New Moderator

Help with physical and emotional healing for moms who have suffered loss.

Moderators: justme, ***, deb

New Moderator

Postby Ivydragon » Jan 22, 2005 5:02 pm

Hi,

Suzanne volunteered to be moderator, and it looks like a great place for her to be here.

I also wanted to know from you guys if you like the current name of this forum, or if it should be renamed Stories of Loss.

My heart really goes out to you. Having had a miscarriage I've had a taste of what you know to be so hard, and still struggle with it sometimes myself, and it's been 19 months.

Andy
Mom to Aaron 14 (HG), Anna 11 (HG), Adam 8 (adopted), Andrew 8 (adopted), fostering a newborn . . .
Ivydragon
Devoted to You
 
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Location: Northern Idaho

Hi

Postby IslandDreamer » Jan 26, 2005 2:56 pm

Hi All,

I think this makes me the last new moderator to post an introduction. :roll: That would be me... :lol:

My name is Suzanne, and I live with my husband and son in Michigan. Through two pregnancies, I suffered from HG.

My first bout, with Chris in 1998/99, met with much ignorance and many "everyone gets sick" comments. I started vomitting in week 5, right on Thanksgiving Day :oops: . During the week 10 appointment, I was encouraged to take Unisom/b6 and get a good chapstick for my dehydrated lips :roll:...not kidding. By 13 weeks, I was in the ER, on a reduced work load, and home IVs because I refused inpatient care. At the time dh was in Michigan and I was still living in Minnesota with my two dogs and no one to dog sit. So I went home on bedrest for 10 days and started the IVs. I had the home health care for about 4-5 weeks. I continued the Unisom/b6 until delivery but by 6 months was able to stay hydrated, eat a limited list of foods, and gain a bazillion pounds. (I'm one of the smaller group of hgers that gets abnormally huge with pounds and I hit 207 lbs.) I also had really bad perinatal depression and ppd.

My second bout with HG I would categorize as severe. Again, I was sick by week 5, but this time the condition did not respond to medication. I was quickly bedridden, unable to eat anything or drink more than a teaspoon of fluids every few hours. Then I would vomit that up. We tried many medications: unisom/b6, zofran, phenegran supp, and in the ER IV bags they tried Reglan (allergic), anzemet, and a few others I forget. Nothing worked except the fluids. I was in the ER at weeks 7 and 9. At my 10 week u/s, Hope had no heartbeat and had died that day. I was in shock. I carried her for two more weeks and delivered on May 25, 2004. I was severely dehydrated as I didn't take my meds or get fluids...why bother caring for myself when the baby was gone is all I remember thinking. The perinatal depression with Hope and the severe, unresponsive HG left me talking about termination, but I chose to carry. Then she was gone.

The HG continued for another 4-6 weeks, becoming less and less. But my body couldn't figure out I wasn't pregnant for about 4 months. The grief really hit in mid-July, after the initial shock subsided. It did take about two months to breath again (and I still have those kinds of days), but most days I feel able to function now, 8 months later.

I have posted here on quite a few times, so you can read more about my grief journey. You can also ask me anything about my journey, like how I accepted the loss of Jonathan and Lily this fall...but that's another long message.

I am honored to be able to support other bereaved hg Moms. Currently, I am working on a list of resources to pin here. Please let me know if anything in particular has been useful in your healing, and I can add it.

Suzanne
IslandDreamer
HER Majesty
 
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Joined: Jul 12, 2004 10:49 pm
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