I have been promising this for some time and just kept putting it off, maybe because it was my worst and most traumatic HG/Pregnancy experience. It seemed like everything that could go wrong did go wrong.
I found out I was pregnant and was pretty excited. We had tried to get pregnant for several years after my second child and we suffered four pregnancy losses in that time. In that time I graduated from college, passed my teaching exam, went through student teaching, and worked through my first year as a teacher. This was probably the most stressful time in my life. I had two pregnancy losses in my first year as a teacher alone and didn't tell anyone about them, one of them happening while I was teaching at school. My heart was broken, and we decided that maybe God was telling us that we were where we were supposed to be as a family and two was our number. So we stopped trying. In that period I applied for my dream job and wonder of wonders I got it! I was excited. Three months into my new job, I found out we were expecting number three.
The following month, after my positive pregnancy test I started bleeding heavily, I knew what it was and accepted it as best I could. I went to the doctor, he scanned, and there was a heart beat. Apparently we had a twin pregnancy and lost one. I was thankful for having the little one and seeing the flutter of a heartbeat on that screen was bliss for me.
The pregnancy started off rocky, then it seemed like maybe I would miss out on the whole HG mess. I had no sickness for several weeks. I was so happy. Then it hit and it hit with a vengeance. One day I was fine and the next I could not stop getting sick, couldn't even keep liquid down. I was a mess. I called my OB and they gave me a 1 month supply of Zofran. This was after telling them that I was prone to HG and this would probably need to be more than a single month. Even on the Zofran I was still so sick I couldn't keep anything down. I would call and ask them for help and they would tell me that "this is pregnancy" and I should "get used to it" because "it will pass." The trend continued for a couple more weeks until one day I passed out and had a huge knot on my head. My husband rushed me to the ER. I was admitted to the antepartum not for the HG but for the head injury.
They gave me injections and meds through my IV and through other means. I was put on an all liquid diet. Not that it would not stay down anyway. I barely ate anything. I was going down hill fast. The nurses were worried, my family was worried, the only person not worried...my doctor. Everyday he came to my room to talk to me. As time wore on he brought in a GI doctor to figure out if there was a gastric issue. I had a neurology exam for the head injury. Then when those didn't turn up any explanations he got angry. I can recall having a really bad day. Vomiting blood and just miserable. He walked into my room, talked for a minute or two. Then he pointed his finger at me and said, "you just need to tell yourself not to be sick and you will get better, this is all in your head." I started to cry, I was broken at that point. He rolled his eyes and told me that I must be unstable and that was what was causing the problem.
The nurse happened to be outside the door when all this was going on and she came in for a "vitals check." He walked out and she sat on the bed and comforted me until I could stop crying. Those nurses are the best nurses I have ever seen. That night my legs began to twitch uncontrollably. Then the muscles in other parts of my body started twitching. My nurse came in and was immediately worried. Then she did the thing that I know saved my life. She called in the high risk OB. He came in immediately and I was transferred to ICU that night. They ran tests and my body was depleted of every vitamin and nutrient. The high risk doc told my husband that if they could not get me stable in the next couple days I was on the road toward heart failure. He told him to prepare for the worst and that we could lose the baby and possibly he would lose me too.
That night and the next day my heart was beating erratically. They tried to run potassium through my IV but it burned so bad that they had to stop. I could not handle the burn going through my veins. Finally the doctor decided the only way to handle this and to get me stable was to put me to sleep. They knocked me out and started filling me with all the medicines that I needed just to survive. At that point it was no longer about nausea control it became about getting my body to a point that I could live. Dose after dose for a week I was given before they woke me up. They waited until the tests showed my body was ready to wake up and my heart rate was stable again.
When they woke me it was like coming out of a fog. I knew that people had been in the room, I can remember hearing my husband talking to me but I could not respond. When I woke up I spent another week getting more meds and strong antiemetics. I was given shots of vitamin K because my clotting factor was pretty much zero. They wanted to put in a central line. My veins at this point were gone and it took more than three sticks to get IVs started, they also wanted to start me on TPN (liquid food). Once the clotting factor was back, another week, they took me down and inserted the central line in my chest. I was scared and relieved. I was so happy not to have hundreds of sticks and also to know that the TPN would start giving me the nutrients I needed. I was in ICU an additional week. At this point I was in the hospital for two months. The entire time I was in ICU I never saw my regular OB. The GI and the high risk doctor were there every day.
I was moved back to a regular room. I was put on four medicines for the nausea, all were IV until I could handle by mouth. There were days I could barely move but slowly with the TPN I started getting more strength. They moved me step by step from a liquid diet to a full diet. I remember the first day I ate a real meal and it stayed down. I felt like having a party. I knew that I was on my way out of the hospital. During my three months in the hospital I was given weekly ultrasounds. The baby was beautiful and despite the trauma to my body was growing and healthy. We knew it was a boy early because of the numerous ultrasounds.
By the end of my stay I knew every single nurse on the antepartum unit by name and they all knew me. Those ladies were my miracle. Had they not been so attentive and had that nurse not called in the high risk OB that night I fully believe I would have died. I do not believe that my OB would have gone any further or tried any other treatments. I credit my life and the life of my son to those ladies.
I left the hospital after three months. I went back in twice more for other complications, but my HG was controlled by the time I left. I had high blood pressure and high amniotic fluid. In the end I delivered a beautiful healthy baby boy. He was 8lbs and 9 ozs and 22 inches long. My biggest baby by far. After that pregnancy we decided we would not chance another pregnancy. Of course as you know things happen and we are now expecting baby number four.
I found out I was pregnant and was pretty excited. We had tried to get pregnant for several years after my second child and we suffered four pregnancy losses in that time. In that time I graduated from college, passed my teaching exam, went through student teaching, and worked through my first year as a teacher. This was probably the most stressful time in my life. I had two pregnancy losses in my first year as a teacher alone and didn't tell anyone about them, one of them happening while I was teaching at school. My heart was broken, and we decided that maybe God was telling us that we were where we were supposed to be as a family and two was our number. So we stopped trying. In that period I applied for my dream job and wonder of wonders I got it! I was excited. Three months into my new job, I found out we were expecting number three.
The following month, after my positive pregnancy test I started bleeding heavily, I knew what it was and accepted it as best I could. I went to the doctor, he scanned, and there was a heart beat. Apparently we had a twin pregnancy and lost one. I was thankful for having the little one and seeing the flutter of a heartbeat on that screen was bliss for me.
The pregnancy started off rocky, then it seemed like maybe I would miss out on the whole HG mess. I had no sickness for several weeks. I was so happy. Then it hit and it hit with a vengeance. One day I was fine and the next I could not stop getting sick, couldn't even keep liquid down. I was a mess. I called my OB and they gave me a 1 month supply of Zofran. This was after telling them that I was prone to HG and this would probably need to be more than a single month. Even on the Zofran I was still so sick I couldn't keep anything down. I would call and ask them for help and they would tell me that "this is pregnancy" and I should "get used to it" because "it will pass." The trend continued for a couple more weeks until one day I passed out and had a huge knot on my head. My husband rushed me to the ER. I was admitted to the antepartum not for the HG but for the head injury.
They gave me injections and meds through my IV and through other means. I was put on an all liquid diet. Not that it would not stay down anyway. I barely ate anything. I was going down hill fast. The nurses were worried, my family was worried, the only person not worried...my doctor. Everyday he came to my room to talk to me. As time wore on he brought in a GI doctor to figure out if there was a gastric issue. I had a neurology exam for the head injury. Then when those didn't turn up any explanations he got angry. I can recall having a really bad day. Vomiting blood and just miserable. He walked into my room, talked for a minute or two. Then he pointed his finger at me and said, "you just need to tell yourself not to be sick and you will get better, this is all in your head." I started to cry, I was broken at that point. He rolled his eyes and told me that I must be unstable and that was what was causing the problem.
The nurse happened to be outside the door when all this was going on and she came in for a "vitals check." He walked out and she sat on the bed and comforted me until I could stop crying. Those nurses are the best nurses I have ever seen. That night my legs began to twitch uncontrollably. Then the muscles in other parts of my body started twitching. My nurse came in and was immediately worried. Then she did the thing that I know saved my life. She called in the high risk OB. He came in immediately and I was transferred to ICU that night. They ran tests and my body was depleted of every vitamin and nutrient. The high risk doc told my husband that if they could not get me stable in the next couple days I was on the road toward heart failure. He told him to prepare for the worst and that we could lose the baby and possibly he would lose me too.
That night and the next day my heart was beating erratically. They tried to run potassium through my IV but it burned so bad that they had to stop. I could not handle the burn going through my veins. Finally the doctor decided the only way to handle this and to get me stable was to put me to sleep. They knocked me out and started filling me with all the medicines that I needed just to survive. At that point it was no longer about nausea control it became about getting my body to a point that I could live. Dose after dose for a week I was given before they woke me up. They waited until the tests showed my body was ready to wake up and my heart rate was stable again.
When they woke me it was like coming out of a fog. I knew that people had been in the room, I can remember hearing my husband talking to me but I could not respond. When I woke up I spent another week getting more meds and strong antiemetics. I was given shots of vitamin K because my clotting factor was pretty much zero. They wanted to put in a central line. My veins at this point were gone and it took more than three sticks to get IVs started, they also wanted to start me on TPN (liquid food). Once the clotting factor was back, another week, they took me down and inserted the central line in my chest. I was scared and relieved. I was so happy not to have hundreds of sticks and also to know that the TPN would start giving me the nutrients I needed. I was in ICU an additional week. At this point I was in the hospital for two months. The entire time I was in ICU I never saw my regular OB. The GI and the high risk doctor were there every day.
I was moved back to a regular room. I was put on four medicines for the nausea, all were IV until I could handle by mouth. There were days I could barely move but slowly with the TPN I started getting more strength. They moved me step by step from a liquid diet to a full diet. I remember the first day I ate a real meal and it stayed down. I felt like having a party. I knew that I was on my way out of the hospital. During my three months in the hospital I was given weekly ultrasounds. The baby was beautiful and despite the trauma to my body was growing and healthy. We knew it was a boy early because of the numerous ultrasounds.
By the end of my stay I knew every single nurse on the antepartum unit by name and they all knew me. Those ladies were my miracle. Had they not been so attentive and had that nurse not called in the high risk OB that night I fully believe I would have died. I do not believe that my OB would have gone any further or tried any other treatments. I credit my life and the life of my son to those ladies.
I left the hospital after three months. I went back in twice more for other complications, but my HG was controlled by the time I left. I had high blood pressure and high amniotic fluid. In the end I delivered a beautiful healthy baby boy. He was 8lbs and 9 ozs and 22 inches long. My biggest baby by far. After that pregnancy we decided we would not chance another pregnancy. Of course as you know things happen and we are now expecting baby number four.
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