Nausea, stretch marks and swollen feet are common discomforts faced by women during pregnancy.

Pregnancy is the most beautiful time of a woman’s life. It’s a beautiful beginning of a never-ending journey of being a mother. Being pregnant has its own ups and downs like motherhood. Along with the beautiful feeling of hearing your baby’s first heartbeats, comes nausea. With the happiness of feeling your baby’s kicks, come the swollen feet. With the pregnancy glow on your face, come the stretch marks on your belly.

Nausea:

High levels of pregnancy hormones flooding your body cause nausea in pregnancy. Hopefully, your morning sickness will subside between about 14 weeks and 16 weeks. For some women, though, it can continue for a little longer. Here are some home remedies that will help you prevent nausea.

• Eat whatever you can and whenever you can: Eating small but frequent portions will keep you energetic despite all the vomiting & nausea.
• Start your day sweet: Eating a little sweet early in morning helps fight nausea. You can eat a little gulkand or biscuits the moment you wake up.
• Quit toothpastes with evident flavor or excess mint for freshness. Use herbal and low on fragrance toothpastes as they will not aggravate the feeling of nausea.
• Having fruits like banana and avocado in the morning for breakfast also helps in keeping nausea at bay. They are also rich in Vitamin B.
• Suck on sour candy: Sucking on orange or lemon flavored candy helps keep nausea at bay.

Swollen Feet:

Swelling in feet occurs because your body is holding on to more fluid than usual. Swelling is common. Most women experience it particularly in the last trimester.

• Take salt footbath: Soaking your feet in warm water and ½ cup salt will give instant relief. Make soaking in Epsom salts a relaxing night ritual while you’re pregnant.
• Ask for a foot massage: Whether it’s your partner, or masseuse, make sure they are aware of your comfort level and don’t press too hard on certain points. A gentle foot massage to let the arnica soak in is all you need.
• Include potassium rich foods in your diet: Kiwifruit, avocado & banana are fruits rich in potassium and make a very healthy mid meal snack during pregnancy. Potassium is an important mineral that helps maintain the salt to water ratio in your body.
• For quick relief roll your feet on a tennis ball or filled water bottle. Make sure you are seated while doing so and watch out for your body balance.
• Drinking plenty of water and staying hydrated will help keeping water retention in check.

Stretch Marks:

Your skin stretches during pregnancy as you put on weight and this causes stretch marks. Stretch marks usually appear as pink, red or purple-tinged lines on your belly.

• Massage with oil: Massaging the affected areas with Vitamin E oil mixed with any moisturizer, will make skin smooth and help reduce the stretch marks.
• Aloe Vera Gel: Applying Aloe Vera gel in circular motion and massaging gently promotes healing and soothes your skin. Use fresh gel rather than ones available in the market.
• Milk, Sugar & Lemon: Make a homemade scrub with sugar, raw milk and few drops of lemon and scrub in circular motion. Rinse with lukewarm water and moisturize the affected area.
• Use Potato juice: Extract juice of a potato or cut the potato in two halves and massage the affected area in a circular motion and let it dry. Rinse it later with lukewarm water and apply moisturizer.

Not every pregnancy is the same, but chances are you will face at least one or two of the above mentioned conditions during your pregnancy. Whether it’s nausea, swollen feet  or stretch marks, pregnancy comes with its fair share of, shall we say, unpleasant side effects. They key to getting through is all about understanding what suits you.

Happy pregnancy to you!

Disclaimer: The recommendations in this article are the author’s own. Please consult your medical practitioner for any questions.

Also read: All You Want to Know About Stretch Marks During Pregnancy

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