All for the Miracle of Life

[akaram]

Dear Dr. Phil –

Thank you so much for bringing to the Public’s attention the horrible disease of Hyperemis Gravidium. I am a corporate executive who has battled HG now 3 times.

FIRST PREGNANCY: Approximately 4.5 years ago, my husband and I were on our 3 month delayed honeymoon when I began to get sick. I vividly remember being sick with all foods, smells, drinks and movement. I blamed everything for my sickness, including the food I was eating, my travel overseas, etc. However, after a week of exhaustion and feeling horrible, my husband and I confirmed our intuition. I was surprisingly pregnant and as I later found out … 3 weeks pregnant. My sickness did not end up stopping for near 7 months.

Upon returning from our trip, the next 6+ months were filled with 17 pound weight loss, dehydration, 3 hospital visits and ultimately depression. My long awaited dream of being married and becoming pregnant was being marred by shear misery from this horrible disease that seemed to be sucking the life blood out of me. My Ob/Gyn was very kind in trying to help alleviate my sickness: B6, Reglan, Phenergan, Compazine, Pepcid, Aciphex and Zofran. I tried everything from medicine to raspberry leaf pills, and peppermint tea. But, it was always a trial and error experience that typically resulted in return visits to the hospital for IV hydration.

I fortunately survived my first pregnancy with a beautiful, healthy baby boy, who is now 3.5 years old.

SECOND PREGNANCY: Two years later, my husband and I decided to try to get pregnant again. We were fortunate to get pregnant right away. However, my pregnancy resulted in me being in and out of the hospital 6 times for IV hydration and lived on Zofran Orally Dissolving Tablets (ODT). However, the pregnancy resulted in our baby girl miscarrying after 18 weeks of suffering with HG. Worse yet, we found out that our baby girl had a genetic disease that my husband and I did not even know we were carriers for. We were so depressed over our loss. A year later, I could not get out of my depression and could not fathom ending my child bearing days in such a sad way.

THIRD PREGNANCY: After deep consideration and a true desire for our son to have a brother or sister to share his life with … my husband and I took drastic measures and met with a genetic counselor. Our counselor shared with us the possibilities of Preimplantation Genetic Diagnosis (PGD) that is only possible in conjunction with In Vitro Fertilization (IVF). Although it seemed as if we could easily get pregnant, the concern about again becoming pregnant with a child who could suffer from a horrible genetic disease that would significantly shorten their life span was unacceptable to us. So, I began the IVF process. After three rounds of PGD and IVF, we were successful in becoming pregnant with a healthy baby.

I am now 22.5 weeks pregnant. Yet, after being in the hospital 3 times within my first trimester and after having lost 20 pounds (losing 2 pounds a day), I was again diagnosed with high levels of ketones and anemia. This time, my Ob/Gyn doctor decided to transfer me to a high risk maternal medicine doctor who was believed to have more experience in dealing with my sickness. I was so exhausted from being so sick and incredibly frustrated to think that I had again been so lucky to have HG. Immediately, my new high risk doctor diagnosed me with HG and recognizing my past pregnancies, he had a Peripherally Inserted Central Catheters (PICC) line surgically placed in my arm and I commenced IV nutrition via Total Parenteral Nutrition (TPN). I have been on TPN for now approximately 15 weeks, which is needless to say not socially acceptable. I have a nurse that comes weekly to draw blood and adjust my TPN nutrition concoction.

THE SILENT KILLER: I am starting to feel better now, yet my pregnancy has taken a tremendous toll on my body, husband, son and work. I have been unable to eat for so long that I am now struggling to reintroduce foods to my body via my mouth, resulting in digestive challenges. In addition, I have been diagnosed with Barrett’s esophagus, which is believed to have been created from my constant vomiting. My husband has been an incredible support to me throughout our pregnancy nightmares and I truly believe I never would have been able to go through any of this without his incredible support. He has had to cover for me at work and has taken over many of the child caring responsibilities, while I have been unable to function. In addition, my son has literally watched me suffer through hospital visits and my constant vomiting is unable to be hidden. He is so excited to have a baby sister, yet I know he will enjoy having his fully functioning Mommy back.

Society does not typically understand the true debilitation that accompanies this disease. So many people have heard of being placed on “bed restâ€Â