I am back from the dead...Life with Hyperemesis

Ok so I know my title sounds a little dramatic but I'm not known for being subdued. The reason I titled my post "I am back from the dead" is because literally Ive felt like death since the beginning of march. Hyperemesis Gravidarum is a condition that occurs in only 1% of all pregnant women and wouldn't you know it lucky me is in that one percent!!! woo hoo! I'll refer to it as HG throughout the rest of the post because it is a pain to type.

I had HG with my first pregnancy as well in 2008-2009 but it was a mild case and taking zofran pills made me feel amazingly better. So this time around when I vomited at 5 1/2 weeks pregnant, I said it's ok I'll just get Zofran pills. Well little did I know that HG ranges from mild to moderate to severe, and this time around I have what is classified as severe HG. The pills were not working and I was sick form morning to night and even through the night. I was so nauseous I couldn't even sleep. I didn't eat or drink and had to go to the hospital for fluids which didn't even make me feel better. So Dr. Powers(my ob) ordered home health care for me which would consist of a zofran pump and IV fluids when needed at home instead of the ER.

So the Zofran pump.... Well I was really excited to get the pump because I thought it was going to make me feel better just like the pills had done the first time. Well apparently when you have severe HG it doesn't work like that. In my case the Zofran pump was only to control my vomiting and nausea so that i could drink and eat. So the nurses came to my house and hooked up my pump, which consists of a small IV catheter hooked to a syringe in this pump device that drips a controlled amount of zofran into my bloodstream every hour. They also hooked me up to an IV for fluids and vitamins that I had to keep in for 3 days. That was miserable. I looked like I was on my deathbed and after 3 days of fluids, vitamins and zofran 24/7 guess what? I was just as sick as I was before the pump and still couldn't eat or drink without feeling like I was going to die.

Life with a zofran pump is not easy. You have this little black bag that the pump goes in and it comes with a strap so you can wear it like a purse. Just what i want to do carry a purse around all day and night. The tubing from your injection site in your stomach is also pretty long, so that gets caught on a lot of things such as doorknobs, the end of the bed etc and you can imagine it doesn't feel too good when that's being pulled on. Also Zofran is harsh on the skin and when you have sensitive skin like myself it is even worse. The zofran causes the injection sites to become red and itchy and it can also burn as well. It also causes these huge welts under your skin that range from the size of a pea to a marble. Right now I have a few marble sized ones because Ive been on the pump so long. Changing the injection site is not fun either. It consists of stabbing your pregnant belly with a 2 inch needle in order to get the catheter in. First of all I don't want to stab myself with a needle anywhere but especially not my prego belly. It goes against all of your motherly instincts. So my wonderful husband changes the sites for me. I have to admit though, while my aversion to stabbing my prego belly is from my motherly instincts I think my aversion for needles is more likely to be the cause for my non-willingness to change the sites myself. Heck I can barely rip a band-aid off without help, I'm such a baby lol.

So it has been a hard hard hard hard and did I mention hard almost 3 months. The hardest part for me other than feeling so sick I could have just knocked myself out was not being able to take care of Brantley. I couldn't even take care of myself never mind a rambunctious 2 year old. So my mother in law came over almost every day for 2 1/2 months and took care of him and me. It was really hard for me because I felt like such a bad mom and I know it wasn't my fault and it was unpreventable but still mommies will always feel guilty if they can't do their job for whatever that reason may be. It was such an isolating time in my life because I really couldn't be around people because everything made me sick especially smells. So I pretty much laid in bed from morning to night by myself and let me tell you that will make you crazy. I honestly thought I was going nuts at one point, like I couldn't even think straight or make sense when I was talking. It was a scary place to be, but praise the Lord there is a light at the end of this tunnel.

Over the weekend I noticed a significant decrease in my nausea. Such as I was nauseous in the morning till about 11 and then just somewhat nauseous but not bad throughout the day and then nauseous at night again staring from about 7:30 or 8pm. Can i tell you what a relief it was to not be nauseous all day long?? to be able to actually sit outside on the porch with brantley and play with him instead of laying on the couch while he watches tv all day? It was amazing. So today is Tuesday and my nausea is still decreased and following the same pattern as it has been over the weekend. Ive been able to eat regular food while i still have to stay away obviously from really heavy food or rich and spicy food. I can eat meat and potatoes again! yay!!!. So I'm hoping and praying that this is beginning of my recovery and that in a few weeks I will be able to come off the pump and go back on the zofran pills or heck not even need the pills at all. It has been such a relief I can't even find the words to describe it. Really for the last 3 1/2 months I haven't even had time to process my pregnancy because my one thought was just ok survive get through today and you're one day closer to feeling better. So it has been nice to feel well enough to look online at baby stuff and start thinking about names. So friends keep praying for my health and for our sweet baby's health and we find out in 2 days hopefully what we are having....

I am glad to be back

Much Love
D