God's Wake Up Call = Me Falling Off A Chair

I fell today.

At 10.30am, I was blacking out the windows with sugar paper, and standing on my dresser which is about 4 feet off the ground. I stepped off the dresser and onto the plastic chair (that I've been using as a stepstool for years without incident) and noticed a long-lost hairclip that had fallen behind my dresser.

I was just thinking, "Hey cool! There it -," and the chair went out from under me.

Normally, I'm good at catching myself, having saved myself and Josh from a nasty fall a few weeks ago when irresponsible Malaysian shops left leaky aircond water on the floor. I managed to find a way to land on my knees, even though I was about to fall backwards.

This time, there was too much furniture in the way for my reflexes to right myself, and I was horribly helpless as gravity took control.

The chair flipped on its side and my whole weight came crashing down on its corner, jamming into my left buttock, making me bounce toward the bed so my head could take the rest of the impact when it cracked against a wooden beam cushioned inside the bedhead, and finally slamming my back on the floor.

I lay there are cried - in pain, and in fear. I didn't know how bad the damage was (but my back and neck were fragile enough with all the slipped disc problems, and I was afraid this had done them in) and I was afraid for Josh who was sleeping in the next room. What if I couldn't go to him?

This just made me more determined to show myself I was ok. Still went out to buy McD's for lunch, refuel the car, vacuum the room and take down the rest of the curtains.

But I had a lingering headache later in the afternoon, different from my usual sleep-deprivation migraines. And my neck was progressively getting worse. And I started to feel the excruciating pain in the places I had fallen. I could barely sit or roll on my left side, I was so sore.

Then I started feeling nauseous. This was starting to worry me.

Luckily, dad checked and said everything was ok, but to observe for vomiting and headaches.

I just felt the wind taken out of me. Although I still did lots of stuff, those were just the essentials. I had a lot more things planned for the day, and I just didn't have the heart to do them after this.

I felt like God was answering my earlier prayers about my mother's rage, and He was telling me to slow down for the sake of the family. So what if I'm not a great cook or super clean? The kids need me healthy, happy and ALIVE. Slow down!

Damn, now the fingers in my left hand have gone numb and feels sore like I've been flexing them all day. Having a bit of trouble typing with my left 3rd and 4th finger now. Please please be ok.

Stomach Flu - How To Deal With It

Everytime the kids come down with a bout of this, I panic and forget what I need to do to help them get through it.

So I'm writing it down for my future reference!

- They get stomach cramps, especially after eating, because the food can't digest.

- They can't eat or drink anything, at least at the beginning. So small amounts of easily digestible food, like noodles with soup (all cut up), cereal, porridge, maggi chicken, OR dry food like crackers, Japanese rice crackers, toast (white bread) with butter & jam. Meat like chicken should be ok, but gotta mash it up so digesting is easy.

- If having diahorrea, avoid dairy products like milk, yogurt and formula, though cheese and vitagen seems to be ok. Go figure.

- Remember to use BRAT (Bananas, Rice, Apple sauce, Toast) for Day 1 at least, then try the regular food for remaining days so they don't get malnourished.  

- Within Day 1 - 3, even if they are hungry, you should feed moderately. Maybe half to 3-quarters their usual food intake. Don't let them wolf down the food or that bottle of Vitagen. It is likely to come up again.

- Hydrate them! But give little sips of water at a time, but often. Wolfing it down will make them puke again.

- Let them drink porridge water if they're willing to take it. Or barley water.

If there's any more that I remember, I will continue to update.

How To Avoid Vomiting During Pregnancy

This article is copyright of The Phoenix

My theory is that the strange all-day long vomiting I've been experiencing is caused by bad chemistry between the food and my juices when they mix in my stomach.

Either the chemistry is so bad it upsets the stomach and forces my body to expunge the offending mixture, OR, the chemistry creates so much gas that it pushes the food out before peristalsis has a chance to push it safely down.

A sample of my pain. This is actually the most pleasant looking puke pile I've photographed since this ordeal started

This type of vomiting is not to be confused with regular morning sickness or regular nausea which can be alleviated by keeping your blood sugar levels up. This is NOT the same thing, so it does NOT go away after the 1st trimester.

I am 6 months pregnant now, and it's still here. The vomiting, the nausea, the migraines. Only now, I've learned what the triggers are and how to avoid them.

It's definitely caused by the ever mysterious rise in hormones which plague pregnant women. We then have to listen to helpful statements from everyone like, "No one knows what causes it. Just hang on till 2nd trimester."

Well, what if the vomiting and nausea doesn't stop after entering the 2nd trimester? What then? Same answer. Wait and see. In fact, you become one of the statistics. One of the "1 in 1,000 women" who vomit till they deliver.

Fuck that. Being a statistic doesn't soothe me, or make the experience any better! I have to fucking live with this every hour of every fucking day. There is no reprieve for sufferers. And while it's easy for everyone to say I should wait it out, or it'll be over before I know it, lemme tell you something : You try going through this and see if you can continue to be so fucking dismissive!!

The repeated reflux of acid was affecting my throat and my voice. I was starting to lose weight. I was literally scared to look at food. I'm supposed to enjoy the guilt-free eating that comes with pregnancy, not cringe in a corner at every mealtime. I couldn't even skip meals because an empty stomach would make me vomit, too - but this is more painful because it involves regurgitating sizzling gastric juices.

None of the books I've read helps. There's nothing on the web. And unless you're so sick you need to be put on drip, doctors can't help either. Solutions from modern medicine always involve some form of drugs (which I admit, I would rather continue vomiting than take) or medical equipment, as these solutions are ingrained in them by the bloody greedy drug companies. Forget about natural, nutritional solutions.

So far, I've managed to avoid being admitted to hospital by making sure I experimented, documented and theorised what caused the vomiting. I've not touched any anti-nausea medication or anything synthetic from modern medicine - as long as I'm not vomiting blood, I don't want anything from the drug companies to come near me.

The only reason I'm putting on weight again is because after 4 months of terrified eating-then-vomiting, I've figured out how to minimise my exposure to the Vomit Triggers.

I've actually got it down to a science now. But it's exhausting to keep this up everyday, especially when people around you complain that you're being too anal about it, or that it's all in your head ... until I vomit in front of them. They leave me alone after that.

Now, please note that the following is by no means an exhaustive list, but it's all the stuff I've experimented with and learned the hard way during my pregnancy. I may add to it as I find out more. Feel free to send me suggestions based on your own experiences.

These may or may not work for you, but I figured I'd document this anyway so I'll remember what to do if / when I get pregnant again.

GENERAL TIPS
- Eat a cracker the moment you wake up. Nothing else can keep the empty stomach puking at bay.
- Do not drink any water / liquids while you are eating. Leave the gastric juices undiluted so they can do their work more efficiently. I have vomited out food that I had eaten 6 hours ago, still sitting in my stomach because my diluted juices made digestion even slower.
- Drink very hot or very cold water only 1 - 2 hours after food.
- Allow up to 4 hours to digest the food, depending on what you ate. The digestive tract works much slower during pregnancy.
- Keep yourself upright for as long as possible after eating. Do not lie flat on your back. Side is sometimes ok. During this time, do not bend, double over, lean forward, squat or twist at the waist to do things. Avoid doing anything that twists the digestive tract and might squeeze the food back out.
- Be aware of your stomach for 30min - 1 hour after eating, as the stomach often doesn't get upset immediately and the vomiting usually starts later. You want to be near a toilet when it does.
- Pop a stick of Spearmint or Peppermint chewing gum after food. Literature says it's the mint that helps, but from experience I'd say it's the chewing and production of alkalitic saliva that helps calm and keep down my gastric acids. I go thru a 5-stick pack of gum a day. I've tried taking actual mint sweets (e.g. Eclipse), but they cause more gas to be released, and my food comes up again with the constant burping. It's horrible because you never know which one is going to be a burp, and which one is going to be regurgitated food. (EDIT 19 SEPT 2012: Only chew full flavour gum. NO SUGARFREE. I discovered during my 2nd pregnancy that ASPARTAME makes the nausea and gas and vomiting worse)
- Do not eat fruits right before or after meals. If you must eat, eat one or two pieces after a meal. It creates a lot of gas and uncomfortable acid reflux, and sometimes leads to vomiting. (EDIT 27 OCT 2016 : I'm on my 3rd pregnancy now. I never learned my lesson. This baby is totally different, and a lot of the food I could eat with my earlier 2 pregnancies now make me sick, but meat and steamed or boiled veggies go down pretty well still. No raw veggies! Still no fruits. Fruits are puke and gas city)

FOOD YOU CAN'T EAT
- Pork (roast pork, suckling pig, sweet meat) (EDIT 27 OCT 2016 : 3rd baby survived on roast pork, it was one of the only foods I could eat! But I'm in a different country now, so I suspect it was the seasoning on the pork that made me vomit for the 1st 2 pregnancies .... the pork I'm eating now is only seasoned with salt and brown sauce, none of the Chinese 5 spice seasoning and MSG)
- Chicken. Sometimes ok, but you'll experience a very acidic feeling in your stomach. You will burp sour acid and you will feel sick the whole time it's digesting.
- Beef. Same reason as chicken. (EDIT 27 OCT 2016 : Same as above. Seasoning with salt is fine, goes down well)
- Venison. Similar effects as beef and chicken, but slightly milder.
- Lamb. Apparently Chinese believe this is toxic and no good for the baby. Also, my new superhuman pregnancy nose can't stand the stinky smell.
- Vegetables- Dairy products (Milk or anything containing milk)
- Ice cream
- Milk chocolates
- Cheese (cheddar)
- Coconut or anything containing coconut and all its by-products (e.g. santan). This one feels the worst when being vomited out.
- Nasi Lemak- Sour plums / sum boi. For some strange reason this makes me puke. I suspect it's the body's reaction to too much salt.
- Garlic or anything that contains garlic (Thai Chilli sauce, Nando's Peri Peri sauce, chicken rice from various shops etc...). It leaves a horrible taste in your mouth for a day or so after you bite into a small, diced piece, making the nausea worse.
- Onions. Similar effect as garlic, but not as extreme if eaten raw or pan fried.
- Fried Onions. The type used to garnish or add flavour to porridge and chinese dishes. Very similar effect to garlic.
- Any form of nuts (peanuts, almonds, etc...) - (EDIT 27 OCT 2016 : I survived on peanuts and macadamias on this 3rd pregnancy)
- Fried Sesame seeds
- Bread (white, wholemeal). Causes acidic roiling in stomach.
- Homemade Chicken essence soup
- Chinese food. Usually because of all the MSG and garlic used in preparation. Yuck.
- Oranges
- Apples- Guavas
- Pears. This is intermittent.
- (EDIT 19 SEPT 2012) Anything sugarfree that contains ASPARTAME.

DRINKS YOU CAN'T DRINK
 - Carbonated drinks (Coke, Sprite, Root Beer, Ginger Beer etc ...)
- Coffee
- Milo
- Milk
- Orange juice
- Carrot juice with milk
- Lemon / Lime juice. This causes a lot of gas. (EDIT 19 SEPT 2012) But drinking a small amount, pure & super concentrated, after a meal, tends to help digestion. No sugar.
- Lukewarm water. This seems to join with the bile and unite in volume to expedite the climb out of my throat.


FOOD YOU CAN EAT
- Jacob's high-calcium crackers. Other types of crackers either make me puke or doesn't keep the gastric vomiting at bay.
- Eggs (in any form, but sparingly)
- Potatoes (baked, fried)
- Potato salad (with macaroni & eggs & mayonnaise)
- Chips (especially with tomato sauce)
- Tuna (in water & mayonnaise)
- Fish (steamed, fried)
- Chillis & Tabasco sauce. This includes spicy food made with chilli padi or dried chilli (very spicy & dry char kuey teow, Kin Kin chilli pan mee, Domino's Beef Pepperoni pizza drowned in Tabasco sauce). I was told by a doctor friend that chillis are actually good for upset stomachs as it has been found that chilli blocks acid production and increases blood flow to the stomach tissue which can aid both prevention and healing of ulcers. Epidemiological studies show (don't quote me on this) the incidence of stomach ulceration is three times lower in countries with a high intake of chilli compared with those that don't. Just make sure there is no santan or any form of milk mixed in there, or you'll vomit anyway.
- Selected fruits in small quantities (One persimmon per seating, very sour mangoes, one small banana --- not all at the same time!)
- Selected vegetables (long beans, cauliflower, broccoli)
- Clear soup (Carrot soup, clear Tom Yam soup)
- Campbells' canned mushroom soup (with water, not milk)
- Campbells' canned New England Clam Chowder soup (with water, but sometimes milk is ok too. Go figure)
- Sweet pastries (sponge cake, suji cake, chocolate cake, cupcakes, chocolate chip cookies)

DRINKS YOU CAN DRINK
- Ice cold or boiling hot water. But only in one or two mouthfuls, in between meals. Any more, and you'll puke it out.
- Cold Ribena (not the sparkling type
- (EDIT 27 OCT 2016 : Mineral water. Only certain brands, like Mount Franklin. Spritzer made me puke, makes me wonder if it even IS mineral water. I could not handle anything from the tap, everything made me sick even when filtered or boiled - which now makes me believe that the water I've been drinking all this while is actually not good for my body, since the fetus rejected it)


I'll add more to this list as I remember it.


DISCLAIMER : Given the high amount of search hits for this post (and the number of people who apparently don't know how to READ), I repeat : This is what worked for ME, to stop my vomiting and help me put on weight during pregnancy. This is not an optimal pregnancy diet, and it may not work for you. You should check everything with your own doctor (d-uh).

EDIT 1 July 2015 : My son, Condor 1, whom I was pregnant with in this article, has been diagnosed with mild autism. Now, I do not know whether the autism has external causes (it's a sensitive topic that I won't go into here, but I am sure that it was external causes), or whether the lack of nutrition he got during pregnancy had a hand in it. It's unlikely to be the lack of nutrition, as my own doctor said that the fetus takes all it needs from the mother, and my vomiting hurt ME more than the baby (cuz all my nutrition stores had gone to the baby, and I had none for myself).

BUT .... I think about it all the time, and I want whomever that reads this to have this information so they can make their own choices. 

To balance out this info, my second son, whom I also used this diet for, got a hell lot more nutrition cuz this time I wasn't puking everything out in the first trimester, and I actually gained 7kg, instead of the 2kg I gained with my first son. And my 2nd son does NOT have autism, and is in fact highly intelligent and naughty as hell.

EDIT 27 Oct 2016 : I just had my 3rd child. What the fuck, right? Why am I allowing myself to suffer like this again for the THIRD time?!?! Anyway, a lot of the food I could eat, is now food I can't eat, so I had to test and start all over. I made ammendments above where they were different. This pregnancy made me realise a lot of the vomiting isn't just the food, but also what's been added to it! So keep your food as natural and wholesome as possible (i.e. don't add too many sauces, seasonings etc) and make sure it's all cooked, cuz raw stuff like veggies are harder to digest and upset your tummy more at this stage.

It's still early days, but Condor 3 appears to be neurotypical and doesn't have the markers that Condor 1 had at his age, so here's hoping he's fine.