Ginger! Ah, ginger, proclaimed by so many to be the One True Cure for morning sickness!
For my experiment I bought Ginger Altoids, ginger ale, and crystallized ginger. I also baked ginger snaps with extra ginger, made a batch of Healthy Pancakes (this recipe below) with ginger, and put the ginger container on the counter to add to various things, including the ginger ale since I’d read that not all ginger ale contains actual ginger.
My conclusion: it’s no help. Also, the crystallized ginger was VILE and I threw it out.
Ginger can be a comforting flavor, but it didn’t help with my nausea. And I will say this, without making it clear how I came to possess this information: ginger ale is a particularly revolting substance to throw up.
Some of the places that mention ginger say that it has to be FRESH ginger, and perhaps that is the issue here. I started getting nervous, though, about all the warnings that too much ginger (without ever defining “too much”) could cause miscarriage.
As Promised Above, the Healthy Pancakes Recipe
2 eggs (or 4 egg whites)
1/4 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup rolled oats, uncooked
1 t. vanilla extract
1/4 t. salt
2 packets Splenda
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. nutmeg
(or other spices such as ginger and cloves, in similar quantities)
sliced banana (optional)
In a blender or food processor, blend together all ingredients until smooth (and no little escapist oaties clinging to the sides). Spray skillet with cooking spray and set temperature to medium-hot. Add batter to heated skillet and top with sliced banana if desired; cook until sides are browned.
This is not exactly a breathtakingly delicious recipe, but it’s hearty and filling and I’ve come to enjoy it now that I no longer expect a pancake but rather this substitute. I don’t use banana, because I don’t like bananas and particularly not warm bananas, but the original recipe included it.
Have you tried pickled ginger, the stuff they give you with sushi? Its considered a palate cleanser. Very bold taste, but not nasty (I don’t think) like straight raw ginger.
Also, have you tried B6 vitamin?
Just some food for thought… tell me to go shove it where the sun don’t shine if its annoying.
A friend of mine really like Preggie Pops too.. they are sour suckers for morning sickness/quesy stomach and have some interesting flavors too.
http://www.threelollies.com/
NOT AT ALL annoying! The more tips, the better: even the ones that don’t end up working make me feel like I’m DOING something.
Pickled ginger sounds….urk.
I tried a slow-release B6 supplement called Premesis. At first I thought it was working, because I barfed the day before I took it but not the days after. But I’ve run out of my 5-day sample, and it’s been two days and I don’t feel any different, so I guess that didn’t work for me, either.
Yeah, I accidentally ate some pickled ginger while pregnant (and still in the quesy stage) with some sushi (it wasn’t tuna and had been pre-cooked before being made into sushi ;)) and it was AWFUL.
About the B6–I know that you can also (Dr recommended) take a B6 and half of a Unisom tablet and that it can really help. My friend has had the really bad morning sickness (hyperemesis?) w/all four of her pregnancies and this was one of the few things that helped. One of her dr’s recommended it w/pregnancy #2. She did have to bring it up with the Dr when she was pregnant w/#4 (like they wouldn’t have recommended it if she hadn’t said anything). You might ask.
I’ve also heard that anything starchy and bland is supposed to help–maybe something like the baked lays plain potato chips?
I just remember how awful that period of time felt and I feel so bad for you!
I’ll ask about the Unisom. That’s funny, I just read about that on a website today: someone said to take B6 with [long chemical name], and then said parenthetically that that was like half a Unisom.
I bought a bag of Ruffles, thinking “Woo hoo, pregnancy, time to eat chips!,” and didn’t eat a single one before the rest of the family ate them all, leaving the torn bag carcass on the kitchen floor. (That’s so unfair, I make it sound like they ate them within a day, when actually they graciously waited a week and I still hadn’t eaten any. THEN they left the carcass.)