Intro and weird aversion question

HopeRoseTal

Hi!  

My name is Abby, I'm 36.  My hubs is 31 and we're FINALLY pregnant after trying for about 2.5 years.  Haven't been to the MD yet, appointment scheduled for a week from Monday.  We are thrilled but I am really, really struggling with the fatigue, nausea and vomiting.  I've been reading other people's posts and have been so jealous when reading how hungry people are  I've been trying to eat healthy, stay active, etc. but its not going so great.  Prior to this pregnancy, I was "pleasantly plump."  But worked out for around 1.5 hours/day, had a very active job (RN on a GenMed/Pediatric floor) competitive in sports, vegetarian, drank at least 2L of water.  We're not planning on telling people until at least 12 weeks and I'd like to ideally wait longer because we want to make sure everything is ok. 

I've had some aversions that I think are normal (coffee, tea, peanut butter.) But I've had no cravings and really not that much of an appetite.  I try to make good food choices but over the past 10 days have developed an aversion to water?!?  I can't even drink water infused with fruit. I just can't stomach the thought of it, much less force it down.  I'm not a milk or juice drinker either.  I've been drinking gatorades to stay hydrated, but I've always been a huge water drinker and this has been really bothering me.  Just wonder if anyone else has had this?  Or heard of it?  Its tough because since no one knows yet, I can't really ask questions...

Thanks!

lickastick

Welcome! I've read a lot of women have a water aversion in the 1st tri. I think as long as you are getting liquid in, ride it out and believe it will get better.  I love water and I would be so sad if I had an aversion to it, so I completely understand where you're coming from.

If it were me I would try to mix things in with water that don't have high fructose corn syrup. I'd try to go the more natural sugar route to the best of my ability, that's just my personal preference.

A lot of my teachers have told me in the first trimester just get whatever you can in your belly and do your best to survive!  The baby lives on the nutrients that are already in your system and it has everything it needs even if you are not eating well. A prenatal can help bridge the gap as well. 

Congratulations and please join our merry band of geriatric mamas!

redheadbride15

First, congratulations and welcome!

Second, from everything I've seen on these forums first trimester can do all sorts of wacky things so you're totally normal. I have heard one other person say that they couldn't tolerate water because it tasted metallic. There's no such thing as a weird aversion. I never had any specific aversions but what I could tolerate eating changed by the hour, or even the minute (I'd go to the cafe and buy a sandwich that I was craving for lunch, only to get back to my desk and find it the most unappealing and nauseating thing ever... so I'd go back and get something different but the same thing would happen again. After a month my office was FULL of food. 90% of it got thrown away.)

Staying hydrated is important, so just drink whatever you can tolerate. I've heard so many people say that first trimester is more about survival than nutrition. Just get some fluids and calories in you however you can, and try to take a prenatal vitamin. Best wishes to you!

Wyattnash00

Welcome and big congratulations!! My first tri was terrible, no aversion to water but I couldn't deal with any food. Nauseous all day, all of my favorite foods were repulsive, I couldn't even open the fridge, didn't cook for a month. My toddler ate Cheerios as its all I could stomach. The only thing that was remotely appealing was pb&j. I lost weight, but it went away and now I'm eating everything again. The baby will get all nutrients it needs somehow but most importantly stay hydrated with whatever you can!!

lillebowski23

Congrats! @HopeRoseTal I totally had a water averaion during the first trimester. I drank diluted ginger ale and diluted lemonade. Even now, I still drink diluted lemonade, it is so good! Welcome to the board!

JessTy3

Congrats and welcome!  What about lots of fruit?  Hmm... Maybe some ice pops?

Sporty1216

Congrats and welcome! 

I'll just echo everyone else and say it's all about surviving right now! I was starving the first bit of the first tri, but more nausea has been creeping in and I have now had a tummy bug on top of it. Water has sounded terrible, so when I called the doctor, the nurse told me to drink gatorade or whatever. I think I'm gonna jump on @lillebowski23 's diluted lemonade train too. That sounds awesome!

in any case, welcome to the board and hang in there! Your OB may have some more specific suggestions next week too!

Ssoccerball

@lillebowski23 , I drink diluted lemonade, too.  Not something that I would have thought to be very common, but it goes down easier than water and doesn't make me sick afterwards!

Ssoccerball

Also, welcome @HopeRoseTal.  Hope you are able to find something that you can handle drinking!  

emsmama15

Welcome and CONGRATULATIONS!!!  I'm the metallic tasting water girl.  BUT, the good news is that it only lasted for about 3 weeks and then I could drink it again.  Oddly, prior to this, I really liked room temperature water and now I only like it ice cold. Whatever, as others have said, first trimester is about survival.  I'm 12 weeks and as of last week, coffee is no longer something I can stomach.  It continually changes.  Best of luck!!  

bgf1

Congratulations and welcome.  I had a huge aversion to water and normally drink a tonne of water.  It was only once I was out of the  first trip that I could drink plain water again.  I cut my exercise intensity and duration down because I was worried about dehydration.  Just keep trying different liquids until you find one that works, I found peppermint tea, and orange juice watered down with seltzer were the only things I could drink for good two months.

BernieRae

Welcome and congratulations! It also took us  2.5 years (and finally IUI) to get pregnant. Long road!  I'm still liking water, but It's not doing it for me like it was before and I've noticed a difference especially in the last week (I'm 8 weeks). I've been craving lemonade so I've been making a very low sugar version with mostly water, the juice of one lemon and a spoonful of sugar. I used to drink a lot of low sugar Gatorade, but alas giving it up was one of many things I changed in the cycle that finally worked and now it seems I'm too superstitious to drink it. 

HopeRoseTal

Hi!

Thanks so much for all the affirmation that I'm not the weirdest thing that ever was! so nice to hear others have had this too.  I think my main problem with it was that I missed H2o so much.  I've always been the type to cart around my canteen wherever I went, now I can't look at it.  I was able to tolerate homemade lemonade last week, but that's done too now (uggghhhh-it's the constant changing) I wonder if it's because we "old" mommas are so set in our ways? 

Love the ideas about watering down juices, am going to try that today!

thanks again, am so happy to be here!

carrieandr

I was just like @emsmama15 -- I was always fine with room temperature water, but during the first trimester it had to be full of ice. I also did diluted lemonade here and there. And lots of peppermint tea. The lemonade and peppermint tea were for the chronic bad taste in my mouth. I tried gum, too. A friend recommended Icebreakers mints and that really helped. The flavor lasts a lot longer than gum.

Anyway, like everyone said, just eat what you can during the first trimester. If you go to your birth month board, you'll probably find that most people tolerate junk food better than anything else during the nausea stage. It's totally messed up. Nature is weird. Thankfully you will get hungry in your second trimester and be able to eat healthy again. The first salad I ate following the first trimester tasted absolutely amazing. Hang in there!

emgee27

Welcome! I'm a little late on the welcome wagon but so glad you updated and that you've found some beverages that work.  My midwife told me during the first tri not to worry, that the baby would take all the nutrition I had at my expense no matter what and would not be missing anything. So hang in there and get whatever you can in! 

tiffanyhr

Welcomes and congrats! Glad to have another AMA mama here! I can't relate to the aversions - apparently I just eat anything lol. I'd check with your doc about what else to drink - the diluted lemonade sounds good to me. Gatorade has a lot of sugar in it so if it were me I'd try some less sweet options as well.  Hope all goes well for you! This board is great for support and advice!

Glow360

Congrats, welcome and I'm so glad you posted. I'm now 7 weeks and have huge aversion to water. I'm extremely sick this week, like suffering crying sick. I actually puke when I drink water. I have aversion to all food right now too my sickness comes with horrible headache too. I read B6 helps, I took 50mg of B6 in hour ago and feel improvement already, b6 is water soluble so it's good when pregnant. I'm not sure if it works for sure yet. I was active too before symptoms, now I'm sluggish and can't do much besides be sick. Almost went to ER last night from puking so much after drinking just water, but fell a sleep on bathroom floor. 

redheadbride15

@Glow360 I'm so sorry you feel so awful! I hope the B6 works for you. If not then definitely call your doctor if you stay at the point where you can't keep anything down. There are safe and effective treatments for severe pregnancy nausea.

Ssoccerball

@Glow360 , I would second what @redheadbride15 said.  When I was pregnant with my DD, I was soooo sick.  I vomited after every meal and ended up in the ER to get fluids.  At 17 weeks, I told my doctor how bad it was and she said, "silly girl...why didn't you tell me earlier."  Then she put me on nausea medication and it changed my life.  I know, as pregnant women, everyone likes to avoid medication to the extent possible, but there is no reason to suffer like that if it can be avoided.  Hope you feel better, soon.

HopeRoseTal

@Glow360, like others have said, I would definitely speak to your MD if you're sleeping on bathroom floor I'm pretty familiar with dehydration s&s because of my profession (although confusion being one of the classic symptoms in the "elderly"  , maybe I wouldn't know if it actually happened Thankfully, today, water seems to be going down a little better. And I could always keep something down, I just personally didn't like drinking so much Gatorade, it's so sticky and chemically sweet.  I actually didn't like the watered down juice as much as I LOVED the juice smoothies (juice or lemonade blended with lots of ice) I actually blended in some cooled ginger tea with lemonade and ice and that was really great.

Glow360

The Vitamin B6 is helping, def cut the edge off of being sick. I'm still sick but not as bad. This morning I was able to get down a mix of cranberry juice and water, 24oz. I did, upon your advise, called my OB, who is prescribing something for back up. Told me I didn't need to "tough it out" and my aversion was too extreme. Haha, I just figured I was being silly, until I read this post. Thanks for advise!!