All in Sufferers stories
Here is a commonly asked question, particularly on mediums like Facebook:
"My sister/friend/cousin/partner is suffering hyperemesis gravidarum. She had it in her last pregnancy and was in and out of hospital, on medication and so on. She’s already tried *insert any number of alternative therapies here* without success and I’m wondering what else I can suggest to her. Her mental health is suffering and I want to help."
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.
“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.
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.
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.
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.
I got a call last week... I'd been nominated for the Tesco Mum of the Year award for my work raising awareness about hyperemesis gravidarum and developing support in the UK for the condition. Not only had I been nominated but I've made it to the shortlist of 26 from 3,500 nomination! And... not only had I been shortlisted but Tesco are donating £1,000 to Pregnancy Sickness Support on my behalf!
The thing with hyperemesis gravidarum is that on top of all the spewing and constant nausea there is horrendous isolation and intense loneliness that comes with long long hours alone in your bedroom or on the sofa with no one else around and very little you can do to help yourself out of the ensuring misery and depression that comes with it.
Hyperemesis gravidarum doesn't only bring a whole lot of nausea and vomiting to the sufferer. As if that wasn't enough it can bring pytalism (excessive saliva), pounding headaches, torn stomach muscles, torn oesophagus', loss of bladder control and unimaginable misery. And it brings nine long months of being pretty much bed bound.
In the third of my series about preparing for hyperemesis gravidarum I'm going to discuss what emotional preparations you can make in advance of an HG pregnancy and tips for those of you considering, or embarking on, another pregnancy based on what worked for me with my third.
“Triiing” went the text message alert on my phone as I cleared up the breakfast stuff and ordered the kids to get in their uniforms. I glanced at the screen... “I'm pregnant” said the message from my good friend, Sarah. She's married with one child already, an 18 month old and she loves being a mum. “Oh no” I think “poor Sarah” as I read the rest of her text. She's devastated, scared and she is beside herself trying to figure out how she is going to survive the next nine months. I know how much she desperately wants another baby and I want to congratulate her, but I can't, it would be insensitive, instead I reassure her that she is not alone and I'm here for her every step of the way.
Well sorry for the short absence folks, I've been gallivanting around Yellowstone National Park in America still riding the no-more-HG high two years on from my final bout!
There seems to be increasing speculation about the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge planning another baby and I'm getting calls and emails for interviews on the subject due to the Duchess's history of hyperemesis gravidarum. Honestly, who would want to be famous eh... The pressure for that poor woman to have to go through hyperemesis again is appalling! It's bad enough that she doesn't seem to have a choice about whether or not to go through it again... She can't even do it in her own time scale! The media seem to be demanding she get on with it and her baby is only 10 months old.
I've been advising a friend of mine this week who works for a big, well known supermarket in the UK and is being treated unfairly due to pregnancy sickness. Like 30% of pregnant women she has needed to have a few days off work because she's spewing up constantly. Now I don't know about you but I don't particularly want people spewing up at work in the supermarket I shop in... Clearly she needs to be off for a bit.
I'm currently living for a couple of weeks with my husband and kids on a Stone Age living skills centre in the depths of the Colorado Rocky Mountains. We're sleeping in a tent despite the snow and there are bears, mountain lions, coyotes and all sorts of other wild animals padding past us each night while we sleep. In the day we collect firewood and edible plants for dinner, practice making fire by friction and our knife carving skills. Most days I try to nip down the road to get some Internet connection in order to check my emails and respond to the more important ones... Mainly those concerning hyperemesis gravidarum sufferers, past, present and future.
A common question I get asked is how on earth do hyperemesis sufferers look after and pass the time with their toddler when pregnant again. It's a commonly cited reason for not having another hyperemesis pregnancy. I believe strongly that the key to surviving subsequent hyperemesis pregnancies is in the planning and preparation and the planning for your children is just as important as planning your medication and treatment. So let me introduce my friend and colleague, hyperemesis survivor Emma Edwards who has developed an incredible resource for women suffering with toddlers at home...
I mentioned in my last post I'm not eligible for the MAD Award category of Best Pregnancy Blog because I haven't been pregnant in the last twelve months.
You all know me well enough by now to know I don't beat about the bush on subjects which are, quite frankly, plain gross. And excessive saliva experienced during hyperemesis is no exception.
For those of us working entirely immersed in the hyperemesis gravidarum world, (namely myself and Karen Lodge in the Pregnancy Sickness Support office working alongside each other, her answering the helpline and my engaging in research activity and education for healthcare professions) there can be periods of time where we really feel the impact of the work we are doing and we go home at the end of the day knowing that so many women in the UK are getting really great care and support for their HG, in part thanks to the work that we’re doing from our little office in Cornwall.
