Surviving 'Morning Sickness'

My path to motherhood began out pretty rough:

Going back to the early days of my pregnancy, It's week six of my first pregnancy and I am spending the day with the garbage can. Noah has stayed home with me because I need to go the doctor- I have been tossing my inerds since yesterday morning and we are now venturing into over 24 hours of vomitousness. My doctor can't see me until late that afternoon; never mind that I beyond dehydrated and so weak. When Noah and I get there we wait forever and are finally put into a waiting room - good thing I brought my garbage can with me. Upon her entrance, the PA informs me that she will not be treating me as a "pregnant" patient. Too sick to care at the time, I let her continue. However, I wish somebody would explain what that exactly means to not be treated as a pregnant patient when I am only vomiting because I am pregnant. She writes of a prescription rather quickly and remains impersonal - no congratulations for me, no sympathy. By the time I leave I have already made up my mind that I will be finding another doctor's office for the remainder of my pregnancy.

Thankful as I am for my prescription, my anti-nausea candy, and Saltine crackers - I spend my entire pregnancy suffering and vomiting. I loose 10 lbs early on in the pregnancy. The 'glow' that pregnant women typically get is replaced by a very pale green hue in my complexion. I only really begin to gain weight in my last trimester.

During week 12 of my pregnancy I actually have to go to the hospital. When Zofran fails and the vomiting doesn't stop, my new doctor's office quickly responds and calls in the supposed magic bullet -Phenergan. My dear husband leaves work early to pick up my prescription and tend to me - unfortunately the medication doesn't work and the office requests I come down for a walk-in appointment. My vomiting has now reached the state where I can expect to expel stomach acid approximately every 30 mins. Again the garbage can takes a trip with me and is definitely used on the way there. Arriving at the office, I have to go several times to the bathroom to throw up. When the doctor sees me, he decides that I am so dehydrated that I will need to go to hospital.

Noah drives me back across town to the triage unit at our local hospital. Unfortunately there was some miscommunication and I end up spending several hours in an uncomfortable ER bed in a hallway when the whole time there was a room reserved for me at the Womens' Center. Around midnight I make it over to the Womens' Center and several nurses inform me that I should not be having this problem now that I am in my second trimester. Interesting how people somehow think that this should be comforting- to basically be told that your body is abnormal. After being placed on IV Zofran I am able to stop the morning sickness and actually sleep. I sent Noah home to take care of our crazy dogs, Max and Zoey, and get some rest himself. The next morning, there is talk of getting me on a pump of Zofran but I would have to stay the rest of the weekend. Being on pump is not appealing to me and I opt to go home with oral Zofran and Reglan and see if the combination keeps me stable. Thankfully, this combination works for the most part but I still have days where I wake up miserable and nauseated and nothing but a phenergan stops it - of course the side effect is that I end up sleeping all day and can't go to work - thank goodness for FMLA.

Other than being diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum, my pregnancy goes well. My little baby grows and so does my belly. I experience many discomforts, such as nerve pain and swelling, but overall I was blessed to remain relatively healthy - even if I barely eat and what I do doesn't necessarily stay there ;)