I met Ivy almost 2 years ago through work. We have become such good friends that we consider each other the sisters we never had. Ivy and I have a lot in common, but her having HG has completely changed all our lives.
Ivy is now 13 weeks pregnant. She got sick with her first child, but nothing like this time. She is now in the hospital for the second time and I guess I came to this site looking for some answers. I don't think I can express how hard this has been for everyone. She is depressed because she feels no one believes her, and that no one is taking her seriously.
I had a child that died at 6 weeks in 2000. I was 18 at the time. I knew there was something wrong with my baby from day one, but all the DR's just put it down to colic and me not knowing what I was getting myself into. Hardly anyone took me seriously until he was almost at death's door, so in that respect, I can sympathize.
Ivy is facing losing her job, and her FMLA claim was approved, but later denied because her DR didn't document that she was unable to work explicitly. I am so frustrated with her DR that I have told anyone that will listen to to go to this nutjob. Thankfully she is now looking for a new OB.
Ivy just bought a house last year, and now with no paycheck, along with the stress of HG itself, and the prospect of losing her job, she is worried about losing her house as well. She is looking into ways that they might avoid anything drastic happening, but until the nausea lets up, I really don't know what they are going to do. I am so worried for her.
More than anything, I just feel like she is being robbed of so much. She has wanted a girl so much, and now she is pregnant with one, and she can't really even enjoy her pregnancy, and that breaks my heart. She never gets out of the house anymore unless forced to, and as a result she is so depressed. I have kidnapped her and just taken her to my house so she can still relax, but with a change in scenery, but I just don't know what to do anymore.
She and her husband are doing okay. Sometimes it gets hard for him, and at times he has a hard time remembering that he needs to slow down a little more and focus more on her, but overall, he just has no idea what to do for her. None of us do. I catch myself telling her to eat and drink more, but I know it's not her fault. I just get frustrated with the HG, and it ends up spilling over to the people around me.
The first time she went into the hospital, I had not seen her in a couple of weeks, only talked to her on the phone. When I saw her, I will never forget how pale and weak she looked. I have never forgotten that, and I never will. Now she is back in the hospital, and I'm so scared for her. I cried last night because I just don't know what else to do.
I want her to be more excited about the baby, maybe it might make it easier to face all the sickness. I'm going to Target today to get one of those machines you can listen to the baby's heartbeat whenever you want to... that way when she gets down, she can maybe focus on the one good thing coming out of all this... I just hope it helps.
I know this is running long, but I just needed to let this out. Seeing Ivy go through all this, I don't know how you women cope. I know Ivy spends a lot of time on this site reading. I don't think she has ever posted. I just felt the need because at this point I'm running out of ideas...