Dear Dr. Phil,
My name is Sara and I am a 20 year old college student and at this time last year I had never heard of Hyperemesis Gravidarum.
I was just wrapping up my last few final exams of the fall semester when I first began to feel sick. I noticed that eating or even smelling anything besides cereal and peanut butter resulted in instant nausea, but I figured that it was the stress of school and the pressure to get good grades. I threw up for the first time on Christmas Day. I had gone home for winter break and my mom, dad, little sister, and I were eagerly looking through our stockings and sitting under the fireplace when I suddenly felt the blood drain from my face and my stomach flip around. I spent the next half and hour on the bathroom floor. The next day I woke feeling sick again. When I managed to get out of bed, I found that my mother had bought me a pregnancy test.
Of course, the test was positive. At first I panicked, as the pregnancy was certainly an unplanned one. And although telling my father of my unexpected pregnancy was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, my parents were both incredibly supportive, as was my boyfriend of 18 months. All three said that they would support me no matter what. An unplanned pregnancy carries with it a bundle of conflicting emotions. First there is a level of shock and disbelief that hits almost immediately, especially when you are as young as I am. I remember thinking, “…but the doctor told my boyfriend he had fertility problems! I can’t be pregnant!â€Â