My protocol

[bibliojo]

Hi all,

After months of planning I have finally settled on how I want my HG treated. I have met with my new OB dr and he is in agreement to this plan of action. I thought I would post it in order to get input from you guys and also to give the Canadians that visit this site something to go by when they create their protocol as there isn't any Canadian protocols on this board yet. So, here it goes...

Prior to TTC (for at least 6 months time):
- Take regular vitamins
- Take 100 mg vitamin B6
- Take 1 mg folic acid
- Be tested for H.Pylori

Upon a positive pregnancy test:
- Begin taking Diclectin 4 times a day. Increase this to 8 times a day
as the nausea worsens.
- Continue taking vitamins, B6 and folic acid. If I become unable
to tolerate vitamins as I did last time because of the iron in them, I
want to try taking a children's vitamin.
- Take ginger capsules - 250 mg every 6 hours
- Drink LOTS of water!
- Phone OB to schedule an appt ASAP
- Tell friends and family about the pregnancy so we can actually be
happy and excited about telling them. Also too so that people know
what we're about to go through and are then able to volunteer to help
out.

Medications as the nausea increases and vomitting begins:
- Add Gravol (Dramamine) - 50 mg every 4 hours
- Add Ranitidine - 75 mg twice a day
- Add Stemetil - 10 mg every 8 hours (I haven't tried this drug before
but my dr suggested it so I thought I would give it a go)
- If this combination of drugs does not work, I will go off the Stemetil
and add Maxeran (Reglan) - 10 mg every 8 hours
- Add Ondansetron (Zofran)

Hydration:
- Always have a cup of ice chips with me. Attempt to keep down 1 ice
chip every 15 minutes.
- Look into buying a snow cone machine so somebody can make me
slurpees and be able to control the amout of sweetness of the slurpee
(I don't tolerate the sweetness of slurpees well when pregnant)
- Have lots of jello on hand, particularly strawberry and raspberry
- Try fruits such as watermelon
- If I can't keep anything down beyond 48 hours, see my doctor
immediately or go to the hospital if I can't see my doctor right away.
- Have an NG tube inserted if I continually can't keep anything down.

Care for Lukas:
- Buy videos, colouring books, puzzels etc to entertain Lukas while I'm
ill
- Babyproof our bedroom so that he can play in there while I lie in bed
(right now we just have a gate up barring access to the room)
- Accept (and even ask) for help with cleaning and meals from family
and friends
- Plan pregnancy so that hopefully I will go through the worst of the HG
while my MIL and sister are on holidays and are more able to help out
- Ask friends to watch him a day or two a week and/or
- Put Lukas in daycare/hire a babysitter as finances allow
- Lukas and I move back in with my parents so they can watch him
while I rest

Support/Care for me:
- Go on short term disability if I happen to be working when I get
pregnant
- Be more closely monitered by my dr than last time
- Ask for a referral to the Reproductive Mental Health Clinic so that I
can see a counselor before I get very depressed. Hopefully this will
prevent my PPD from occuring again.
- Phone Motherisk in Toronto
- Get lots of support from these forums

Other concerns I have but have not yet worked out a solution to them (I think we may just have to wait and see what happens once I actually get the HG again) are how am I going to get places if I have to take Lukas somewhere, like to the doctor or to daycare? I couldn't drive when pregnant last time. Also how am I going to handle Lukas' fears about me being sick? My ds gets very upset when he thinks something is wrong with me. And how I am going to get the support that I need to make it through the HG when I can't handle looking at a computer screen and reading??? I really don't know what I'll do about these things.

Anyway, so I think that's about all that I've prepared so far. If anybody has any more suggestions, I'd love to hear them!!

Joanna

[nomore]

Hi Joanna,

I was just reading your protocol and I am pretty impressed! I am going to consider your meds and see how I can fit some of your ideas into my new and revised protocol I am working on.

I wish I had answers for you about your son This is where I struggled the most and it surprised me how much more difficult it was for me to deal with than I anticiapted.

I am hoping personally, with having my Mom here and caring for Madison that it will be easier for me this time than last fall. I am thinking that in the worst of my next pregnancy, I can hole myself up in my bedroom and only leave to go to the bathroom/drs etc. I plan on using phenergan in combo with the zofran to knock myself out and sleep as much as possible (if thats all the relief I can get). I need to remind myself that I dont KNOW how long HG will last, as with Madison I had a bad RX to the TPN (lipids) and my gallbladder went nuts. Thats when the vomiting got unbearable. (not that the 1st trimester was fun, first trimester was all the nausea which eased in the 2nd, but the vomiting got worse. I often wonder I finally just got over the fear of vomiting by the 2nd trimester, but who knows!

This past time I vomited much more in the beginning, but who knows what next time will be like.

Thanks for you great ideas!!!!

ROBIN

[Natalie]

Hi Joanna

Thought I'd post mine up in case you or sombody else finds it useful:

My HG Protocol

Non-Medical

1. Get a permanent job that pays sick leave
2. Lose the last few pg pounds
3. Cut out all fast and fried food and ditch most of the treats :- (
4. Go to gym 3 x weekly
5. Take Pregnacare tablets every other day
6. Take Vitamin B6 in sublingual 25mg doses 2 x daily
7. Ensure I drink 8 glasses of water minimum daily
8. Buy Ketnostix for testing Ketones ?where


Medical

1. Ask GP about testing for H-Pylori bacteria, liver cleansing tablets and referrals to the Bristol Homeopathic Hospital and ?an HG Specialist
2. Go to Dentist


When Pg

1. Increase vitamin B6 to 100mg/150mg daily (note can be increased again to 200mg for 2 months if desperate!)
2. Get a haircut
3. Cook extra food and freeze
4. Spring clean flat
5. Spring clean fridge
6. Inform my mum who will look after Beth and myself when / if HG hits
7. Buy snacks in different categories
8. Buy non perishable items in bulk so that husband (or you)will have less to shop for (e.g. toilet paper)
9. Ensure I have Diarolyte on hand
10. Andy to take on most of the household chores


Hope someone finds it helpful. Why aren't I doing the things on this list??????

Natalie, x

[meg]

Joanna, Robin, Natalie,

I think your protocols sound wonderful--now you just have to do your best to follow them! Natalie best of luck as you begin your pregnancy and Robin and Joanna best wishes with ttc!

I just wanted to add as the mom of 2 in pg #3, that I agree with Robin that the emotional impact of not being able to care for your child(ren) is the most difficult part of HG. I think having your moms ready to be the primary care givers is an EXCELLENT idea. For me, it just makes me feel so much more confident that their needs are being met emotionally and because she is in the house with us I am not completely absent from their everyday lives. Also, if you can employ a babysitter or afford part-time day care in conjunction with your grandma caring for the kids this gives your mom time for R and R or to care for you--you know how hard it is to keep anything down and if someone else can prepare it and bring it to you and coax you to nibble or sip, well you're chances for success are that much greater.

My heart goes out to the three of you. I understand your mix of excitement and fear and dread and hope... I know that each of you already knows from experience how wonderful this forum is so please lean on the ladies here. That, too, can make all the difference. (Joanna, I think in those sickest days when you can't even focus on a computer screen, your brain mercifully shields you from the depression. When you start to feel just a bit better is when it seems to set in and you'll be able to come here often then! Even if it's all you feel able to do!)

Best luck and all of my best thoughts,

[nomore]

Hi Meg,

I so remember those deep dark days of the HG, where I didnt feel good enough to do anything, but the boredom was so depressing. I did use the computer a lot during that time, and at least it helped pass time.

Thanks for the encouragement. Some days I really need, and others I dont. I hope the days go quickly for you

Robin

[nomore]

Oops, I forgot to add that we bought as wireless laptop computer, so if HG is bad, I can even use the computer in bed (if I feel up to it). That way I can vent to you ladies about my misery

Robin

[bibliojo]

I've thought of a few more ideas that I forgot to include with the intial post. These are all sorts of miscellanous ideas.

Make lists for DH on how the household runs. What needs to be done of certain days and how things are done. I found it very frustrating the first time when he did things the wrong way and some things got forgotten altogether! Maybe by letting him know what he is responsible for, we both can handle it better?

Take warm baths - I found that they helped to ease the nausea a bit --strangely enough.

Know how my baby is developing every day so that I can focus on that more so than how I feel. The BBC parenting link that Natalie posted is a good one -- it gives you the baby's progress everyday and doesn't tell you all the normal happy pregnancy things that other people are happy to hear! Like ms will end at 12 weeks (grrr), start planning the nursey, go shopping for lovely maternity clothes etc

I've also thought of creating a special time with Luke everyday - just me and him. I was thinking I could watch him in the bath. He loves baths and needs minimal intervention from me while playing in the tub. Also, the toilet is nice and handy for me!

If I think of anything more, I'll update this post. Hopefully people will find some ideas that work for them from all this thinking and planning I'm doing!

Joanna

[bibliojo]

Thanks you guys for all your lovely comments about my protocol...I was beginning to wonder about it since nobody replied for a couple days!

Nat, I've read somewhere on this site that you can get Ketnostix on ebay...think it was somebody from the UK that ordered them too.

Robin, I envy your laptop...it would be so much easier to pass time if I could lie in bed and surf the web - granted of course that I could look at a computer screen! Time dragged SOOOOO slowly for me the first time. I was practically counting minutes until my misery was over.

Meg, thank you for your wonderful word of encouragement. I hope that you have a speedy rest of your pregnancy. I was so glad to hear that you had a good day on Sunday! Only 9 weeks to go! May the good days continue!

And for the rest of us non-pregnant gals and one newly pregnant Natalie, I hope our planning pays off and we all have easier pregnancies this time round.

Joanna

[Kadinga]

Hi Joanna, and any others following this up,

I'm really new to this site, and have not fully explored yet. I'm finding it really interesting reading others ideas as you've all put so much thought in to this. I'm going to start working on a formalised protocol of my own now, using a lot of these ideas.

Joanna, one thing I'm doing that you might find helpful is that when I'm doing my general food shopping now (pre ttc) I'm writing out weekly menus to match the shopping list and keeping them. Last time, lots of people wanted to help but they wanted me to tell them what I needed, and being asked to think beyond the current 5 minute space made me collapse in a wash of tears.
This time, the meals will be planned. There will be lots of 1/2 serves, single serves and family serves of things in the freezer. There will be everything I can pre-purchase stashed in cans and packets in the pantry. There will be at least a 6 week rotation of menus and lists so that when someone asks me I can give them the card for the week and let them choose what they think they can do without me having to think about it. I'm planning the menus around what I know worked for me last time as well as what I know my husband and daughter like to eat and what my husband can cook reasonably well without my involvement. By having the shopping list to match I can either send someone in to town to do the shopping or get the supermarket to prepare it for me (we don't have internet shopping here) Either way, I won't have to think about it and I won't have to face up to any food that I'm not about to try to eat.

GOOD LUCK!!





Amanda

[bibliojo]

Wow Amanda! And I thought I was organized.... You have some very good ideas! I'm planning on defrosting my freezer in the next month or two and then filling it with all sorts of meals too. I was also going to make a few lists on what my dh and ds like to eat so people can just pick an item off the list. And I think it was Christi who posted about having frozen waffles on hand for the kids to eat and also making a shelf in the fridge stocked with things they can help themselves to. I thought those were good ideas too.

If you have any more ideas, please share them! We're always looking for ways to make HG easier for ourselves and our kids...

Hugs,
Joanna