Hyperemesis Gravidarum

I was throwing up dozens of times an hour. I couldn't keep spit down. I would lay on the couch and cry, throw up, cry some more, then throw up so much that I was just hurling stomach acid into the trash can beside the couch. At the end of the day I would plod my way upstairs, sob myself to sleep, pleading for something to take away the sickness, the nausea, the vomiting, the nightmare that hyperemesis gravidarum is.

--

4 years ago right now,

i was pregnant with my now 3-year-old,

and had hyperemesis gravidarum -

a condition that's become public with Kate Middleton's recent pregnancy announcement.

     

 

i don't often talk, or write, about my early days of pregnancy with my sweet, spunky 3-year-old.

i don't talk about it often because it was so awful.

{so awful}

in such a deeply personal way

 that i would really rather shudder, grit my teeth, and then let the topic pass 

than talk about my experiences.

but, with Kate Middleton's pregnancy announcement,

it's impossible to not remember my own experience with 

hyperemesis gravidarum, 

the reason for which Kate was hospitalized.

in my early weeks of pregnancy with our now 5-year-old

{before i was aware that I had HG}

I remember telling my husband that when I told people I was pregnant they should really say

I'm sorry

instead of 

congratulations.

i was sick.

Hyperemesis affects about 2% of pregnant woman.

it is {so much more} than morning sickness,

the term the news anchors seem to be using when describing 

the beautiful Duchess of Cambridge.

it's even so much more than severe morning sickness.

it is severe, persistent, unrelenting nausea and vomiting that can lead a host of health issues for the mother and baby, the least of which is severe dehydration.

at seven weeks pregnant with grace, our now-three-year-old,

after being hospitalized for a couple days to restore dehydration and receive nutrition through an IV,

i had a home health care nurse come give me a zofran pump.

a pump that would deliver anti-nausea medicine to me through a needle in my thigh.

the pump did nothing.

i ended up hospitalized again,

and given a PICC line -

a semi-permemanent IV so I could get medicine, fluids, and nutrition intravenously.

for months I had these tubes coming out of my body, tubes that made getting dressed, sleeping, and showering a challenge.

{the PICC line went in my arm at my elbow then went all the way into my chest to deliver medicine}

hyperemesis gravidaraum.

 it was my nightmare I lived for months during both of my healthy pregnancies.

my heart hurts for Kate Middleton,

and i hope she's getting the support she needs -

i cannot imagine living HG in the public eye.

if you hear about her, 

she is not exaggerating,

or being a "princess" about pregnancy.

it is serious, debilitating condition.

 so debilitating that couples who deal with it?

their divorce rate is higher.  their abortion rate is higher.

that's how serious it gets.

my Savior provided grace and mercy for me 

to get through the minute-by-minute nightmare of HG.  

but I never want to live it again.

that is what HG is.

---

if you're dealing with HG, go to www.helpher.org - 

it provided great help for me during my daughter's pregnancy

and my friend, Sommer,writes about her experiences with HG here: http://sommer.cronck.com/2012/10/07/hyperemesis-gravidarum/