Hi All,
I think this makes me the last new moderator to post an introduction.
That would be me...
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
. During the week 10 appointment, I was encouraged to take Unisom/b6 and get a good chapstick for my dehydrated lips
...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