Hyperemesis Gravidarum- Part 1

Hyperemesis Gravidarum.

Most people have never heard of this term.  Hyperemesis Gravidarum (also known as HG) is defined as severe, debilitating nausea and vomiting during pregnancy.  It is a rare pregnancy complication that affects an estimate of less than 2% of pregnant women.  When describing what HG is, you must also realize what it is not.

It is not just morning sickness.

It is not fixed by eating saltines and ginger.

It is not something where you can just "suck it up" and deal with it.

I had HG with both of my pregnancies.  Though I was so thankful to be pregnant with my children, my months of being sick with HG were some of the lowest in my life.  I was severely, severely sick.  I'm not talking about a few weeks of nausea and some throwing up.  I'm talking about throwing up 20+ times a day, constant and unrelenting nausea, losing more than 20% of my body weight from malnutrition, being admitted to the ER for severe dehydration (multiple times with each pregnancy), and all this for months on end.

My first pregnancy I was belittled and told I just had bad morning sickness.  I heard it all.  Try ginger or saltines.... Women have dealt with morning sickness for a long time, you can too....  It'll pass after the first trimester....  I was mocked by some co-workers and criticized for taking medications for it.  During the pregnancy I was diagnosed with HG by a doctor in the ER, only after being admitted to the hospital several times for severe dehydration.

I would be admitted to the hospital and given IV fluids and Zofran.  It would always take several people to get an IV started because I was so dehydrated that my veins would blow out in the process.  I hate needles and would sob as they stuck me time after time.  I would generally start feeling a little better after a couple days of IV fluids, but once they let me go home, the uphill battle would begin all over again.

I would force myself to eat toast or crackers or whatever I could stand, only to have it come back up minutes later.  Not even water would stay down sometimes.  I sometimes slept on the bathroom floor because I was too weak to walk there from the bedroom.  Thomas would occasionally find me passed out on the floor from throwing up so much and have to carry me to the bed.

I was throwing up so much that it eroded parts of my esophagus, pulled muscles in my chest, stripped enamel from my teeth, and I developed a hernia.

This was all during my first pregnancy, when I was pregnant with Declan.  I was extremely sick up until the day he was born.  The hour after Declan was born, I happily and willingly ate a full meal for the first time in 8 months.

After Declan was born, I was scared to ever try to get pregnant again.  Everyone would tell me that each pregnancy was different and maybe next time I wouldn't be as sick.

Unfortunately, those who have had HG know that you are likely to have it again with future pregnancies.

Just 5 months after Declan was born, we found out we were expecting again, and this time with twins.  The HG returned almost immediately.

And I began my second battle with hyperemesis gravidarum...