Hyperemesis Gravidarum – My awful pregnancy
Is pregnancy fun for anybody? I don’t know…. I always seem to think my pregnancies ‘weren’t so bad’, but then I think back and I realise that mine were actually for the most part, all a bit stressful. With my 1st pregnancy I had morning sickness until I was about 14 weeks pregnant. Luckily not for too long, but I remember puking up bile at work every day for those few weeks. I can still picture that tiny bathroom, 9 years later. My 2nd pregnancy, the ‘morning sickness’ lasted a lot longer. Up to about 19 or 20 weeks. I vomited A LOT, but again…morning sickness….you have to deal. Right? I do recall crying over the toilet and telling my husband: Please, never again! ‘WE’ will never do this again.
Fast forward a few years and 1 miscarriage later, I was pregnant again and on cue, the nausea and vomiting started. Only this time, it didn’t end! I recall being at a work retreat of sorts and it was the 3rd day that I had not been able to keep down even a drop of water. So weak, lying on a couch ready to pass out when a colleague insisted I call my husband and get home. I spent many weeks at home and off work.
Eventually, at some stage, I was diagnosed with Hyperemesis Gravidarum, also known as, the morning sickness Kate Middleton has made famous.
I recall when Kate had to take time off and had to be admitted to hospital…I was one of those thinking: ‘What a drama queen!’ HUGE apologies to you Kate. If only I’d known….
What is Hyperemesis Gravidarum:
Hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) is a severe form of nausea and vomiting in pregnancy. It is generally described as unrelenting, excessive pregnancy-related nausea and/or vomiting that prevents adequate intake of food and fluids. If severe and/or inadequately treated, it is typically associated with:
- loss of greater than 5% of pre-pregnancy body weight (usually over 10%)
- dehydration and production of ketones
- nutritional deficiencies
- metabolic imbalances
- difficulty with daily activities
Studies vary, but most find that women have a good chance of experiencing HG in future pregnancies. Statistics suggest over 50% will have it with each pregnancy, and those with more than one experience of HG have a greater risk of experiencing HG in future pregnancies.
My gynae didn’t give a shit
What was so difficult for me was that while my gynae was prepared to give me scripts for Zofran (anti nausea meds that I believe are given to chemotherapy patients), he deemed my condition ‘not so serious’. Why? Because apparently if I weighed less it would be concerning. He actually told me: ‘If you weighed 50kgs and lost 10kgs, that’s concerning, but you have weight to lose.’
It embarrassed me so much and made me feel like there was something wrong with me expecting any sort of concern or additional treatment. I had lost well above 10% of my body weight in the first trimester alone…well above. I think I lost 5-7kgs in 1-2 weeks at one stage. Many times I was so dehydrated, where there was literally no saliva left in my mouth. Work was becoming something I couldn’t even think about, because I couldn’t keep my head up. But apparently bigger girls, need not worry about their bodies shutting down…right doc?
I became a recluse
One day I made the decision to venture out of the house. To Spar. 500m away from our house. We drove there and as I got out of the car, I started vomiting and ran to a bush in the parking area. Literally that was my life almost every single day. I stopped going out. I hated people. Happy people. Happy pregnant people especially…lol.
There were days that I prayed for death. Days when I said to God: ‘if this pregnancy needs to end, I won’t be mad at You.’ What a horrific confession…one I obviously regret and never deep down in my heart meant, but that is the black hole of depression that HG caused in my life. I wanted nothing to do with friends, with people and their shit advice…and even my doctor…for making me feel like I deserved this somehow.
People and their ‘advice’
People think…drama queen?? Girl..you is only pregnant! What’s a bit of vomiting? Have some dry biscuits. Ginger. Lemon. The range of expletives swimming around in my head when these well-intentioned people were giving me advice…well, I’ll leave that to your imagination.
Anaemia
I could not take any folic acid or vitamins, so that worried me when it came to my unborn baby’s development and growth. Only an hour before I gave birth, did they do blood tests and found out I was so severely anaemic that they had to get the blood ready in case I needed a transfusion. My gynae worked very well to ensure that I lost as little blood as possible, thankfully. The least he could have done I guess….
I continue to be severely anaemic, even today still. After discussions with a dietician, I also think that was the reason my son wasn’t getting full on my milk because it was so devoid of nutrients. So that’s also something for HG sufferers to consider.
PTSS
18% of women report full criteria of post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSS) following an HG pregnancy. More than half of mothers have post-traumatic stress symptoms. – I lived like a recluse still even after Adam was born and I realised almost a year later that I definitely was dealing with some PTSS issues.
In hindsight I realise my pregnancies just got progressively worse with the nausea, so thankfully I was done after the 3rd one. I could not survive another bout of HG. I take my hat off to HG sufferers that do this more than once…for the love of an unborn child. It takes so much mental strength.
Many people don’t know about Hyperemesis Gravidarum and suffer in silence, thinking they may be sounding like drama queens. They need to ensure they get medical help when needed….and to not allow doctors to merely brush their concerns aside. Here’s a website for more info if you’re interested: HER Foundation
What was your pregnancy experience like? Do you know of anybody that suffered from Hyperemesis Gravidarum?
Go and check Momma Like Me’s blog post for what she went through with Hyperemesis Gravidarum!
22 Comments
Abigail
Oh wow… That sounds hectic. I was truly blessed not to experience any morning sickness during my pregnancies. My gynae could not understand why I did not have morning sickness and I was expecting twins…
I loved being pregnant the first time and missed it once my boy was born. The 2nd time around was a totally different experience with it being twins but still no morning sickness. Spent a lot of time in the hospital due to other complications with the twins and it also came out eventually that I was anemic. Lost a lot of blood during my c-section and had to receive 2 pints of blood afterwards. Think most women suffer in silence and just accept what our gynaes tell us it’s a non-issue or not to overreact. But glad all worked out well..
Simone
I can understand there are many complications with having a twin pregnancy! I needed a transfusion after a miscarriage once, so I can’t imagine how scary that must be when you have just given birth to 2 babies!
So glad all ended well for you 🙂 Thanks for sharing!More than writing, I love reading other people’s stories and experiences.
Rachael Williams
Wow, I’ve never been pregnant so I obviously can’t fully relate, but this article was really enlightening and makes me respect pregnant ladies even more. Thanks so much for sharing your story <3
Simone
Thank you for reading Rachael <3
Siobhan Yeatman
It’s hearing stories like this that make me so scared to start trying for a baby. Horrific! You are such an incredibly strong and inspiring woman for going through that and sharing it with us.
Also – I hope you changed your doctor. That’s absolute BULLSHIT and should not be tolerated under any circumstances.
xxx
Simone
Thanks for reading 🙂
Sadly I didn’t change doctors (it’s a mission to change when pregnant)…I was fond of him besides that comment, but the fondness definitely decreased after that experience.
Carly Clarke
I had Preeclampsia (high blood pressure ) with both my pregnancies . My eldest being born at 28 weeks and I was horribly sick couldn’t see him until 2 days later when I started feeling better and he was NICU an experience I will never forget doctors saying he might not survive but he was a little fighter and through God’s grace he will be 11 years old next friday . My second pregnancy was a bit thankfully . I never had morning sickness with either of my pregnancies so I will not know how you felt . Thank you for sharing .Love to hear about different pregnancy experiences .
Simone
Oh my word, how awful! So glad your story had a good ending and your son is now a healthy young man! I can’t imagine how sad it must be having a little baby in NICU…I get shivers reading this. Thanks for sharing! I feel the same…I love reading about other people’s experiences.
2nd time you went full term?
Carly Clarke
My daughter was born at 35 weeks and was quite fine nothing wrong with her and what a blessing they both are to our family . I had them 6 years apart that’s how long it took me to get over my first experience .
Cherralle
Thank you for sharing your story.we do need to share more stories, and I’m sorry you went through this.. Pregnancy wasn’t warm and gloat for me. Definitely HG is really rough. With my second pregnancy I was so sick i couldn’t keep water down, I couldn’t get out of bed. I had to be admitted to get intravenous fluids. . I was given Zofran and it worked ro calm the nausea. I also felt geez… Drama queen . But when I couldn’t even drink water and was constantly vomiting , drained completely, I knew it was more than that. In fact water made me sick! When I did research I realized some women had it worse than me (yours look very bad) . I spent hours a day in a bathroom stallpsyching myself up for meetings. It was rough and it’s no jokes . My nausea dissapted at around 6 months
Simone
That’s the worst, when you realise even water won’t stay down…and then people are like: just have a dry ginger biscuit. GRRRRR
I had a brief reprieve around 7 or 8 months for about 2 weeks and then it came back until the last day.
I know that bathroom psych. Like let me just be able to keep it together for an hour! No? Okay, half an hour? 10 minutes? lol. It’s an experience one doesn’t forget.
Trying to care for 2 other kids while your husband is always travelling…that’s a whole other blog post. lol. my poor kids…. 🙁 I was such a shitty mom to them. How did you feel you handled caring for your older child?
Thanks so much for sharing and reading <3
Yolandi North
Thanx so much for writing about this. I always think that people roll their eyes when I say that my pregnancy was an out of body experience or hell, so I am so glad that there are women, like you, who talk about these things. xxx
Simone
So sorry to hear you also had a horrible experience 🙁 I hate those women that try to make like you’re just not strong enough…you’re over reacting. Urgh.
Appreciate you stopping by and reading 😉
Melanie
WOW!!! I told you you were awesome! This is an eyeopener and something all women who are trying to get pregnant, and who is pregnant should read. Hats off to you my friend.
Simone
Thanks so much for reading my friend. Hope you never have to experience this. xxxx
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