Hyperemesis.....oh My!

hey elizabeth,

i don't have experience with hyperemesis (and any woman that does has my complete sympathy!) but i have a very close friend who is just at the end of her 2nd pregnancy with hyperemesis. i asked her for advice and she suggested this site: www.helpher.org -- she's gotten a ton of advice and support from the people that run and participate on that site.

good luck!
J.

Hi Elizabeth,
I have 3 kids ages 8,5 and 1. I had HG with my second and was also scared to get pregnant again. The zofran, PICC line, TPN feedings were weighing heavily on my mind (and my husband's!). God had a plan that overtook ours and I becam e pregnant with our third. Since our first was born, I have found out more about homeopathic medicine and how the body works to heal itself. I don't know where you are living, but I went to Bodyworks Physical Therapy in Edina where they do myofascial release (check it out at www.myofascialrelease.com), which is a form of bodywork based on the idea that your body knows how to heal itself and sometimes needs facilitation to get started. It was phenomenal. I was treated from early on in my pregnancy and throughout. I did not have HG like I did with the second...just normal morning sickness. A bonus is how easy labor was! You may also want to consider seeing a good chiropractor. I have recently started seeing one and he talked briefly to me about how chiropractic can be of benefit to HG, or to prevent it. I wish I could have avoided zofran with my second. My son is smart, typically developing, but his attention and behavior make me wonder if zofran had more of an impact on him than I initially thought. Anyway, I am moving to more of a natural approach. It might be worth checking into for you. Good luck!

W.

I know you do not want to hear it, but I had it with my first ans even worse with my second... The good thing though is the 2nd time it ended sooner. I too was at home on IVs and IV zofran. I had to do a naughty thing and let my toddler watch a lot of Barney episodes and videos but he survived. Potty training went out the window as well. He got over the short period of that and months later I gave him a wonderful little sister. There is no way to know until you make the blunge... I do feel I jenks myself. My OB asked me at my 6 week appointment how I felt and I told her WONDERFUL, I do not even feel pregnant. She comment she was worried because of what it was like the first time. I laughed and the next day I again met the tidy bowl man..... (((HUGS))) for the greatest gift in the world....

I had it with my first (a boy), though never had to get an IV. Just the zofran and phenergen and lots of throwing up for a couple months. With my second (a girl), it was worse. I tried starting the zofran and phenergen as soon as I started feeling sick, but it didn't help (probably also contributed to the dehydration since they both cause constipation). I was in and out for IVs for several months. I had to stop working mid-October and didn't return until early January (had the baby in May). I had to take disability from work and so I got less (paid) time off from work after she was finally born. I kept sending my first to daycare and my mother had to take off time to come to my house to take care of me for 8 weeks. I will not be having any more kids. But, I only ever really wanted two anyways.

I did have it with both my kids. The second time around I was only on the IV for one month at the beginning of my second trimester, though I had been extremely nauseous for the couple months before that. I think it was more manageable because I was proactive by taking Zofran from the beginning. Also, when I was put on the IV I requested a portable one that came in a fanny pack so I could get around with my toddler. Even then, I still had to have a tremendous amount of help from my family, and my daughter watched a lot more TV than she usually does. It felt much harder the second time only because I had more than myself to care for and couldn't manage, but physically it was really easier. It was hard on my daughter to see me so sick, but now we have a baby and I'm healthy and she seems to have forgotten all about it. Good luck. I hope you don't have it this time! But, if you do, you'll get through it again. And then you'll have another amazing child.

My sister had hyperemisis. With her first it was awful - on IV's quite often and absolutely miserable (as you probably know!) But with her second child it really seemed much less severe. She only had to be put on IV's a couple of times and she was able to work more. I know she just had a steady supply of Zofran. Hope this helps!

I was never diagnosed with HG with my son, but I started at 110 and lost almost 20 pounds from so much vomiting. I had an absolutely terrible time.

My partner wanted another child way before I was ready to think about it, because I was SO TERRIFIED of going through that again, and even more so about going through it with a small child in my care.

I did a lot of reading, and sort of stumbled on some very interesting stuff. I'll post a link to the thread that got me started. It resulted in me doing about 3 months of dietary prep work and cleanses before trying to get pregnant. I'm 13 weeks now and I have not thrown up. You can find my story in more detail in post # 66 of this thread called Preventing/Reducing Morning Sickness and Hyperemsis Gravidarum (herbs & more!)

http://www.mothering.com/discussions/showthread.php?t=618836

Good luck!

Hi Elizabeth - I had it horribly with my first child; had a PIC line, visiting nurse who fed me intraveneously, lost weight, bed rest, etc. I was sick with my second, but not nearly as bad; no PIC line, no bed rest, gained 7 pounds while pregnant. I still vomited daily through the entire pregnancy but was able to put on weight and stay healthy. I took Zofran with my second one and I think it really helped. I was not offered that drug with my first one.
Good luck.
J.

I had it with my first, but not my second. I was prepared with Zolfram. Good Luck!!

I have never been able to have the IV at home. That would have made my life so much easier! I had to go in and get one every other day. That is much easier than trying to deal with things when you can't even turn your head without puking and get beyond weak.
I have had 7 full term pregnancies, all with hyperemisis. The first was not that bad, the rest were pretty horrible, with my last pregnancy being the longest.
However, I would do it again in a heart beat! It is just a short period of time in your life to do that for a child who will bring you so much joy and so many blessings.
There is no way to know if you will get it again, or if it will be better or worse, until you bite the bullet and do it.

I had it with both (but no IV, except twice when I caught stomach bugs and couldn't stop vomiting), and both times it lasted until 5 or 6 months in. I have a boy and a girl, so for me the baby's sex had nothing to do with it. My husband thinks I was slightly worse with my son(first baby), but I'm not going to lie, it was not fun. Phenergen got me through with him (Zofran did nothing for me), though, but nothing seemed to be the magic cure with my daughter. When I finally could eat, I ballooned up 50 lbs. I think I was an extreme example, though. Both of my children were big babies (8lbs 15oz and 9lbs 8oz), and very alert and healthy. Drugs had no effect at all.