my hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) experience
Many people will be aware of the term “Morning sickness”, however hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) is a completely different condition and experience. Hyperemesis is defined as “persistent severe vomiting leading to possible dehydration and weight loss”.
Now, I am not writing this for sympathy. What I am doing is trying to educate people on the difference between the two and the impact HG can have on a woman and her pregnancy.
Every woman’s pregnancy is different. It is their own experience. But I can’t tell you how many times I’ve told someone I had HG and their reply would be “I had morning sickness too, or, I was never sick when I was pregnant”. It did not help one bit.
I found out I was pregnant with my first baby at 5 weeks. I was so excited and at this point had 0 symptoms - another worry in itself! As the pregnancy progressed I began to feel increasingly exhausted and slept as much as I could. I would get in from work at 5pm and head straight to bed. Sometimes this was me until my morning alarm. I had close friends who were pregnant at the same time and further on in their pregnancy who reassured me that they felt the same so this was reassuring.
However, at 7 weeks pregnant I began to vomit every morning. As I hadn’t eaten anything during the night you can imagine the joy of trying to be sick with nothing in your stomach. I then tried the sickness bands, ginger, eating little and often, everything! You name it I tried it but despite this
week 8 hit like a bang.
We had an early scan booked and were thrilled to see our baby cooking away nicely. It almost made the pregnancy real at that point!
However, my lovely morning sickness turned into something quite dramatic. Before I knew it I was vomiting anything between 1-20 times a day. I was struggling to keep water down, was lethargic, exhausted and looked grey (according to my midwife colleagues at work). This continued until 12 weeks and by this point I had lost 15 pounds in weight (in just under 3 weeks). I got checked over by my midwife who found that I had ketones in my urine meaning that my body was using up my fat stores because it wasn’t getting enough fuel e.g food and water. Everything I ate or drank returned within the space of a couple of hours. I was force feeding myself to get through the day, which you can imagine, was not pleasant.
I was then admitted to hospital for IV fluids to help my body recover. After a discussion with the medical team in my work I was commenced on anti sickness tablets which I took throughout the day to try and ease feeling sick/being sick and it allowed me to eat. During the first trimester I was literally living off mashed potato and gravy. I couldn’t face to try anything else. And trust me: Once you’ve seen some foods you’ve eaten come back up, you’ll never eat them again.
Because I looked and felt unwell I found hiding my pregnancy really difficult. People would ask If everything was ok because of my weight loss and because I was paler than living room walls. I turned down meeting friends and family because the majority of the time they included dinner and/or alcohol. I hibernated and when I had to tell someone I was pregnant felt I had to finish with “But I’m still very early so please don’t tell anyone”. My fear was losing this pregnancy with people knowing. Totally irrational I know, and I truly believe now that pregnancy loss should be spoken about and not be suffered alone.
I couldn’t wait to get to the second trimester and finally explain to people why I had either turned them down, not replied to them or not seen them in so long! My first experience of pregnancy wasn’t what I hoped and most days were a struggle.
My work were fed up of looking at me as I was admitted a further three times in my pregnancy and received more anti sickness medication and IV fluids. They experienced my vomit and my tears more times than anyone. Every single person again, was amazing and supported me in everyday they could.
It did ease, but didn’t go away completely. The medication worked when I got into a set routine of taking them and I ate things I knew would stay down. I learned which foods wouldn’t sit well and stayed away from all fizzy juice, potatoes and chocolate. You’ve no idea how much I missed crisps and all day everyday I craved a galaxy caramel. I gained weight, managed to drink water and felt much better towards the end of my pregnancy. I was only being sick 2-3 times a day which to me, was more than manageable.
A couple of days after Kerr was born I was tucking into a haggis supper (this is weird I know, but when you can’t eat it when your pregnant you crave it!) having a glass of Prosecco and rounded it off with a galaxy caramel share bar to myself. Writing this I now know why I’m still struggling to get the weight off!
Ladies: Seek advice, don’t suffer at home and speak to other women who have experienced HG! There is support and help out there. HG is debilitating, it can take away the excitement, It can challenge your whole though process on how pregnancy should be, I get that. It is so difficult, but it is temporary. Each day that passes you’re one day closer to meeting your baby and trust me, nothing will ever beat that moment.
https://www.pregnancysicknesssupport.org.uk/get-help/what-is-hyperemesis-gravidarum/