Mary R.'s HuGStory
I got engaged on Sweetest Day of 1999. My fiancee and I wanted to have
children right away, but my past experience with hyperemesis frightened me.
Because I was so ill with the last pregnancy, I made the heartbreaking
decision to terminate the pregnancy. I had a home nurse, was hooked up to an
IV pump 24-7, and still ended up in the hospital every week. I had no
support and going through it alone was just too much for me.
After
discussing it, I decided to have a baby. The doctors assured me that the
chances of it happening again were very slim. They were wrong. At five
weeks, the same symptoms that made me so miserable before were attacking me
again. I had to go the hospital due to dehydration and I was officially
diagnosed with hyperemesis for the second time.
My fiancee had a hard time
dealing with me being sick. He didn't understand the pain I was going
through both emotionally, and physically. He didn't understand why little
things could upset me or why even touching me could make me moody. Nothing I
said could make him understand what this illness was doing to me. We fought
constantly and finally, I made the decision to move out. Four months
pregnant, I moved into my own apartment, ready to go through it by myself. I
felt very alone, but somehow I made it through. My doctor prescribed Zofran,
which made me capable of of working and going to school, but I was still very
sick and often needed a trip to the emergency room.
The hyperemesis lasted
my whole pregnancy, up to the day I delivered. On July 11, 2000, I gave
birth to a beautiful baby girl. Knowing all that I went through made it feel
like a true miracle. She is know almost six months old and I am trying to
work things out with her father. I still try to explain what it is that I
went through and how damaging this illness can be, but since it is so rare,
it's hard to get people to understand it. I wanted to share my story so that
anyone who is trying to support a woman going through this can maybe realize
how hard it is. Please don't judge her through this experience, it does get
better. It may take nine months, but it will eventually go away.
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