Cindy's HuGStory
When I found this website, I just couldn't stop crying. You see, I have
one son and he is eleven and a half. My husband and I have just decided
that we are ready to try to have another baby. They say you forget the
pain from your pregnancy, but I think the person who said that never had
HG.
My husband and I were married in August of 1988. I found out I was
pregnant in October when I went to the doctor for an ear infection. My
husband was so happy and excited. I was a little stunned but truly
wanted the baby. Then, I started throwing up. The dreaded morning
sickness, or so we thought at the time. Three weeks later, I had lost
twenty pounds and was very sick. I was so weak, my husband had to carry
me up the stairs and hold my head out of the toliet. Poor guy. He was
scared to death for the life of his new bride and child.
I ended up being hospitalized 6 times, staying at least two-three days
each time. They always put me in a maternity ward and I hated being
asked, "So what did you have?" Some ladies were very sympathetic and
others gave the standard "everyone has morning sickness" attitude.
My husband and mother spent many hours in the hospital chapel praying
for me. My mother would come visit me and climb into the hospital bed
with me. Not one nurse ever told her to get out but they sure did give
the dirty looks! As bad as that time was, I cherish the memory of my
mother in the hospital bed with me.
My doctors had only seen one other woman who had been sicker than I
was. The only medicine that seemed to work was Phenegran but that
drugged feeling was more than I could bear. The suppositories helped
more than the shots did. The female doc was great but there was one male
doctor who wanted to put me in the psych ward if I had to be admitted a
seventh time. He said it didn't make sense that I would stop throwing
up in the hospital and then start again when I left. So he sent the
psychatrist to see me, who deemed I was mentally healthy (no duh). What
can you expect from an establishment from whence the root word for
hysterectomy is hysteria. I tried biofeedback and that seemed to help
but I was nearing the ending of the severe nausea and vomiting so I
can't be sure it worked that well.
I was a college student at the time working on campus in an office of
all women. They were very symapthetic and saved my job for me. My
husband is in the Navy and they were not symapthetic at all. Several
times, he was accused of using his wife to get out of work until my
doctor sent his commanding officer a letter explaining the situation.
Fortunately, things changed for the better after that for him.
Now that we've decided to have another child, I know I am not ready to
be sick again but I am ready to raise another child. I am going to be
very proactive in looking for a doctor who has lots of experience with
HG. Any doctor who remotely suggests HG is psychological will not be my
doctor. I also want to get tested for H. pylori and see if I have that,
as it may be a factor in some women who expereince HG. I am not going
into this second pregnancy as ignorant as I was the first time.
Thank you for letting me share my story with you. It is such a great
feeling to know that I wasn't the only woman with HG eleven and a half
years ago and I won't be the second time around either. And that there
is a place on the web to go to get emotional support fromother HuGS
survivors!
A Husband's Perspecitve (by Cindy's husband Gary)
Back to HuGS!
