Author Topic: Reigning in spending during early pregnancy  (Read 4389 times)

Crystal1588

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Reigning in spending during early pregnancy
« on: April 21, 2016, 02:07:33 PM »
Hi all-
I am 9 weeks pregnant with our 3rd child.  We have 2 boys (4 and 2).  I am finding it SO hard to stay on budget since about week 6 of being pregnant.  With the exhaustion, morning sickness and just general ick feeling, we are eating out more and have let our spending slip.

Any ideas on how to avoid this? Or just let it go for a few more weeks until I'm feeling better.  Hubby will cook and meal plan, but I'm finding that I'm sick enough that nothing sounds good except very specific things. I've been able to narrow down my general cravings and get stuff in the house, but it's definitely been hard.

Any tips?  With my other 2 pregnancies I never had morning sickness so this is all new to me :(

TrMama

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Re: Reigning in spending during early pregnancy
« Reply #1 on: April 21, 2016, 02:38:50 PM »
My biggest piece of advice is to just ride it out until you're feeling better. I had horrid hyperemesis during my second pregnancy and we spent way, way more than normal. I think our grocery spending went down, because I basically didn't eat. However our heating bill went way up, because I spent so much more time home in bed and being cold made the nausea worse. We also spent a ton on the prescription cocktail it took to keep me out of the hospital.

If your biggest problem is that you don't want to eat what the rest of the family is eating, then don't. Have your DH meal plan and cook for himself and the kids. For yourself, have whatever food sounds least disgusting and don't worry about the fact you're eating something different. Try to get some sort of protein in at every meal. Keeping your blood sugar stable helps keep the nausea down to a dull roar. You may also want to talk to your Dr about getting Diclegis or Zofran to manage the nausea.

In terms of meal planning, ask your DH to choose cold/raw foods. They tend to smell less and are often easier to prepare. If you have grocery delivery available, this is a good time to use it. If your insurance covers prescriptions, but you end up taking OTC meds, ask if you can get a script for them. This lets your insurance absorb some of the cost. I did this with the Zantac I took while pregnant.

If you're taking a prenatal vitamin, stop. Those things make many women sicker.

~Ari~

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Re: Reigning in spending during early pregnancy
« Reply #2 on: April 21, 2016, 03:11:55 PM »
I was extremely sick throughout my entire pregnancy. My little one is now 8 months old. My midwife suggested taking vitamin b6 which did help a lot with the nausea. I however stopped taking a mulitvitamin as suggested from the other post. Which also helped. Just make sure if you do this, you are getting your vitamins by eating a health balanced diet. Congrats on your pregnancy!

Scotland2016

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Re: Reigning in spending during early pregnancy
« Reply #3 on: April 21, 2016, 03:39:15 PM »
Definitely ask about getting a prescription for Diclegis. It's probably not a cost-saving suggestion because it's expensive (like $16 a pill expensive, at least here), but it's worth it. A miracle drug for many women. It's just vitamin B6 and Unisom, BUT it's time-released which makes all the difference. I tried to recreate it and it didn't work. Your doctor can probably give you samples to see if it works for you before paying for the prescription.

Really just take care of yourself until this passes. My morning sickness is under control with Diclegis, but when it wasn't we spent A LOT more on food outside the home. I wasn't eating more, but only certain things were appealing and several trips per week to get a particular danish at a particular coffee shop adds up quickly.

PharmaStache

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Re: Reigning in spending during early pregnancy
« Reply #4 on: April 21, 2016, 06:38:37 PM »
Funny to see this post!  Not much advice, just commiseration :)  I am also newly pregnant with my second and my eating is just disgusting.  I need to eat to not feel horribly sick all the time (and that's with Diclectin) but I can only eat food that I have not seen before or prepared myself (so basically restaurant food).  I've been eating like this for 2 weeks and I feel so sick and disgusting and poor- I can't believe regular people feel like this all the time ;)  I'm hoping the worst of it will be over in a week or two (based on my last pregnancy) but the general nauseous feeling all the time lasted a few more months...

If you can't take a prenatal, just take the folic acid part- super important at this time in pregnancy!

okits

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Re: Reining in spending during early pregnancy
« Reply #5 on: April 21, 2016, 07:20:10 PM »
I took prenatal vitamins right before bed (hoping to sleep through any nausea they caused.  Seemed to work.) Other ladies have said different brands of vitamins seemed to cause less nausea, so perhaps get some samples and see if a different one agrees with you.

Try all the tricks out there for easing nausea (crackers, ginger, never having an empty stomach, hard candies, etc.  Lots of suggestions to be found online.) You cannot predict what will work for you, but if you find something you'll have a crutch to lean on until things get better.  Mine were Saltines and mint tea.

If your financial situation is at least okay I would loosen the budget strings a little until you're feeling better.  A healthy pregnancy is important, and that includes eating.  Just try to cater more to your healthier cravings so you're getting some nutrition.

Congratulations on your pregnancy!

I'm a red panda

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Re: Reigning in spending during early pregnancy
« Reply #6 on: April 21, 2016, 07:34:36 PM »
Dicylgis was the worst thing I've ever taken. It made feel even worse than just being sick all the time. (I lost 23 pounds in the first 24 weeks; but my problem wasn't generally feeling bad, just that I couldn't keep anything down. On the medicine I always felt terrible, but kept down about 1/3 of what I ate.)

As for spending, I guess I can't really help- I couldn't eat almost anything so I never went out. Just reign in the spending on baby stuff, and go ahead and treat yourself to food if you find something you can stomach. Getting more convenience food in the house might help, that way you aren't getting take out.
« Last Edit: April 22, 2016, 07:21:35 AM by iowajes »

JustTrying

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Re: Reigning in spending during early pregnancy
« Reply #7 on: April 21, 2016, 10:28:52 PM »
I'm pregnant now and when I don't feel like cooking/don't feel like eating what hubs cooks...all I really want is cereal! So, my eating habits are more unhealthy but more mustachian! I'm wondering if it might be worthwhile to get some of the typical foods that sound good to you into the home, and then also some cheap kid-friendly options like chicken nuggets so that you won't feel the need to rush out to buy expensive foods???

teen persuasion

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Re: Reigning in spending during early pregnancy
« Reply #8 on: April 22, 2016, 06:39:49 AM »
My morning sickness generally only lasted thru the first trimester, so it was a limited time.

For me, morning sickness was related to low blood sugar, so I was much better if I never allowed myself to get hungry.  I needed things that were slowly digested (fats and protein), so the usual recommendations of saltine crackers, etc., weren't quite the best.  Everyone has their go-to craving food; mine was bagels, double toasted so they were crunchy-chewy with lots of butter for the fat I needed.  First thing I ate after waking up - then I could function.  Then I kept eating small amounts all day to keep myself on an even keel. 

Don't wait until you begin to feel hungry - by then the nausea would begin kicking in and I'd spiral downward.  Breaking the cycle was much harder than preventing it.  I carried things like peanut butter cracker packs with me all the time.

little_brown_dog

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Re: Reigning in spending during early pregnancy
« Reply #9 on: April 22, 2016, 08:08:12 AM »
I had a similar issue in my first tri - I wasn't particularly sick or nauseous, I just had a general food aversion. I could wander around the grocery store and almost nothing seemed appetizing. I did get motion sickness though - I had to ride to work with plastic bags and a bag of ginger snaps and a couple times I had to pull over for a false alarm or two.

My recommendation is to stick with foods that don't turn your stomach but that you can tolerate well and eat without struggling, even if you don't truly enjoy them. Easy meals might be some protein on the grill with a salad, or stirfries with different veggies (you can switch out proteins and sauces to make the dish seem "new" while effectively eating stirfry multiple times per week). You may have to experiment a bit to find a couple staple meals that don't make you sick. Once you find them, use them multiple times throughout the week, just adjusting ingredients slightly to make them feel a bit different so it isn't completely boring.

Other than that, I would give yourself a break and if you spend more on eating out because that is easiest and helps you eat what you need to, then you do what you gotta do.
« Last Edit: April 22, 2016, 08:11:45 AM by little_brown_dog »

asiljoy

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Re: Reigning in spending during early pregnancy
« Reply #10 on: April 22, 2016, 08:12:45 AM »
It's weird, but I found keeping altoids and other mint/ginger candies around pretty much at all times helped a lot with the nausea. I probably went through a tin every couple days.

But going to echo other commentators who said you eat what makes you not want to hurl your cookies, and your family can eat a regular meal. It's a pattern that isn't going to last long, and if your kids ask, just say Mommy isn't feeling well and needs a special diet for awhile.