Just a word of caution, this blog is going to be candid and "raw", and I apologize if it offends anyone, but I just want to be real about my experience!.. My hope is to help some woman who may have ever experienced this and let them know they are not alone!..
FYI.. This post is going to be lengthy, but please stick with it till the end...
Lets start at the beginning shall we..
When Paul and I were dating , we discussed our future and how many children we wanted, and when we wanted to start this family.. the "plan" was to enjoy newlywed life for a year or 2, and then start the baby process, and we wanted 3-4 kids.. sounds like a perfect plan doesn't it?..
So We got married on a Beautiful July day, and My sister in law, who was in our wedding and VERY pregnant ( over 8 months) with her first child was in it!!, and approx 3 weeks after our wedded bliss began,she had her Son Roman,and we became Aunt and Uncle!!..
I remember it very vividly, I held that little boy and something went off in me , I think it was my "biological clock alarm"??... anyways, so as we were leaving the hospital I look ed over at Paul and said" I want one".. and then my mind quickly went to " hey, we are married, I'm ALLOWED to have one"..LOL..( which sounds so Old fashioned these days )..
So, we thought about it for a few weeks, and that feeling didn't go away, so we decided to NOT use birth control and let God do his thing... well.. In Oct , just 3 months after we got married, I found out I was Pregnant! God moved Wuick huh!.... I was in pure bliss... I got my hands on all kinds of books, and started looking at maternity clothes, picking out baby names, looking at baby clothes.. and things were going along beautifully.. and then.. POW!!!.. Sickness started...
Alot of woman get morning sickness, or the queesies, however I didn't get that.. It was full blown flat on the floor , too weak to move, vomiting even when there was nothing to vomit, which was basically dry heaving continually!!
This Started at week 6 and went till approx week 14-16!!..
It wasn't till I was pregnant with Luca, my LAST child, that I finally had a Doctor who took this condition very serious!!!!!!.. Looking back, it makes me so angry that My doctors didn't take better care of me, or took more concern for what I was dealing with!!.
I had Hyperemisis gravidarum.....Here is a Link, if you want to click on it to read what it is...
www.helpher.org/hyperemesis-gravidarum
This was not "typical morning sickness".. It is a Very serious, and sometimes extremely dangerous condition that happens during pregnancy!
I caused me to have to quit my job, and I would literally lay on the couch from morning till night,! I would crawl to the bathroom ( which didnt happen often, because of teh lack of food and liquids)
I tried every remedy too!.. Crackers, ginger ale, pregnancy tea, Ginger capsules, Popsicles, soup broth, etcccccc!.. NONE of it worked!.. Whatever I ate, I would Vomit approx 15 Min's later!.. NOTHING would stay in my system!!
What alot of people don't know is, during this time that woman are dealing with this, your body goes through so much stress!.. Not only was I Not able to eat, which made me weak, and loose nutrients, It wreaked havoc on my mind as well!..
The days started blending into each other, because I never left the house!.. I dealt with Depression thoughts very badly, and I had thoughts of suicide, and even thoughts of not wanting my baby!.. I would think to myself" this child inside of me is making me feel like I am dying a slow death", and it totally took away any joy of being pregnant!.. remember I said above, I was gonna be "raw and candid"?.. well , don't judge the above statement, because it is a very real feeling, but it did pass, and does with all woman who go through this!!
whats even worse is , that I had other woman tell me " oh, when I was pregnant I had morning sickness too, and I just made myself get up and eat and go on with my day".. THAT DID NOT HELP!!.. It made me feel even worse!..
(Just a side note, when you see someone who is sick, or struggling with something, dont be so quick to judge or give "what worked for you".. sometimes they just need you to listen, or simply be the peson to lean on in thier worst time of need :-)
Hyperemisis is Very debilitating to your body, and it causes to you not even feel human at times!..
This Sickness lasted till approx week 14-16, and then it soon started to taper off and the vomiting stopped!, and daily I was able to nibble on food!.. It did however take about another 4-6 weeks to feel human again! .. if you want a glimpse into what it feels like.. remember the absolute WORST flu you ever had in your life, and magnify that by 10 times!!!..
So, as you can see from week 6 to about week 20 was a Blur!.. so I had about 1 month of actually enjoying being pregnant!, because the remaining weeks were just awkward, and uncomfortable, that all the last stages of pregnancy brings!!
So, fast forward to My last pregnancy ( Luca), By this time I finally found a doctor who took me very serious, and right from the start before we even got pregnant with Luca, she gave me instructions as to what to do when certain things happen!.. and sure enough they did!..
By week 6, I was starting the sickness all over, I she told me, "if you vomit for more than 24 hrs, go to the ER", and so I did!..I remember that day so well.. The ER nurse told me to go "give a urine sample", and I walked out of the bathroom and said" I think something is wrong".. My pee was Bright orange!!!!.. yeah, that is NOT normal for those wondering ha ha.. she said" Oh Honey, you have so many ketones in there, and you poor thing ,are so dehydrated, its a wonder you can even walk"..
So, she proceeds to hook me up to an Iv of fluid, and I said' What is that cold sensation going through my body, and she looked at me and said' Honey , that means you are severely dehydrated".. NOT cool!.. so she called my Doctor, and I was admitted to the maternity ward for 3 days of fluids, and close observation!
The doctor also gave me nausea medicine, which was 50 mg of benedryl, sounds weird, but I guess it works?.. it however didnt with me. I began the vomiting again, and back to the ER I went, was admitted again, and so she gave me a new medicine , which was Phenergan.. That didn't work either, so her last resort was Zofran, which is typically given to cancer patients for nausea.. she also told me, If this doesn't work, I am putting you on home Ivs"..
The medicine worked some, and I was finally able to stop the vomiting process!
I am SO grateful for a Doctor who took me very serious, and monitored me very closely!.. she called me every couple days, or had a nurse call me to check on me, and , since I had had this happen before, and had also had a Miscarriage the year before, she put me as a High risk pregnancy, which meant, lots of doctor visits, lots of sonograms .. but I am beyond grateful for the care she gave me!!!
So, now I know some of you are probably thinking" if this happens in your pregnancies, why in the world did you do it again"?.. well, after Dante' I didn't know it would happen again, and besides all that.. yes, I was "trying for a girl".. which is a whole other post, because this one has become a book! ha ha..
So, to wrap this all up.. all of my boys are miraculously very healthy, it was my body that became very depleted!..
I love each and every one of my boys, and to say would I do it all again?.. well Its a hard question, because without doing it, I wouldn't have them.. But, I now know, God knew better than me, and gave me 3 sons, even when I "thought I needed a girl".. but yes, we are in fact Done, VERY done with having babies!!.. My doctor even told me when I was pregnant with Luca, and after everything I went through, it would be very unsafe to do it again, and I ran the risk of even more complications, another miscarriage , or even death.. so yeah We are DONE!!!!!!
Even though it was very hard work getting my boys here, I Love each and every one of them, and I can now look back on this as a memory, and look forward to a bright, future with them!!
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