Hyperemesis Gravidarum Awareness Day
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We smile now, for the suffering we had then.
Our big boy was a very special surprise baby. We found out we were going to parents when I was just 3 weeks pregnant.
🤢By 5 weeks the nausea and vomiting had started. Morning sickness is a good sign, surely!
🤢By 7 weeks the vomiting had become so relentless that I had to disclose my pregnancy to my work because I couldn’t make it though a treatment without running for the nearest bathroom. I was being sick up to 40 times a day and had given up on eating solids.
🤢By 12 weeks I had lost 20% of my body weight (15kgs) and required a week long admission to hospital to seek Obstetric evaluation and care, along with days of IV rehydration.
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HG wasn’t just ‘bad morning sickness’.
I felt so fragile that all I was psychically capable of was stumbling from the bed to the nearest bucket.
I had to be supervised while showering because the effort would leave me spinning in and out of wakefulness.
As the primary income for our growing family, I had to cease work for many weeks - which saw our little nest of savings wiped clean.
The medication I needed to keep baby and I alive and healthy was costing us $100 a week, with no rebate available from our private health. In fact, I couldn’t even get more than one script at a time because of the classification of this medication, so every 3 days I had to drag myself to get another script written.
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But I was a lucky one. My now husband understood and supported me. My incredible employers cared for me and went above and beyond to ensure a supported return to work for me when I was well enough.
My medical team believed me and commenced thorough treatment - I even had the luxury of getting the direct line to the nurses station so I could call every second day on the way home from work to get more IV fluids.
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Many mamas don’t have some, or any of the above. Many mamas see their relationships break down. Many mamas lose their jobs. Some mamas even lose their babies.
It’s a heartbreaking condition that you don’t see, because we are hidden with our heads in a bucket.
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