Hello, my name is Nicole and I'm a Hyperemesis Gravidarum Survivor. I found out I was pregnant on April 10th of 2000. I didn't know that after I would find out I was pregnant that I would be so sick. I started out vomiting and having nausea badly, then it started to get worse. What I didn't know was how bad it would get. What I had is Hyperemesis Gravidarum and I shall tell you what it is. Not every pregnancy is easy and uneventful. Mine sure wasn't. I wish I did have an easy and uneventful pregnancy. That would have been a miracle. You can read my story at my son's memorial website where I will have linked below.

Hyperemesis Gravidarum is a very dibilitating form of morning sickness during pregnancy that is described as very severe vomiting associated with first trimester loss of greater than 5% of normal body weight(usually over 10%), dehydration, nutrional deficiencies, and electrolyte imbalances which leads to repeated hospitalizations.

This picture describes what I felt like after I vomited real bad.

My experience with Hyperemesis Gravidarum was terrible, I have never been so sick in my life. HG was to me a nightmare and the only time that I had reprieve from it was when I was asleep and that was very rare because I never really got much sleep. It was very depressing at times. Not only did I have nonstop vomiting and nausea I also had another problem, I had something called Ptyalism, which is extreme spitting. I had to carry around a cup everywhere I went to spit in the cup. That was terrible, I spit and vomited all the time. I read that a lot of woman that have HG also have Ptyalism. The nurses and doctors all tried to tell me that there was a name for the spitting condition I had and there it was. I also had Hematemesis which is vomiting of blood. When I vomited all the stuff I might have ate which was rare because I didn't eat, I didn't have any cravings, I would vomit the bile and then when there was no more bile I vomited up blood. I would be in the bathroom on the toilet vomiting and looking in the toilet because I was so weak I couldn't move and I would taste the blood from my mouth and see it in the toilet, it was so grotesque. Then I would get real tired and have to sleep because my vomiting was very violent. I would kick my feet up and it felt as if my stomach was jumping all around and that my baby might be jumping up too. When I had the TPN in I had to do all the changing of my TPN bag and cleaning the area around it. I had to be very careful to avoid infection. Throughout my pregnancy I didn't crave anything, I was never hungry, well I vomited a lot so my body was use to it. I was so scared. I will list some things to do when a loved one suffers from HG and what not to do.

I was at my mother's house in her bed when this picture was taken, I had just finished vomiting, so sick that day.

This is me, with my TPN bag as you can see and the tube that is on my leg is going into my arm that is feeding nutrition to little David and I.

HG Facts and Symptoms to notice for:

Symptoms usually begin around week 6-8 and get worst around between 8-12 weeks. Often there is resolution or at least great improvement somewhere around 14-20 weeks.

*Vomiting(the food you eat, bile, then blood)goes from light to extreme

*extreme nausea

*low blood pressure(which I had)

*constipation(I had it real bad)

*fainting and dizziness(from all the vomiting)

*exhaustion from the severe vomiting

*ketosis(low ketones)

*protein in urine from vomiting so much

*Vitamin/electrolyte deficiency

*Anemia in my case I had that and hypoclocemia

*iron deficiency

*Altered lipid metabolism

*Liver dysfunction

*Dry, furry tongue

*Dehydration, needing fluid

*Gall bladder dysfunction

*Loss of skin elasticity

*Elevation of serum transaminase

*Pale, waxy, dry and sometimes yellow skin

*Body Odor (from rapid fat loss & ketosis)

*Rapid heartbeat

*Headache, confusion or lethargy

*Weight loss of 5% or more over pre-pregnancy weight

What to do when a relative has HG:

**She is going to feel very lonely and isolated as everyone will feel awkward around her vomiting a whole lot

**She will feel scared so be easy with her, comfort her

**She is going to feel very lonely and isolated as everyone will

**She will be vomiting a lot so rub her back and get a warm towel and rub it on her face as she will be exhausted

**Let her eat what she wants, anything she can hold down

**When she needs space, give it to her, she might not want space but if she does

**She needs to be around people as much as possible, she will become depressed if she already isn't

**She will be very tired all the time, if she wants to sleep let her

**She will be very weak from all the vomiting so taking a bath might be to much for her, you can help her by getting a warm cloth and moving it over her face and body real quick without all the worry of her getting out of bed and to make her sicker

**If she is having a good day, take advantage of it and get her out of the house to walk or just take in the fresh air

**If she is pregnant during th summer, it is hard enough being pregnant during the summer, place a fan in front of her so that she won't be so hot

**Be aware that noise, toothpaste, smells, pills(vitamins, I couldn't take my pre-natal vitamins), and the TV will affect her and will cause her to be sicker

**HG is very expensive, so if she has good insurance that is great, if not it might contribute to her depression

**The one thing that helped me was a couple of days before my son died was that my mom came into the bedroom and kneeled by the bed where I was laying, I was vomiting very badly that day mind you, she massaged my feet and all the way to my head for an hour, that calmed me down and put me to sleep(I had a hard time doing that). What she did which I found out months ago on TV is called Touch Therapy, they use that technique on unruly animals, so think of HG as an unruly animal and perform the touch therapy on her

What not to say or do to a person who has HG:

**Do not say you understand if you have never had it

**Do not tell her, 'Oh I had morning sickness and it wasn't like that, you ought to be over that by now', no don't say that, that will just upset her

**Don't push food down her throat, she will eat what she can handle

**Be careful what smells you, it can cause her to be sick

**Don't make her feel worse than she already does

**Don't say to her, 'Oh why don't you look pregnant, I did when I was', no, she won't look like it because she is losing so much of her body fat from all the vomiting

**For husbands be aware that wanting sexual intercourse from you wife will not be likely, she will be weak and not want to, don't get upset with her, it says in all the bookds I've read that woman that are pregnant aren't interested in sexual intercourse, HG just makes it worse