My best guess would be that pickles and similar things will be your best friend. They say sour things really help with morning sickness, and the sodium boost could help combat low carb flu symptoms, which can include nausea, headaches and fatigue. If you have a LC-savvy doctor or midwife you can consult, that would be ideal, of course.

Congratulations! I wish I could go back and do over my pregnancies on a LCHF diet, though my babies turned out fine anyway. I suspect my body would have been a lot more comfortable.

Hello! I'm 19+1 today and REALLY enjoying a low carb pregnancy. I'm 33 years old, and went from 115kg to 76.4kg before becoming pregnant (from Jan 2015 to August 2015). Sadly I flew right off the handle, lost the low-carb plot, got some problems with depression and put on weight again. I got to 86kg just before getting pregnant. I have two other children and had a BMI of 50+ with them, ate Burger King and all sorts of crap all day long, and had gestational diabetes with my daughter in 2012.

Unfortunately I couldn't handle low carb very well during the first trimester, or anything else for that matter, and ended up on medication and basically just ate what I could handle. Quite frankly, with two kids already to handle and a lot of life stress I just let it go for then.

Since about 11 weeks I've gone back to my low carb ways. I was 86.6kg at my 13 week midwife appointment, and today I am 83.9kg.

So far so good with the baby and I. No GD yet! My weight is remaining steady, the baby is growing beautifully and kicks up a storm 6+ times a day. I feel fit and happy and eat so much good-for-me low carb foods that surely this pregnancy must be 20 times healthier than with my other kids.

My carbs vary from 35-60g per day. I don't take any notice of kilojoules/calories right now. Some days I'm so hungry that I eat ALL THE FOOD and other days I'm fine with a regular amount of food. My carbs mainly come from avocados and dairy products.

If I fall off the wagon and splurge on carb heavy foods, I really feel like crap, hunger goes up massively, I get tired, I get grumpy, way worse than pre-pregnancy.

I have the anatomy scan when I am exactly 21 weeks I will come back and report on how baby is doing. At 13 weeks everything was right on track during the NT scan.

I will say that my midwife isn't impressed and is very unsure and worried about low carb during pregnancy. I have to see a consultant at 20 weeks at the hospital too because of my BMI, two previous c-sections and having had GD last time. I don't think I'll tell him/her about the low carb. Expect health professionals to look horrified and presume you are a dieting bulimic due to not scoffing 20 pieces of bread per day. This has been my experience in New Zealand anyway.

Also I love coffee again :-), couldn't stand it in first tri.

I had THE WORST morning sickness this time, I didn't get it too bad with my other kids. I was diagnosed with hyperemesis at 7 weeks. I finally started to feel better about 15 weeks and went off the medication.

I'm 21 weeks tomorrow and have my anatomy scan then, keen to see how baby is doing.

How are you doing @Tanukiko?

I'm very curious as well. We are going to start trying this fall and I plan on staying low carb if I can. I probably won't be letting the medical professionals know that I'm doing low carb unless they ask.

It took me 8 years to conceive my son, and a good 14 months for my second child. I don't know if it was the low carb or what, but this baby showed up while using contraception and barely having any sex!

Just thought I'd update that baby (girl!) is growing just fine. Had a scan at 21 weeks exactly and all was measuring about where it should. Only thing that differed from my other kids was the abdominal circumference, it was on the smaller end rather than the huge end. I'm doing well too and only gained a couple of pounds. I don't feel really any better or worse doing LCHF during pregnancy compared to high carb but I enjoy not gaining any weight.

In the name of science!

Yey I love scan pictures, it's all so exciting! Congratulations.

I low-carbed in order to get pregnant nearly 2 years ago but was frightened into eating carbs during pregnancy by everyone around me (I'm in the UK, midwives, doctors and my husband were all against me!)

I put on a lot of weight as a consequence, and am only really starting to lose again now my daughter is 1 (I have PCOS).

Next time round I will not hesistate to continue to low-carb during pregnancy (I just wont tell anyone), I figure it's not much different to the gestational diabetes diet they put people on... just more informed.

Warning - this is going to be long.

With my first three pregnancies I was eating the standard USDA type diet.

With my oldest (I was 26 at time of conception) I didn't get morning sickness at all, just developed an aversion to Pepsi (not such a bad thing, lol). Gained 50 lbs, went 42 weeks, 1 day and was induced - 8 lb 4oz baby girl. By far and away the most miserable pregnancy of the four (heartburn, backaches, insomnia), keeping in mind I have easy pregnancies, so even that one wasn't that bad, compared to what many other women go through. No complications though (no GD, normal BP, etc)

Took about 18 months to lose the fifty lbs I'd gained, and lost another ten lbs before conceiving baby number two - baby one had just turned two years old and I was 28 (lost the weight using standard advice - cutting out soda, eating more whole graines, eating less fat). Terrible nausea for the first twelve weeks (no vomiting though, I'm not a puker). Gained the same 50 lbs, went 42 weeks again, but didn't need to be induced that time - 9lb 2 oz baby girl. Easier pregnancy overall (no heartburn, but still had the backaches and insomnia), no complications (no GD, normal BP, they did test baby's blood sugar a few times after she was born due to her size, but it was normal each time).

Took about 18 months to lose the baby weight, then lost another five lbs before conceiving again (baby two was not quite two years at that point, I was 31). Again lost the weight with standard advice, further cut back on junk, ate more fruits and veggies, leaner meats, fat free dairy; at this point my diet had become a dietitian's wet dream. Third pregnancy I had the worst morning sickness of the bunch, that blessedly stopped at 14 weeks (still no puking, but severe 24-7 nausea that only subsided when I was actively eating something). Gained 45 lbs that time - stayed more active during the pregnancy. Went 42 weeks again, spontaneous labor, baby girl 8 lbs 5 oz. Aside from the more severe morning sickness, it was the easiest pregnancy of the first three - very little heartburn and I think exercising kept the back aches at bay. Still had insomnia though. No complications.

After number three was born, I weighed 195 lbs at my six week checkup. A year later I turned 33 and realized that I had only lost five lbs during that year - I couldn't figure it out... I was doing the same things I had done the first two times (heck - I was eating even "healthier"!), but this time it simply wasn't working. Decided to try something different and started learning more about LCHF diets. Worked so well that I lost not only the 25 lbs of "baby weight" I had remaining, but went on to lose a total of 45 lbs in seven months. Decided LCHF would be a permanent way of eating for me.

Got pregnant with baby number four at the end of 2014 (baby three was just over two years old, I was 34). Despite eating LC, I still got morning sickness, but it was not as bad as with babies number two and three. I did increase my carbs during the pregnancy, especially in the first trimester (easier to keep down, more palatable for nauseous tummies), from 50-80g per day, up to around 100 g per day, but tried to make the extra carbs come from fruit and starchy veg, rather than sugar or grains. Even though I was having a "geriatric pregnancy" (yes, that's a real term for when us over - 35s get knocked up, lol), it was the easiest, most comfortable of the bunch. No heartburn. No backaches (I credit exercise for that). No insomnia until the ninth month (rather than starting during the sixth month with my previous kids). Normal glucose screenings (even though I had to do it twice this time due to being geriatric :P ). The really freaky thing was that this baby was born on. her. due. date. And let me tell you, after having three pregnancies go two weeks past the due date, having her come on time was epic. She was smaller - 7 lbs 1 oz (normal size baby, but seemed tiny to me). I still gained 50 lbs during the pregnancy, seems that happens no matter what I do, but what was really dramatically different was this:

In the first six weeks post partum I dropped thirty of the fifty lbs I had gained (twice as much as I had lost in the same time frame with any of my previous children). She is now seven months old, and I am five lbs from prepregnancy weight. Still nursing, so I think I'm hanging on to that last bit. But still - I've lost the majority of the weight in less than half the time it took on my old USDA style diet. Amazing.

Okay, so tldr... Lol. As for surviving morning sickness, well - that's just it. I took the approach of doing whatever I had to do to survive it. Especially with three older kids to take care of. There were days when I'm sure my carb intake was close to 200 g, but when I felt okay, I opted for low carb. And once the nausea passed (about the twelve week mark), I was able to easily stay around 100 g per day (some days as low as 80, some days as high as 120). I loved the idea of bone broth during the first trimester, but getting anywhere near it made me want to yack . Eggs were my friend though, especially scrambled. Anyways, you never know, you might not get very bad sickness, but if you do, just focus on getting thru it, however you have to. It typically only lasts six weeks anyway. Then you can get right back on track (assuming you get off track in the first place)

I've had 2 pregnancies, my first was way before I ever heard about keto. It took me a long time to get pregnant with my second, so I went to a fertility doctor who suggested keto, since I have PCOS. I was keto for ~6 months before getting pregnant with my second baby.

Unfortunately I suffer from hyperemesis in the first trimester (both pregnancies) and wasn't able to stay keto during the pregnancy. I just ate what I could, which did not include meat or eggs or many keto friendly things at all! My baby was a good size (8lbs 11oz) but I didn't have GD.

I've had supply issues with breastfeeding so I didn't bother trying to go keto again until just recently, when my baby turned 6 months. Hopefully I will be able to lose the rest of my pregnancy weight this way, I'm stil up 20lbs over my pre-pregnancy weight.

We just found out last week but we're 9 weeks along tomorrow. I've had pcos since at least college and I'm 35 now. I have no doubt that I can thank cutting out carbage for this.

I expected my doctor, who I met for the first time last week, to be really against this. I also expected a lecture about my weight (not ideal but I thought this would take longer than it did because of my history with ttc) but I didn't get one. She said "let's focus on being healthy and the scale might not be the best way to determine that alone."

I am thrilled she has given me the all clear to stay between 50-100 gm of carbs a day, and really supports it as a way to stave off gestational diabetes. She cautioned against getting into ketosis (I've never been keto so I didn't ask her to elaborate) but said there's no reason to change what I'm already doing. Loved my "heart-healthy" avocado intake and said to keep on using hwc in my coffee (her words: "if you can only have one cup a day, I say make it count! Fat is not the enemy!"). I think I've found a unicorn of a doctor

dtobio wrote: »

We just found out last week but we're 9 weeks along tomorrow. I've had pcos since at least college and I'm 35 now. I have no doubt that I can thank cutting out carbage for this.

I expected my doctor, who I met for the first time last week, to be really against this. I also expected a lecture about my weight (not ideal but I thought this would take longer than it did because of my history with ttc) but I didn't get one. She said "let's focus on being healthy and the scale might not be the best way to determine that alone."

I am thrilled she has given me the all clear to stay between 50-100 gm of carbs a day, and really supports it as a way to stave off gestational diabetes. She cautioned against getting into ketosis (I've never been keto so I didn't ask her to elaborate) but said there's no reason to change what I'm already doing. Loved my "heart-healthy" avocado intake and said to keep on using hwc in my coffee (her words: "if you can only have one cup a day, I say make it count! Fat is not the enemy!"). I think I've found a unicorn of a doctor

Congrats!!! And congrats on the doctor too. Sounds like a gem.

I can only hope when I get pregnant my OB is wise like yours!!

Congrats @dtobio! And good luck @Tanukiko.

When this post first came up I got caught in it and I started getting baby blues but my 7 kids brought me out it. Good luck on both of you as you start your families. :-)