After we moved to Texas I started back to school to finish my degree. I had only been in school a couple terms when I found out I was pregnant with my second child. I was excited but nervous at the same time. I was mindful of all the complications the first time around and I was concerned how this would affect my oldest son, school, and life in general.
Pregnancy started out very well. I was mainly tired but didn't feel much different. We lived in this tiny condominium and so that became a concern right away. We knew that we would need a bigger place and that there would be other expenses coming too. I saw the doctor right away letting him know the issues I had the first pregnancy. He didn't put me on any medications right away and in fact did not even use the term "hyperemesis" even though I referred to it several times. I was doing well until around the 10th or 12th week, then the nausea and vomiting began hitting me hard.
I was so ill that I would turn the television on and just let my little one watch as much as he wanted. I would lay on the couch and pray that it would go away. I was so miserable. I was also potty training him, he was two at the time and it was a challenge, he did not like the big potty so we had to use the small one on the floor. This presented problems for my nausea issues. I can remember him telling my husband at night "Mommy coughed all day in the bathroom." I am allergic to Phenergan, so this made prescribing any medication difficult. I would get up at night and go to school. I can remember one class in particular that I would get really sick as soon as I walked into the room. This was a larger class and possibly it was the combination of smells that got to me. I still to this day see the professor and feel ill. So sorry to say that, but he doesn't really know.
I didn't want to call the doctor and make additional appointments. At the time my husband was working where he was not really allowed to take any time off and so any time at the doctor or if I had to go to the ER for any reason became a serious issue. We also had a very small income and this made having any type of childcare for my 2 year old impossible. I felt alone and sad. I was away from my family and now this was making it really difficult for me to cope. I heard things from other people like, "gee, you are so dramatic about this morning sickness thing..." or "can't you just eat some crackers and get over it." I started blaming myself for being so sick which only compounded my stress. Around 13 or 14 weeks I was in the kitchen cooking lunch for my baby and passed out from dehydration and lack of nutrition. I had the biggest knot on my head and felt dizzy when I sat up. I woke up to the sound of my baby screaming and I was dazed so it took me a few minutes to realize I was on the floor and he was upset.
I called my husband he took me to the ER, I was admitted immediately. I was put on IV fluids and given Zofran through my IVs. My doctor decided this was a blood sugar issue and if I ate more protein and snacked on sugary foods this would "cure" the bouts of sickness. I didn't care at that point. I felt so much better getting the IV and Zofran that they could have told me I needed to drink mud smoothies and I wouldn't have cared. I stayed in the hospital for a short time and asked to be released early. The doctor was not happy about it, but we had no alternative child care and no way to afford it, my husband HAD to get back to work. This was not something that was even an option. There were some dynamics there that I still don't like to talk about simply because it was so painful at the time. Again I blamed myself for being sick.
The nausea and vomiting ended at around my sixth month. I then had other issues like pre-term contractions which resulted in another hospital stay and more drama. Then I had high blood pressure and protein in my urine in my final months. I was finally induced on my birthday and my second son, Liam was born. He was the same weight and length as my first baby. He was a sweet little boy and I adored him immediately. After the easy birth I thought I might like to have one more child and told my husband someday we would need to have maybe one more baby.
My second HG baby - Liam
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