I've been largely absent for a few months in the desire to keep what has been going on in my life private, as battling this additional illness is a familiar one. Travis and I found out we are expecting baby #2 around mid-March. This was surprising and exciting news for us. We are excited for the blessing of another little one and for Oliver to be a big brother.
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| Week 5 |
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| Week 6 |
When I found out, I was shocked, to say the least, then almost closely followed by excitement. This was very quickly followed by terror and severe anxiety. This is because my pregnancy with Oliver was a complete nightmare. I had hyperemesis gravidarum and only truly knew that in retrospect. I lost a lot of weight in the first trimester and threw up violently the first two trimesters and even during labor and delivery. I was a walking zombie skeletal pregnant woman. It was complete misery. The thought of going through that again terrified me. I decided to be proactive immediately. I started using essential oils, kept working out, ate lots of small meals throughout the day, packed with protein, got lots of fresh air, weekly acupuncture, preggie pops, the list goes on. But as I suspected, it wouldn't matter what I did, it was still going to happen. Hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) is not morning sickness. I do not throw up in the morning then am done for the day and feel better. HG is a debilitating condition in which you battle constant nausea day and night and throw up multiple times throughout the day and night. You suffer from dehydration, malnutrition, depression, and are at a risk to lose your baby. Starting around week 7/8, I started Zofran (a dissolvable anti-nausea medication).
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| Week 7 |
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| Week 8 |
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| Week 9 |
At week 8, I had my first OB appointment. For several reasons, I decided to go with a midwife this time, instead of an OBGYN. The difference is like night and day. She hugged me and listened to me, and became my advocate. After my first pregnancy, I learned how to advocate for myself, but having a supportive midwife who understood and acknowledged HG made all the difference in the world. We added Phenergan (another anti-nausea medication) to my regime since I was still throwing up frequently and very dehydrated. She also set up weekly IV fluid appointments for me to try and keep me hydrated. So at week 8, I started going in for my weekly IV fluid appointments; however, it wasn't enough, I ended up going into OB triage or the Emergency Room 1-2 more times a week in addition to my scheduled visits. At week 12, we added Reglan (anti-nausea #3) to my routine and that seemed to finally help a bit. I felt like I could start to function. When I went to my scheduled fluid visit a couple days afterwards, the midwives decided to keep me as an inpatient to get my illness stabilized and to look into getting a PICC line and/or a feeding tube. While there, I was able to keep food and liquids down while receiving IV fluids and medications. This was a turning point for me. I am still on all three anti-nausea medications, but now only throw up a few times a week. My nausea is only there about 50% of the time and not as debilitating as it was before.
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Week 10
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Week 11
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Week 12
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I owe a big thanks to my midwife for being proactive, taking me seriously, and listening. I was still "crackered" by a couple nurses and still by some acquaintances but I figure they are saying these things because they don't know any better and I can't be upset at them. Being "crackered" means someone tells you just to try and eat a saltine in the morning and drink ginger ale for your "morning sickness". I challenge you to name anything you can think of to help with nausea/HG/morning sickness/vomiting. Please. And I can assure ..... your question "have you tried......" can be met with a resounding "YES". Please don't assume I am in this position because there are remedies out there I haven't tried. Please don't assume I am weak or lack the will to "just get up and move on". Please don't assume this is anything like morning sickness. Please don't assume you know what I am going through. But that doesn't mean you cannot sympathize and offer support.
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| Week 13 |
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| Week 14 |
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| Week 15 |
Support for someone suffering with HG means offering to help clean their house or cook food or even better, don't cook food in my house (barf), bring it over already made and hopefully easily digestible. If nothing else, maybe my kid and husband will eat it. It can mean offering to watch their child/children because physically caring for them is almost impossible at times. Support means telling the sufferer that they are strong, courageous, unstoppable, doing a stellar job, are a wonderful mother. Support means you don't judge them for a condition you personally know nothing about. It is getting them from one piece of furniture to another. Travis often had to carry me as I was too weak. My neighbor once came over to change Oliver's diaper because there was no way I could handle that. Support is not asking the sufferer to do ANYTHING extra and not getting upset/offended when they can't partake in normal activities. Support is knowing that the sufferer isn't intentionally abandoning you or avoiding you. They can barely make it to work, their DR appt, daycare, or walk through the grocery store without practically collapsing and subsequently dry heaving and retching everywhere. Support is sitting with that person while in the hospital and just being there without expecting anything in return.
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| Week 16 |
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| Week 17 |
Our due date is November 23rd. Maybe a Thanksgiving baby?! It's probably safe to say I'll be doing my Black Friday shopping exclusively online this year.
