You’re making a list and checking it twice… but what do you get for the HG sufferer in your life who can’t leave the house, is triggered by smells and cant eat much apart from a tiny bit of toast?
All in HG Heros
Grandmothers Blog
It may sound dramatic to say that at times I feared that my daughter might just fade away out of her life in front of my eyes, and in modern times I don't think this would happen.....but I'm sure I am not alone in struggling to believe during those years that life would ever be normal again.
The Joy of HG
In celebration of Fathers Day yesterday i asked Ian to write a guest blog to raise awareness of what it is like for husbands and partners supporting their wives/partners through HG.... Here's to the Joy of HG
HG Hero - Dr Tony Nicoll
Dr Tony Nicoll of Dundee, Scotland, is my medical HG hero! He is an extraordinary person and I am delighted that he recently won a gold award in the ‘Outstanding Individual (Non-Clinical)’ category of the NHS Tayside Staff Appreciation and Recognition (STAR) Awards. I struggle to imagine that there could possibly be a more deserving winner.
Contributing to medical research
I handed the blog over to Dr Margaret O’Hara - HG survivor, medical physicist and Trustee of Pregnancy Sickness Support to talk about our current research and the importance of NVP and HG sufferers and survivors being involved.
A week on the ground
As you know I’m the Chairperson for the National Hyperemesis Gravidarum charity Pregnancy Sickness Support which runs a helpline and a national support network of volunteers which I set up nearly 5 years ago. The network started as a small group of trustees each with a spreadsheet of three or four volunteers in their geographical region who they’ll have spoken on the phone to at some point.
A Test of Endurance
Today I have an important guest post for those of you recovering from hyperemesis gravidarum, or for those in the thick of it who want to focus on the future and what you can achieve once you've survived this endurance. Susie's story is inspirational, it's positive and rewarding. Please read it and show her the support of the HG community which she is supporting with her abiding endurance.
The long road to recovery from HG
HG mum, Cheryl Arumugum contacted me a few weeks ago in order to nominate someone special as her HG hero. In the past my HG Hero posts have featured husbands, doctors, children and other people directly supporting women during a hyperemesis pregnancy. But HG heroes aren't just those people who help us practically at our most sick… for many women the recovery from hyperemesis gravidarum can be a long and exhausting road and it is during that recovery that we may meet people who can make the world of difference! Here Cheryl pays tribute to her HG Hero Sandra Zocher who, through kindness, support and pure fun has helped Cheryl regain her confidence and vigour for life which HG had been holding prisoner....
Inspiration, Compassion, Anger & Hope
On Monday I hosted the Pregnancy Sickness Support Healthcare Professional Conference in Birmingham which saw a host of excellent speakers discuss the services they are running for women with hyperemesis gravidarum. We were lucky also that Caroline De Bie from The Pregnancy and Medicine Initiative was able to fly over from Brussels for the event to present. I asked her to write about her experience of the day...
Dear Princess Charlotte. Welcome to the Club
Dear Princess Charlotte,
Welcome to the world! Happy 0th Birthday! You are part of a special club… and I don’t just mean the royal family… sure that’s a “special club” too but this is a different one… you are an HG baby. You and your mum and your brother are HG survivors and that is something special.
Well the duchess had it now they all want it, and other ludicrous things people say
“It’s fashionable now the Duchess has had it, they all want it”
Oh yes, and if the Duchess broke her leg the mothers of Britain would head to the nearest play part and hurl themselves off the climbing frame to sport a matching plaster cast. Obviously.
Here is your load, now bear it...
As you know, along with the wonderful Tony, I answer a lot of the Pregnancy Sickness Support helpline calls that come through from desperately ill women needing help, information and support. This week I had to have a really difficult conversation with a young woman who wants to be a mum and indeed is pregnant with a baby they have been trying for some months to conceive.
The importance of awards for raising awareness
At the risk of sounding like I'm just trying to big myself up and win stuff... there really is a good reason for voting for me. Getting the subject of hyperemesis gravidarum into the public eye is vital! By the HG community speaking up in the form of votes, nominations, completing surveys and so on makes everyone else realise it's a subject worth talking about.
Helping pregnant mums get the right medical care
As some of you know I've been working hard to develop collaborative relationships between organisations such as PSS and the Pregnancy & Medicine Initiative. There is only so much individuals and small organisations can do on their own and by pooling our resources and working together we can reach larger audiences and have a greater impact nationally and internationally. I've featured a post by Caroline before and since then our working relationship has strengthened further and last week saw the launch of a joint fundraising and leaflet distributing project to get information about medication in pregnancy to the women who need it. Over to Caroline to tell you more about this important and exciting project:
My HG day on a plate
I spotting this hilarious buzzfeed post about "Day on a Plate" going viral on Facebook this morning as a backlash to the depressingly perfect and blatantly bullshit “My day on a plate” feature of the founder of a juice company - no happy person lives like this:
New year plans 2015
Well last year finished off rather manically for me as I worked my little socks off bringing the Charity's amazing support network up to speed and matched dozens of desperate sufferers with volunteers to hold their cyber hands over the Christmas period while they endured non-sick relatives and bouncy excited children.
Changing Opinions
Yesterday I watched this UpWorthy piece, a story by Ash Beckham who, while taking her niece to meet the frozen princess character, was mistaken for her dad. In the split moment she was torn between keeping her mouth shut and enjoying the moment with her niece and speaking out as an advocate for the LGBT community and raising awareness about gender stereotyping. It was interesting because I find myself in a similar dilemma surprisingly often when it comes to raising awareness about HG. Should I just keep quite at this kids party my children are enjoying so much and not risk any kind of scene or discomfort... or should I politely but clearly set this ignorant woman straight on how her “morning sickness” was not the same as her poor friends symptoms and her friend is not just “making a fuss” and it's not “psychological” and perhaps she should show some compassion rather than gossiping about her while she to sick to speak. Realistically, no matter how gently or carefully you try to correct someone you're inevitably coming to cause them embarrassment and risk appearing confrontational.
Sarah's Story - Guest Post
Life seems to be busy on a whole new level recently. Unfortunately Pregnancy Sickness Support got turned down for it's bid to the National Lottery and so I've been working hard to streamline the organisation's resources and looking to the future as well as getting the e-book version of Hyperemesis Gravidarum - The Definitive Guide ready for release. And obviously then there is family, work and all that... So frankly I'm really glad I invited a number of guest posts a few weeks back!
Continuing with my theme of giving other survivors a voice to tell their stories via my platform I've got the story of Sarah's battle with hyperemesis gravidarum for you this week. Sarah has her own blog, excellently titled "No More Ginger Biscuits" so check it out...
Tracey Story - Guest Post
I'm in Telford tonight having set up the Pregnancy Sickness Support stand ready for the next two intense days at the Royal College of Midwives Annual Conference. I'll be speaking to hundreds of midwives and student midwives as they shuffle past our few feet of expensive floor space, which will make it worth every penny of the charity's hard raised money. I'll also have copies of Hyperemesis Gravidarum - The Definitive Guide available there and had amazing feedback today from a women whose GP was reluctant to prescribe until she showed him the book... she's now getting excellent care! AMAZING! So in advance of tomorrow I want to share this guest post by Tracy Morgan, because it demonstrates clearly why midwives knowing about this condition is so vital and why I'll be working my socks off for the next two days to raise as much awareness with this key group of professionals as I possibly can.
We are survivors - Guest post
I said last week that I was handing over to share other women's stories of their battles with hyperemesis gravidarum. Well this week I'm starting with Susanne Remic, otherwise known as Ghost Writer Mummy. Her story here finishes back at 33 weeks but I've just had the great news that her baby is here and the nausea is gone at long last! You'll notice a lot of similarities between the stories to come and they'll have elements you can relate to yourself. During the research for the book we got stories from hundreds of women to include as quotes. What is striking is how much we can relate to each others stories and have shared experiences. Through my work with Pregnancy Sickness Support I also know how incredibly valuable it is for women suffering now to hear other women's stories and know they are not alone. Just this morning I spoke to a lady who just couldn't believe there was a whole hyperemesis community out there to support her. She was weeping on the phone, a mixture of misery for her suffering and joy at speaking to someone who understood.