Having Hyperemesis Gravidarum (3 Times)

Having Hyperemesis Gravidarum Three Times

Tara Carpenter, NC.

Nutrition Consultant helping people of all ages to heal from yeast, bacteria, and viral overgrowth/infection.

Originally published on March 4th 2016.

I had severe morning sickness, a.k.a. hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), with all of my pregnancies; each worse than the one before, equaling 12 weeks sick with my 1st child, 15 weeks with my 2nd child, 40 weeks (!!) with my 3rd child. I will say that giving birth was easy compared to months on end in a nauseas torturous state in which I was unable to lift my head, read a book, drive a car, or drink more than teaspoon of water.

My first pregnancy occurred while building a home in Floyd, Virginia within a community. There were goats to milk and chevre to make/sell at the local farmer markets. Trees to fall, land to clear, a garden to plant and harvest. When I got pregnant I was expecting to write a book about living off-grid in a self-sufficient manner while pregnant. Yet, there I was 3 weeks after conception unable to get out of bed. We shut things down there and moved to Massachusetts to live with my mother so I could be cared for fully. For 9 weeks she waited on me as round the clock I vomited a yellow liquid that tasted of battery acid.

I hadn’t been pregnant before and thought I had normal queasiness. I did not ask for help. Now, I know the severity of morning sickness I had affects only 0.5-2.0% of pregnant women.

The strength of a mother is like no other.

My second pregnancy happened while living in California and was a complete surprise. I wasn’t prepared mentally or physically. I felt terrified to be sick with HG. I hadn’t researched how to avoid this rare prenatal condition from happening again. I was a single mother working 60 hour weeks. I had no time to be in bed with nausea. Yet, that is exactly what happened.

For 15 weeks I was in and out of hospital for fluid and intravenous nutrition until one day I felt the baby move inside me. The next day was July 27th 2006. I woke 100% better. Was unreal how uplifted I felt. Finally! I could be normal and wear my pregnancy clothes; show everyone my belly, let them feel her move.

HG is strange like that. One day you are so sick you can’t stand then the next day you wake up like your old self as if nothing had ever happened. That was the evening though that I miscarried my baby. The doctors say that she likely died from an undercooked hamburger I had eaten at a barbecue earlier that afternoon. I ate the whole thing. I was so glad to be able to eat again without feeling sick. I was starving!

That evening I broke into a fever with contractions. The ER diagnosed me with group B strep infection. The baby’s heartbeat was steady beating away just fine moments before the nurses could detect no sound. No heartbeat. Just like that. A life you work so hard to create and maintain. Just gone. They said her little brain hemorrhaged from the high heat/fever in my womb. Then I lost consciousness from a sepsis infection. I recall nothing but waking up to a circle of doctors around me with concerned looks on their faces. I had required 3 blood transfusions to stabilize me. I did not care. I wanted to go back to being unconscious knowing my baby was no longer inside of me.

What is grief, if not love persevering.

Miscarriage is common with HG because a mom with HG is going to be malnourished and dehydrated with a depleted immune system. That was my case. Eating an undercooked hamburger in my weakened immune state meant my body could not fight the incoming infection.

Personally, I will say that I lost myself after my miscarriage. Railing against what felt at the time to be an unfairness for such a loss. Just defeated.

To the world you are a mother, to your child you are the world.

The third time I got pregnant, I was living in Boston. I knew I’d get sick. I didn’t care. I had recently miscarried my baby girl and wanted the fullness that comes with a child growing inside. My father had died soon after losing that baby girl and the idea of laying down in a cool, dark room with new life growing inside me felt to be the thing to do. 

I should have spent much more time after miscarrying that baby girl to build up my immune system. I should have gained all the weight back that I had lost with being pregnant with my baby girl in anticipation of losing 20-30 pounds from not being able to eat. I should have figured out who would care for my 4 yr. old while I lay alone in the dark bedroom all day and night. I did not. I dove head-first into my third pregnancy.

With this 3rd child, I was sick with HG for the 40 full weeks. That is 280 days total being incapacitated with disabling nausea, pain, and discomfort that comes from not being able to eat and drink. With this pregnancy I was in the hospital every few days for intravenous fluids. I did not eat for days on end because I could think of nothing that would stay down. I had severe urinary infections due to not being dehydrated. I nearly lost my baby due to being malnourished.

A river cuts through rock, not because of power but because of persistence.

Offer support to women with severe, endless morning sickness. If you know a woman in the throes of severe morning sickness – HELP HER. Doing so can stop a condition which, left to itself, requires hospitalization. Dehydration and malnourishment can occur after 1-2 days of persistent vomiting. So, watch and notify doctor. There can be underlying physical causes for severe vomiting during pregnancy. Don’t think her vomiting is psychically based. Make her a tray of ice cubes with Pellegrino sparkling water, fresh grated lemon rind, and mint leaves.

Keeping a lemon, lime, or orange in my pocket helped me tremendously — especially living in a city where the outside smells can be more intense. I could not ride the train or even step outside there unless I was inhaling something with lemon. Peppermint oil on a folded tissue is also great.

During my 3rd pregnancy, my mother-in-law sent me a stack of food magazines to see what food jumped out. I could look through over 10 magazines and find one food, say strawberries, I could eat and keep down. With HG for a strange reason I had to be able to visualize and taste said food before my stomach would accept that food into my body. I have not experienced this phenomenon outside of being pregnant with HG.

Miriam Erick is a senior dietitian manager, researcher-author, and nationally known perinatal morning sickness advocate. Learn more about her work with HG here.

Best suggestion I have, no matter what form of morning sickness you have, is to implement a building diet and get help with supplements before you conceive. Miriam Erick was my angel in my 2nd and 3rd pregnancy.

When I was pregnant there was no internet or online group chat. I suffered on my own in a very dark room with my family and friends doing what they could. One day during my last pregnancy I craved a lobster roll. I called my unborn baby’s father who drove in 5pm traffic to get not one but three (!!) lobster rolls which I ate promptly and felt better for nearly two days. More often though I was in a dark bedroom or bathroom with no clue what food I could eat. This torture would go 3, 4 days without food. In my 2nd pregnancy my neighbor brought fresh chicken soup with lemon squeezed in. I could eat that daily yet felt bad to ask her to make it so often for I could not eat leftovers while I had hyperemesis gravidarum. All food had to be fresh-made every day, not leftover. 

Now there are Facebook groups and forums of women with HG sharing what helps when you feel awful day after day after day after week after month. You can do this. If not, seek support.  

My bright lights at the end of the long HG tunnel.

   May all bellies be happy!

Disclaimer: Tara Carpenter is not a licensed physician who treats, manages, diagnoses, or prevents medical, psychological, or nutritional condition/disease. Her service and website is primarily educational in nature and subject to interpretation; doesn't constitute medical advice nor make promise or representation, expressed or implied, to a result that will be obtained by adhering to any recommendations given. Consult your licensed healthcare provider before changing diet, lifestyle, health, or prescribed drug. By utilizing this site, or a service offered, you acknowledge having read disclaimer and assume responsibility for use or misuse of information. You agree to contact a licensed health-care provider if problems arise in our time together, or anytime thereafter.

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