Talking hyperemesis gravidarum (aka hell on earth)

Hey guys,

So you're probably thinking, what the heck is HG? Or maybe not... Maybe you're a mother suffering with this horrific condition, or a mother who can say 'I had that!' 

Let me explain. HG or rather hyperemesis gravidarum is HELL. Hell on earth I tell you. And for some mothers it can be life threatening for both her and baby. No mother should have to suffer through what's supposed to be a really beautiful experience. 

My experience 

I first endured this dreaded condition with my first born. Everyone warned me of morning sickness. As soon as I was 6 weeks pregnant the nausea started, I was cool with that and figured what's a couple of weeks of feeling a little sick and groggy? Little did I know I didn't just have morning sickness. Things progressed pretty fast to a very severe state. I was very unwell. Unable to keep even water down. 

I called the midwives very often explaining how sick I was but they just put it down to morning sickness and pretty much told me not to worry and that unfortunately it's just part of pregnancy. I went off practically ALL food. After a couple of days of throwing up approx 15-20 times I mean to the point of me vomiting air? I figured I needed to see a doctor. We rushed to A&E where I was given some anti sickness medicine to potentially stop me throwing up enough to keep some fluids down. Well let's just say it didn't work... I was vomiting before the tablet even had a chance to dissolve.

The following morning I headed to see my GP he suggest I have an injection it's much stronger than tablets and would allow me to keep a tablet down thus meaning eventually I would be able to take the medication regularly to control symptoms and finally keep fluids down! 

However, I reacted... Firstly I fainted to then be wheeled through to nurses in a wheelchair in my doctors surgery, very embarrassing! One of the side effects was restless syndrome. I didn't sleep for two days/nights solid. I couldn't stop moving. It was horrible, I was marching up and down the hallway to try and wear myself out. My heart felt like it was beating 20x faster than normal. It gave me great anxiety, I felt like I was on something! The good thing was I hadn't thrown up during this period which meant I didn't need to go into hospital for IV fluids. I still wasn't eating but slowly managed to keep the odd thing down. Although I was on strong anti sickness medicine I was still throwing up regularly but maybe only 5-6 times a day. 

I was becoming very malnourished and worried for my babies health but doctors informed me baby would be fine. 

HG can sometimes wear off in the early months, sometimes it will continue for the entire pregnancy. Fortunately by about 7 months pregnant it wore off and I slowly weaned myself down and then off medication. However I was very malnourished. My iron levels became dangerously low. (That all worked out in the end read a post here about how I got them back up - excuse the poor article I was a newbie blogger) 

My beautiful baby boy arrived a healthy weight and in tip top condition. 

When I fell pregnant with babe number two. I was very anxious. I know the night we fell pregnant - I threw up that night! I had forgotten how traumatising and difficult HG was and hoped it wouldn't return. BUT IT DID. Ugh. This time things were harder because I had a toddler to look after, well actually he was only 1 so still a baby and very dependant on me. 

Symptoms were easier, I wasn't vomiting as much but the nausea was horrendous. So long as I ate as soon as I had a slight bit of hunger I could avoid being sick but this wasn't always an easy task with a baby who came first. Being on my own during the days I had no one to cook/prepare food for me. It got so bad I started giving Roman jarred food something I swore I'd never do (at least not regularly). I took several medications but they all had sedative effects and I was falling to sleep while he was in my care because the tablets were knocking me out. I informed my doctor of the dangers in me continuing with these medicines, we finally found one that didn't knock me out (after becoming sick again because they'd accidentally prescribed me one that had lactose in and I'm ALLERGIC). Symptoms calmed down after 4/5 months with baby number 2 thankfully but returned again in the last 3/4 weeks of my pregnancy. 

All I want to say to you HG mama's is I AM HERE FOR YOU. If you need to talk I'm here if you live in my city (Bristol) holla and I will come cook/clean/baby sit for you! And if you know a mother who is suffering with HG please go help her. It may not seam that bad 'being sick', but it is. It's debilitating some of us suffer worse than others. I've read stories of it almost killing mothers/babies.

It makes us weak, we start to become angry at our bodies for not functioning like a 'normal mothers body' we regret getting pregnant sometimes even wish we weren't. It takes a lot for a mother to have these thoughts. It causes depression and anxiety. I didn't get to enjoy my little boy, I didn't want to be around people and I hated myself. This is very upsetting to write, as I look at my babies sleeping peacefully now. I am so proud of myself for bringing life into the world with great difficulties. 

Please don't tell a HG mother to 'eat a ginger biscuit' instead ask her, 'can I help' in fact insist on helping her if you can. She needs it. Tell her how well she's doing, how strong she is she needs those positive vibes! 

To all the HG mama's well done you are superheroes ❤️