Having Hyperemesis Gravidarum (3 Times)

Having Hyperemesis Gravidarum Three Times

Tara Carpenter, NC.

Nutrition Consultant helping people create digestive strength.

Originally published on March 4th 2016.

I had severe morning sickness, a.k.a. hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), with all 3 pregnancies; each one worse than before … a total of 12 weeks with my 1st, 15 with my 2nd, and a full 40 with my 3rd. Giving birth was easy compared to months on end in a nauseas torturous state. Unable to lift my head, read a book, or drink more than teaspoon of water.

My first pregnancy was while building a home in Floyd, Virginia in a community where we kept goats to milk and make chevre to sell at the local markets. We fell the trees and cleared land. Then I got pregnant. 3 weeks after conception I was unable to get out of bed. We moved back to Massachusetts to live with my mother who cared for me for the next 9 weeks as I vomited around the clock; a yellow liquid that tasted of battery acid. I hadn’t been pregnant before and thought what I had was normal queasiness. I did not ask for help. Now, I know that morning sickness as severe as what I had affects only 0.5-2.0% of pregnant women.

The strength of a mother is like no other.

My second pregnancy was whilst living in California and a surprise. I wasn’t prepared mentally or physically and terrified to be sick with HG. I hadn’t researched how to avoid this from happening again. I was a single mom working 60 hour weeks. I had no time to be in bed with nausea! That is what happened. For 15 weeks I was in and out of the hospital for fluids and intravenous nutrition until one day I felt her move in me. The next day was July 27th 2006. I woke 100% better. That’s how HG is. One day you are so sick you can’t stand up. Then you wake up like your old self. 

That evening I miscarried my growing baby. The doctors say was likely because I ate an undercooked hamburger at a barbecue that afternoon. I shouldn’t have. I ate the whole thing and hours late broke into a fever with contractions. At the ER I was diagnosed with group B strep infection. The baby’s heartbeat was steady one minute before they could hear no sound. No heart beating. Her brain hemorrhaged from high heat in my womb. I lost consciousness from a sepsis infection requiring 3 blood transfusions.

What is grief, if not love persevering.

Miscarriage is common with HG because mom is often malnourished and dehydrated with a depleted immune system. That was my case. Eating undercooked food in my weakened immune condition meant my body was unable to fight the infection. Personally, I lost myself after my miscarriage, railing against what felt at the time to be an unfairness for such a loss.

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

The third time I got pregnant, I lived in Boston. I knew I’d get sick and didn’t care. I had recently miscarried my last baby and wanted the fullness that comes with a child growing inside. My dad had died 4 months prior in a sudden way and the sadness I felt was unbearable. The idea of laying down in a cool, dark room with myself and growing life felt just right. 

I should have spent time after my miscarriage building up my immune system, putting on weight in anticipation of losing 20-30 pounds, figuring out who would care for my 4 yr. old. I did not. I dove head-first into my third pregnancy and was sick with HG for the 40 full weeks. 40 weeks.

A river cuts through rock, not because of its power, but because of its 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 made 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, 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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