Secret Post #21: Smoothies!

NOTE: This post is part of a series that I wrote in secret during the months before I announced my pregnancy. The series chronicles my pregnancy journey: from weaning off my RA meds, to trying to conceive, to searching for helpful advice and information, to discovering I was pregnant, to the ups and downs of my first trimester. You can read all the posts in this series here.

This Post Written November 17, 2011

Morning sickness is the worst. It is constant, it makes you feel disgusting, and the only way to combat it is to eat - which is actually the very last thing you want to do. And the things you are willing to eat (read: able to force-feed to yourself) - saltines, bagels, cheerios - are hardly the most nutritious things on the planet. Happily, I have finally discovered a solution to get some much-needed nutrition into my body: smoothies.

Turns out drinking a smoothie is a lot easier for me than chewing anything when I am feeling nauseous. They are tasty, easy to make, and you can hide all kinds of good nutrients in there. Here is how I've been making my smoothies:

• Frozen fruit (APL went to Costco and got big bags of frozen berries, peaches, and cherries)
• Banana (great for potassium)
• Skim milk (for calcium)
• Greek yogurt (for protein)
• Protein powder (for extra protein - I find getting enough protein significantly changes how I feel. A tip for tasting the powder less is to blend it with the milk before adding any other ingredients)
• Flax seed meal (for omega-3s - also good to mix with the milk so you won't even notice it)
• A cup of ice (some hydration is good for you too!)

That's what I came up with on my own. Then I did a little research on the What to Expect When You're Expecting website and came up with a few more ideas:

• Calcium-fortified orange juice 
• Pineapple juice
• Wheat germ
• Peanut butter (oooh! peanut butter banana....)
• Honey
• Soy milk
• Cooked carrots  (if/when I start feeling brave?)

And let me tell you how much better I feel after consuming a smoothie!! SO. MUCH. BETTER!