So Your Misses Got Hyperemesis (Gravidarum)
Chapter 5: Drinking With Hyperemesis Gravidarum
Part 3: What to Drink with Hyperemesis Gravidarum?
In the previous chapter, most of the foods I recommended were very simple to prepare and did not require a special recipe. This is because more complex foods caused nausea and vomiting for my wife and most of the women with hyperemesis gravidarum that I spoke with.
Interestingly, the beverages we found suitable required a bit more preparation, so I’ll include some recipes for them. As always, consider these recipes as suggestions or the starting point for your personal search for drinks that your partner can handle with hyperemesis. Feel free to modify them to better suit her needs.
Additionally, I want to remind you two very important recommendations I’ve previously mentioned regarding food:
- Consult a doctor or nutrition specialist before you start.
- Use the tracking spreadsheet to log the drinks your partner consumes daily and their effects on her. Maintain this log for several weeks to derive important conclusions about what works better or worse for her.
Okay, let’s begin
Drinking Soup During Hyperemesis Gravidarum
The beverage that served us the longest (about 2.5 months) was soup. It wasn’t a gourmet soup requiring long cooking or many ingredients. I wish it had been because that would have given my wifre more nutritional value than the soup she had.
The only soup my wife could have consisted of a teaspoon of chicken broth powder, hot water, and some noodles. That’s it.
My wife drank the soup with a spoon. To prevent it from being too hot (which would cause fluid loss), I added a bit of lukewarm water.
The truth is, this kind of soup soup doesn’t have high nutritional value for a pregnant woman. It doesn’t have many nutrients, and personally, I don’t like its taste. But the broth powder combined with the noodles gave it a thick texture, allowing my wife to drink it and get some fluids into her body.
That was the only thing that mattered to us, and it worked for her for a relatively long time. So if your wife is having a difficult time drinking because of the hyperemesis, exploring soups is worth a shot. Just look for a soup that works for you. To thicken your soup, you can use noodles, croutons, or add a bit of flour
Ice and Popsicles For Drinking with HG
One of the well-known recommendations for pregnant women who suffer from nausea and have trouble drinking is to eat ice chips, popsicles, or other ice-based foods.
When the nausea started, ice-based foods were the first things we tried, and they worked for a few days. My wife especially liked lemon popsicles. The sugar gave her energy, which was very much needed at that stage.
I recommend you try these too—ice chips, popsicles, or other ice-based foods
Slushies For Fluids During Hyperemesis Pregnancy
When the hyperemesis worsened, it became difficult for my wife to eat ice because when it melted in her mouth and turned watery, the nausea quickly reappeared. She also couldn’t eat popsicles anymore because her senses sharpened, and the taste and smell became too strong for her.
We had to come up with a creative solution to get fluids into her body. So, we started making homemade slushies, which were a big success.
To make homemade slushies, you’ll need ice (either made at home or bought from a store), some sort of juice concentrate or powdered juice, and a food processor capable of crushing ice. Be sure to check that it can handle ice before using it to avoid damaging the device or risking injury.
Put ice in the food processor and add a bit of juice flavor. Crush everything until the ice turns into a slushy. Be careful not to crush it too much, or it will turn into water. Serve the slushy to your partner with a spoon or a straw for small sips.
The preparation takes less than a minute. For my wife, the slushy was an excellent solution that provided her with fluids and energy for a while
Jelly As A Source Of Fluids For Women With Hyperemesis Gravidarum
A cool idea from the nutritionist we consulted was to make jelly for my wife. Until then, I didn’t know how to make jelly. I found out it’s very easy to prepare, it consists mainly of water, and its gelatinous texture allows for easy consumption with hyperemesis.
The quickest way to make jelly is to buy pre-made powder from the supermarket, mix it in a bowl with hot water until it solidifies, and the jelly forms. Then, put the bowl in the fridge for a few hours—that’s it. The whole process takes about a minute.
My wife tried the jelly a few times. It went down okay, but the vomiting afterward caused her severe heartburn, so she decided to give it up. Still, since it’s mostly water and it went down ok, trying jelly as a source of fluids during hyperemesis is worth a try.
If you want to try jelly as a source of fluids, consult your nutrition experts and try a small amount first. Pay attention to how it goes down and how it comes up.
Fruit Shakes, Smoothies, and Milkshakes During Hyperemesis Gravidarum
I highly recommend trying these drinks for two very important reasons:
- The thick texture of shakes can help your partner with drinking.
- Fruits, ice cream, or milk can provide your wife with important nutrients and much-needed energy.
There are thousands of recipes online that can help you make tasty and nutritious fruit shakes or milkshakes. Consult your partner and experiment. Notice how each shake goes down and how it comes up, especially if you’re making shakes with milk or yogurt—dairy can cause severe heartburn for women with hyperemesis gravidarum.
I recommend buying a food processor and preparing shakes at home instead of buying them outside. Found a recipe that works? Stick with it as long as you can
Nutritional Shakes As A Source For Nutrients and Fluids During Hyperemesis
This recommendation refers to drinks rich in nutrients, like Ensure, which contain a variety of vitamins, protein, and other nutrients in one drink.
We first received a recommendation for such a drink from a nurse who treated my wife during one of her hospitalizations, which made me raise an eyebrow in surprise. Such drinks are usually given to the elderly because people of advanced age sometimes have difficulty chewing or eating, and nutritional shakes provide important dietary supplementation.
But my wife said she was willing to try anything, and it was the right decision. The thick texture of the shake helped her drink, and she even liked the taste.
Additional Drinks To Try During Hyperemesis Gravidarum
Throughout the pregnancy, we tried various other drinks. Here are some that my wife was able to drink, at least for a short period:
- Variety of Juices: try the ones that don’t have a strong taste.
- Hot chocolate without milk: the thick texture helped with drinking.
- Lightly carbonated soda: we tried this a few times to ease heartburn, and it helped to some extent.
- Flat cola: at one point, we remembered that cola was originally a drink to relieve stomach pain, so we decided to test its effect. To make it easier to drink, we poured a glass and let the gas dissipate before my wife drank it. It worked partially. The texture of the drink helped my wife drink, and the sugar gave her energy. But the taste was too strong for her, so she only tried it two or three times. Maybe it will work better for you.
You can try these drinks or use them as inspiration for your search. Just make sure you track everything in the spreadsheet so you can tell how each of them affects your partner’s nausea and vomiting
Food As A Source For Fluids During Hyperemesis
My wife was hospitalized three times during the hyperemesis period. The first time was at week 9 for four days, the second time at week 12 for seven days, and again for seven days during week 27.
During her second hospitalization, the doctor refused to discharge my wife until she ate an amount that seemed sufficient.
I asked the doctor, “Why does my wife have to eat? She’s already received 3 liters of fluids through IV today.” The doctor explained to me that fluids through IV are excellent, but it’s important for my wife to get fluids through her mouth and stomach as well. Since she couldn’t drink water, it was better for her to eat more so that her body could absorb the fluids that make up a significant part of many foods.
The doctor was right. From my online research, about 20% of the fluids we consume come from food. The big winners in this regard are fruits and vegetables: cucumber, zucchini, lettuce, radish, celery, tomatoes, and other vegetables are about 95% water. Fruits like watermelon, strawberries, and melon are about 90% water.
Other foods rich in water: hard-boiled eggs (about 90% water), yogurt (about 85%), potatoes (about 80%), rice (about 65%)… In other words, almost every food contains a certain amount of water. Our bodies know how to absorb the fluids from various foods and make the most of them.
Therefore, if your wife has trouble drinking but she can eat, try to find foods with high water content to keep her hydrated, at least to some extent. Just keep using the tracking table and note how the food goes down—and how it comes up.