Introducing myself too...

[Starlarae]

Hi! My name is Christi and I am suffering too... 8 weeks pregnant and HG started 3.5 weeks ago. This is my 2nd pregnancy with HG. With my daughter, I was in bed for 63 days (IV, etc.). Suffered in silence as I didn't know about HG until I felt better.

This pregnancy is worse in some ways... Lost 5lbs in 10 days and severely constipated due to Zofran. Have been hydrated and had an ER trip for enema last week. Feel malnourished. Cracks on corner of mouth + chapped lips. Only eating bananas, oatmeal, and bread. Cannot tolerate vitamins or fortified cereals or fiber.

I searched the board for constipation solutions... But having so much motion sickness I can barely read and type. MOM didn't work for me. Any other recommendations?

My fear is that if my body goes into survival mode I could miscarry and want to stay on top of everything to minimize any risk.

I'm so thankful I found this website. And thank you in advance for your guidance and support. I'm happy to be a buddy now and later. I live in the Bay Area.

[candylds]

Constipation is the worse. I tell you what I did. Take 250 mg docusate sodium twice a day. Also do dulcolax suposotories, the instant ones. After that I did the flee enema. My mom also boiled an Apple and made me drink the juice with sugar of course. I did the apple while I was taking steroids at 10 weeks so I was able to tolerated it. Where you are now, I just suggest the suppositories and the flee enema. Did them twice a week. Since you can't drink or eat anything that us the only thing that will help you I think. The doctor told me to do them. I was eating the same things as you are when I was 8 weeks, then when I got hospitalized they gave me chicken soup and carnation instant breakfast and for some reason I was able to eat them so when I got home I add to my list the carnation instant breakfast and top ramen noddles with little of the powder..almost nothing. I also ate plain almonds. HG will get better...I am 14 weeks and it is getting better for me...still not the same but it is much easier. Good luck

[Starlarae]

Thank you for all that you said. I'm going to try that apple concoction and keep the Carnation breakfast and noodles in mind too. Yesterday, I tried Glycerin suppository with colace daily and was helpful. Thanks for mentioning Dulcolax too... I was nervous to try it but I will. With my daughter I had relief by 14 weeks so I'm praying for a similar countdown. :/

Thank you again!

[HJR]

Hi,

I am steeling myself up to try again to cope with HG. I have had 3 horrendous HG pregnancies, the longest lasting up to week 17 and am hoping this time I will get through. Thought I would say hello and try to find some friends who understand the horror of this disease and help me on this next journey. The last time I got very depressed and lonely as no one appeared to have any appreciation to the extent of my misery. I swear I am cutting all ties to anyone ever again who upon listening to my ills and sees the state of me and my weight loss and suggests GINGER!! I am already having anxiety attacks about what is to come but I would love to have my own child so am going to try again and hope my body doesnt battle me so much this time! I am also more than happy to Buddy if I am ever qualified to. I have a decent GP lined up this time who I believe will admit me sooner rather than later if necessary which fills me with mild hope but we'll see.
hope everyone out there has the strength to get through the rest of the day.
Heather

[Brynn1984]

Hi Christi and Heather,

So sorry you are going through this too, but this site is amazing and the women are so understanding, so you have come to the right place. I'll cross my fingers that you both get relief sooner rather than later! Let us know how you are doing.

[Starlarae]

Hi Heather... I think someone posted an article here on natural supplements to help prepare for HG pregnancy. It was really interesting. I'm going to ask my acupuncturist about it. If you can't find the article here it's on Babycenter Hyperesis group. I really wish I had seen the article six months ago. . HG is not fun to say the least but so worth it in the end. I found some Hyperemesis blogs through this board that have been encouraging too. Big hugs!

[roch78]

Hello, I'm Rochelle and I am new to the forum. In 2009, I got married and pregnant shortly after. I already had an 11 year old from a previous relationship. My pregnancy with my oldest was fine...no problems, I ate well, vaginal delivery, no issues. I don't know if it is because I was younger then....but my second child's pregnancy was the absolute worst! I was extremely sick, vomiting and extremely nauseous every single minute of the day. I couldn't eat, drink or smell anything. Just looking at TV (not even just food...movies, any movement seemed to trigger it) or exposure to light would make me ill. I tried taking tums, eating crackers, peppermint tea, ginger ale...nothing worked. I even had to leave my job because I couldn't work anymore.

Everyone thought I was over exaggerating my sickness. My family just kept insisting on dry foods and small meals and that all pregnant women go through it...The doctors overlooked it, and wouldn't help...nobody understood that it was more than typical morning nausea.....most days I would lay on the cold floor curled into a ball day and night just praying for relief. Finally, I crawled into the doctor's office in tears and begged for help. They finally gave me Zofran....that made it a little better, but I have a high tolerance for medication and I needed just a bit of a higher dosage, which they refused. As such, the remainder of my pregnancy was miserable. I lost 10 lbs, and while other women's bellies in the office seemed to get bigger, my baby seemed to be at a stand still.

At 8 months, I began having extreme headaches and abdominal pain. I called the doctors office and they told me it was just false labor pains....I dealt with the pain, and went in for a normal visit. The nurse took my blood pressure and dropped the cuff. My blood pressure was 190/200. I should have been dead or somewhere with a stroke or seizure. Turns out I had severe preeclampsia and they took my baby immediately via cesarean delivery. She almost weighed 4lbs and we both stayed in the hospital for 2 weeks on IV's, magnesium and other meds, because they couldn't get my blood pressure to go down, and the baby was sick and underweight. I can't help wondering if the preeclamspia developed from the extreme nausea (HG)? I had no idea there was a name for this illness. I never heard of HG, and the doctors never gave it up as an option.

I'm sorry for this long message, but I just don't know what to do. I've been on birth control since then. Recently I was getting headaches from the pill, so they changed my pill...somewhere in that change, I just found out I am pregnant again. Although I should be happy as I was the first time, I am now severely depressed. The thought of having to go through that again is frightening and depressing. The reason I knew I was pregnant is because I began to become extremely nauseous and vomit again. I'm only 4 weeks and absolutely miserable --again. I haven't told my husband yet, because I just don't know what to do..(he's been working overtime this last week, so I've managed to hide for now). I don't know how to handle this again and still be super mom to my 2 daughters, one who starts high school this year, and the other who is an ambitious 2 year old who needs a lot of my time. I find myself back in the same position, just as I started my own business and I am beginning to look for and also obtain clients, while we were just starting to improve our finances. If I have this baby, how can I maintain this? what if I lose clients or can't obtain them because I'm too sick? I just don't know what to do. Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks,
Rochelle

[Starlarae]

Hi Rochelle, we are all in this together for sure... I have similar challenges and what has helped me most was early IV hydration and starting meds right away. Once i got on top of the hydration issue it was a process finding what I coukd eat, knowing my body was starving for fat and protein. And we are leaning on friends for the first time in our life since no family is nearby... They have made several grocery runs for us each week... For last minute case of Ensure to a roll of TP. It was so hard to ask for help. My heart just aches for our little one who wants me to tuck her in, but I can't even do that yet. But my husband reminds me that we have the rest of our life and that really puts this hard time into perspective for me and makes it all more tolerable. I hope you find similar comforts and solutions that will alleviate things a bit. Message me if I can help with anything!

[Brynn1984]

Hi Rochelle,

I second what Christi said. I honestly had no clue how to deal with HG until I was about 11 weeks, and by then I was so dehydrated and malnourished that it took a lot of time to climb out of the hole. If you can start on IV fluids NOW and get them as often as possible, you would be amazed what a difference it can make. If your current OB won't be proactive and aggressive with HG, switch to a high-risk doctor who is more likely to have seen cases like us. If you get to a point before 12 weeks where you can't eat or drink anything (like I did), you can get a PICC line with fluids and nutrition. After 12 weeks you can try steroids, which a lot of women here swear by. The key is to start getting proper help ASAP!! Keep us updated on how you are feeling!