Hyperemesis Gravidarum. If you don’t know what this is, God bless you.
If you do, I want to offer some hope and some help.
Initial signs
When I was 6 weeks pregnant with my daughter, I woke up nauseated and stayed miserably nauseated the whole day. My friends and colleagues said it would pass. “You just have to tough through it.” “It’s only a little morning sickness.” “It will pass.” At eight weeks pregnant, I was hospitalized for dehydration. On my way to the emergency room, my husband drove past my favorite taco restaurant and the smell of food wafting through the vents made me vomit in the car. I was vomiting several times a day and I couldn’t keep anything down. Not ginger ale, not crackers, not water, not anything. I began to lose weight. I couldn’t go to work or church, because I was vomiting on the drive there, every hour I was present, and then vomiting in the car on the way home. I was hospitalized every two weeks for malnutrition and dehydration.
The Nightmare Pregnancy
My dream of being pregnant turned into a nightmarish experience. My body was allergic to being pregnant. The more pregnant I became, the sicker I was. I had to have a bucket next to me at all times. I felt like a failure because my pregnancy was a parasitical disease, not this amazing experience of growing a new life. I was felt like I was dying. I grew physically and emotionally isolated. Because of the illness, I couldn’t drive or even leave the house many days. Many of the women have never seen anything like my pregnancy, so they doubted my claims and discredited my complaints. It was the loneliest feeling I’ve ever experienced.
Women who’ve been there
Thank God, I had my maternal grandmother. She informed that she had the same symptoms with every pregnancy and that I needed push my doctor to provide me with some type of medication so that I could live. I also had two friends who willingly shared their pregnancy disease stories of losing 50 lbs, having a port installed in their veins, and watching their kidneys malfunction. These women assured me that my problems were not in my head and that I was not over-reacting to my symptoms. Suddenly, I wasn’t a hyperchondriac. This problem was real and I wasn’t the only person with this experience.
A diagnosis
After my fourth hospital stay, my husband took me to a teaching hospital which specialized in high-risk pregnancies and they gave me a diagnosis. – Hyperemesis Gravidarum. According to the HER Foundation, HG is “a pregnancy disease marked by rapid weight loss, malnutrition, and dehydration due to unrelenting nausea and vomiting”. Only 1-2% of women will ever have the disease; however, if you do have it, you will likely have it with each pregnancy. Also, if your mother had it, you will likely have it because it is genetic. Statistics show that 20% of moms with HG will elect to terminate the pregnancy because they have “no hope of relief'” and 18% of moms with HG will have PTSD because of what they experienced.
Medication and Support
Once I was treated by doctors who understood my condition, I started to receive proper medication and advice on how to survive HG. My husband was able to support me better because he learned how to live with me. However, there were still people in my life who thought I was exaggerating my symptoms because they have never heard of the disease. That was until Princess Kate was diagnosed with it.
Thank you Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge for becoming the poster child for HG!! Your high-profile has raised HG awareness and validated the condition of many moms who were misdiagnosed or doubted. If you are suffering with HG or know someone who is, please advise them to ask their doctor for HG treatment options. Also, there are online support groups that can help reduce your feelings of isolation and loneliness.
Check out these pages for more information on HG:
I had HG through my entire pregnancy and I gave birth to an amazing baby girl. She will likely be an only child because I don’t know if my body could handle HG again. But one thing I know for certain, you can survive HG and so can your baby.
