pregnancy...and 'hopefully' will stay in the dark for a while longer, but I'm trying to rest as much as possible while I have this extra help. 

The mornings are particularly rough for me as ds wakes well before I'm ready (though a normal time) and I'm hit by full-on nausea the moment I wake up which makes dealing with his 100 various first thing in the morning needs very difficult. I've started relying on his computer (yes, he has one of his own and a while back we taught him how to get back and forth between a few favorite websites with shows and games on them) and the morning shows on Nick. It takes me a few hours to be honest before I can act more 'normal', so we do a bit of cuddling to Dora while I struggle to get down some breakfast. We ordinarily avoid the tv...not so much because I dislike the shows, but more because of all the commercials/advertising, but I just don't care in the mornings anymore. lol

We also do a lot of ball rolling....or throwing...and being outside does help me, so we bundle up and trudge out to the park even when it's snowing. Also a lot of coloring. We also keep up with storytimes, and I try to get us out of the house at least once a day just to give me some distraction from the nausea. 

My hubby works from his computer, so he's also home all day...although not so helpful with actually PLAYING with ds, it's nice to just be able to nap if I need it and know that at least the house won't be burnt down!

[OrangeMoon]

Just commiseration here. It was 60 today and I was too tired to take DS to the park for the first time this pg, boooo. Insert Mama guilt. Hugs all around! I'm trying to remember this is a small price to pay for a short amount of time, for the awesome long term award of another sibling <3

[Pinkbruise]

So last week I watched Thomas with my 2 year old, and my 6 year old home from school sick playing computer games.... laying on the couch miserable.  

In two weeks I lost 6 pounds.  The only thing that helped my nausea was sleeping.

So yesterday I called my OBGYN and was able to get an afternoon appointment and came home with zofran.

I feel human again.  I ate dinner last night, and breakfast this morning!

I was really hoping to get through this pregnancy without taking any medication... oh well

[springmum]

Well my DS got to watch 1.5 hours of t.v  while I napped beside him on the bed....now if I could just teach a 3.5 year old to cook....

[roses25]

I work full-time during the day.  I've felt more exhausted with this pregnancy than with my DS.  The vommiting has started in a little bit and my DS just stands next to me and tells me, "Mom, it's okay."  Sometimes he'll get a book to read and tell me he'll read the book to me so that I'll feel better.  He's doing pretty good with it at this point.  He'll be 3 in May, and has started to outgrow his nap.  So on the weekends I've had to set him up with netflix and take a little nap.  We normally don't do much tv at all either.

Carolyn

[OkiMom]

I have a 5yo, a 3 yo and a 1 yo. Its hard to keep up with the three of them and get things done around the house with the morning sickness rearing its ugly head..

Things Ive done:

- seriously lowered my cleanliness standards for the house. Its a disaster but I can clean when I don't feel this bad!

- A lot of frozen meals- not the best but they work right now

- easy lunches (peanut butter and jelly for the kids, small salad for me)

- little outside activities, sounds bad BUT it will work for now.