Nicole's HuGStory
I've been editing this since October 3, 2000-December 2, 2000
Ladies this is going to be a long story. I just wanted to tell you not all
the stories have a positive ending. I'm not going to lie, mine didn't. You
can choose not to read my story, but if you want valuable information about
you and your babies life, then read this.
My name is Nicole Savage, I am twenty-three, and I am an HG survivor. I
thought I'd never be well again. I weigh currently 166 pds. and was sickly
going into this pregnancy. I tell you all this
because I read in a book that I got out of the library at a local hospital.
Its called Medical Disorders during Pregnancy.
Well in this book I found something on Hyperemesis Gravidarum. It says ,"
the pathogenesis of hyperemesis gravidarum is poorly understood, though a
recent case-control study of 419 affected patients demonstrated that younger
age, multiparity, and obesity were significantly associated with an
increased risk of hyperemesis." Now I shall tell you my story.
I told you I was sickly before I found out I was expecting, I was sick with
a kidney infection. I was taken to the hospital with terrible back pain,
nausea, vomiting, and fatigue. I had a fever of 102 and was given
antibiotics and Cipro through I.V. and was given a prescription for Cipro. I
finished all my Cipro, I had no idea I was about two months pregnant. I went
to my ob/gyn with my mother because my husband David had to work. She had
told me the night before she had a vision of me in a rocking chair and I was
dressed in all blue. She told me that night on the phone I was pregnant. The
next day it was confirmed that I was in fact two months pregnant. When
Cheryl, the nurse practitioner said that my mother had a big smile on her
face. She told me that every medicine I was on I should stop, so I did.
The
next day I started the sickness, it wasn't like normal morning sickness, I
vomited so violently,(worst than I vomited before, I always vomited
violently, but not like this) it felt like my insides were coming out. I
would sit or lay there and cry why me, but I thought it would pass. I
vomited at least 20-30 times a day. If I stood up the wrong way, bent over
to tie my shoes, laid wrong, or even rub my growing belly made me nauseated
or worst vomit. I also had a problem with spitting which my doctor gave me a
name for it but I don't know what the name is because my memory is so bad. I
carried a spit cup everywhere I went because I spit so much so I took up
chewing gum even though I knew I would vomit so I didn't chew flavored gum
for that reason.
My husband stayed everynight in the hospital room with me
all the times that I was in the hospital.I don't think he understood the
intensity of my sickness. He did try to understand sometimes, but with my
hormones raging it was probably harder for him and myself to understand. I
just wished he would have cried with me, I guess that is just asking for too
much.
When the first home health nurse from Matria came to hook the Zofran
pump into my leg, she gave me some papers to read over and brochures on
Sidelines, I didn't read them at the time I was to sick to do anything. I
read them now and wondered why I didn't when I was pregnant, all the support
I would of gotten. I now know. I was in OB Triage twice and hospitalized
five times. The third time I had the Zofran pump put into my leg, once a
week it is to be put into a different spot, but the next week I was in the
hospital again, this time they put a picc line in my left arm where the
Total Parenteral Nutrition went through my artery via a catheter. It took
ten minutes to do. This was done in April 2000, I think I was 13 weeks
pregnant. The TPN stayed in untill the middle of July, I should have kept a
diary, I'm taking all this from my memory. I was in the hospital again in
late July sick and not able to hold a darn thing down. I begged my doctor to
have my stomach checked out because I was in my 22nd week and he told my
husband and I that I should have been finished with the HG by then. Well I
wasn't, he had a upper GI doctor come and look at me. That doctor ordered
some test, an ultrasound to be done on my gallbladder and endoscopic surgery
of my stomach. There was nothing wrong with my stomach, but there was sludge
in mygallbladder and possible stones. My doctor told me I would have to have
the picc line put in again. Well I didn't cry about having it put in again,
because I knew the home health nurses would take care of me.
Well the day I
had the picc line put in again, this time it took longer and I felt every
bit of it. The numbing didn't work long enough, the doctor said my veins had
grown small and they had a hard time putting it in, my doctor said it was
that this time I had more fat on my arms than the last time that is why they
had a hard time. Who knows it took an hour to do. I cried the whole time. I
just prayed for my baby that I wouldn't cry so much that I would lose him. I
was discharged on the 1st of August, these dates are important. The home
health nurses told me that with my TPN bag an the hot weather outside I
would get very sick and that I did when I was discharged. My TPN bag I
carried around was a black backpack and inside it was my TPN bag(it is an
I.V. bag but bigger with 2300cc of TPN and lipids) and my pump to dispense
the TPN into my veins. I got out of the hospital that day and it was like 98
degrees out there and anyone who has ever lived in Peninsula of Virginia
knows that not only is it hot it is also humid. So not only was I nauseated
but also suffering fromheat exhaustion. We were stuck in traffic and I was
hot. I just wanted to get into my air-conditioned apartment. I also suffered
from Iron Deficiency Anemia. Dave had to go and get my iron from my doctor
who had samples for me. I couldn't take them because I couldn't digest
anything by mouth. That was Wednesday, August 2nd. Thursday, August 3rd, I
went into his office very sick and desperately wanting him to take my baby
out and put him on a respirator. I begged him and Cheryl, please, he said
no because that would be termination, but I begged him to put the baby on a
respirator, I was not terminating. He told me if I wanted that I would have to
go up to MCV(Medical College of Virginia), I should have done just that but
I didn't.
They gave me Prozac to calm down, Cheryl punced holes in it so I
sucked on it. I was calm very quickly, Dave was surprised at how quick it
worked. My mother was in Norfolk taking care of a sick cousin, my doctor had
talked to her and thought to admit me in the psych ward, but she said no, I
will have her at my house. I went over to her in Norfolk on August the 4th,
the baby was kicking me really hard that day. We came back to Newport News
that Saturday and I was very sick, the day before Ithrew up at least 30
times. I had to check my glucose every morning becasue of the TPN, it said
39 DANGER CALL DOCTOR, so when we got back to my mother's house I did just
that. He told me something but I forgot, the pharmacist did to, my doctor
had to the pharmacist to send me Zofran injections so the home health nurse
could put it into my TPN. So she did. I automatically felt better. That
morning before she came, I had eaten a watermelon and drank fruit punch, it
all came back up in front of my mother's watchful eyes. She told my doctor
that day, I would go crazy to if I was as sick as she is. I tried sucking on
Ice and drinking water before the Zofran came and all of it ame up in my
basin in the car. I was so hot I was rubbing ice packs all over myself.
That
night I had heartburn really badly for two nights in a row. I didn't feel
the baby move on Sunday or Monday. Tuesday August 8th my routine doctors
appointment with my ob/gyn I went in with my mother and Cheryl went to use
the doppler and couldn't find the baby's heartbeat. My world had crumbled, I
knew something was wrong, she told my mother and I not to worry, but we did.
I prayed that my baby was fine. She took us into the ultrasound roomand used
that to find the baby's heartbeat, but there was none. My doctor came in and
confirmed it, the baby was dead.I was told to go to labor and delivery.
There was a nurse waiting for me. I cried and cried. I wanted my baby back
so badly. They induced labor at around 7 pm.
The priest from my new found
church had come to see me. He gave me the Rights of Absolution right there
in my hospital bed. They gave me Pheneran and an antibiotic through I.V. I
had fallen to sleep immediately. My mother, brother,and Dave were there.
Dave's family came by. At 2:58 am I gave birth to the most beautiful baby
boy, we named him David Alan Jesus Savage, III. I included Jesus in there
because the Lord has been very good to us this year and I made him a promise
that if the baby was a boy his name would include Jesus, and it did. He was
1pound and 13ounces and 13inches long. We held him and inspected all his
toes and fingers. He was a normal baby but what went wrong. His heartbeat
was always so strong. I was in my 24th week so he was considered stillborn.
They dressed him in a little bonnet and dress and took pictures of him. And
then they took pictures of us holding him. That was the saddest day of my
life but giving birth to him was a gift. I had to give birth
vaginally.Dave's cousin videotaped the birth so we always have it to watch.
We had an autopsy done and have the results back. They told me they can't
tell why the baby died, but the words in his autopsy report don't sound
normal. I want to know why. I am Catholic so I wasn't going to have him
cremated I wanted him to have a proper Catholic burial. We had a beautiful
viewing for him, the funeral home that did it did a great job. His funeral
was beautiful also, the priest sprinkled holy water over his casket. I and
David picked out the most beautiful spray for his casket and a angel with a
music box on the bottom of the angel with its arms spread out. It plays
Amazing Grace. We are to take it out there to him whenever we visit his
grave. My best-friend gave me and angel pin, I wear it on my clothes
whenever I go out or everyday. We go to the SHARE bereavment group as much
as possible.
The antimedics that I was taking throughout my pregnancy were from first to
last: Tigan(pills and suppositories), Phenergan(suppositories and injection
from the hospital), Reglan(pills and injections into my I.V.),
Zantac150mg(pills and injected into my TPN bag mixture), Zofran(in my TPN
bag and the Zofran pump early in the pregnancy). Zofran worked the best for
me. That Saturday when the nurse came out to put Zofran in my TPN bag,
fifteen minutes after I was able to drink ice water. I still drink ice water
today.
I have been editing this since October 3, 2000, well a lot has been going
on since I started writing my story. I believe I suffered from something
else than Hyperemesis Gravidarum . I don't want to scare any of you, I don't
want to cause any of you unnecessary stress than you already have and cause
you to run to your doctor to tell him to check you for any other disorders.
I do want to inform you all that if you had the Hyperemesis as severe as I
did and something happens to your baby that I want you to be well informed.
A couple of weeks after giving birth I saw my primary care physician, she
had blood work done on me and test came back saying that I had very high
cholesterol. 298 to be exact. I'm in risk for heart attack or a stroke. I
read somewhere that high cholesterol can lead to pre-eclampsia, which I
thought I might of had that, not sure but plan to see if my doctor can have
me tested. I thought what I had was HELLP Syndrome. A lot of the ladies that
had that their babies died because of the condition. When I read some of
their stories and their's fits mine somewhat. I had low blood pressure the
last weeks of my pregnancy. So I'm waiting for my medical records to get so
I can look at them and give copies to my new OB/GYN for her to tell me if I
had another condition. I have been collaborating back and forth with several
people and one of them thinks that I might have another condition that is
called Anti-Phospholipid Syndrome, which by the way I checked out that
website and I think I may have had that instead of HELLP. I don't know but I
will find out this week when I see my OB/GYN and when I ask her for test and
to look at my medical records. I know I had Hyperemesis but my baby died for
a reason and all the ladies that I read about on here at this site all had
healthy babies except for a few whose died. He was a good size for his
gestation so I will find out why, I will make that my life's goal to find
out why. A couple of days after David was born I was nauseated again and the
need to vomit was bad. The reason why I think I had HELLP is because I had a
lot of the symptoms, except for high blood pressure and I don't know about
my platlet count. I had terrible abdominal pains(which I still have to this
day), they checked my gallbladder again twice after his birth a ultrasound
and scan to contract my gallbladder to see if it will cause pain: the doctor
said that my gallbladder was fine. So I think that it isn't my gallbladder
but my liver, because I'm still having upper-right quadrant pain unerneath
my right breast where the gallbladder, liver, and pancreas is. I'm scared
but I know that God works in mysterious ways and I'm sure he has a reason
for everything. I also have been having these little knots or nodules coming
out of my mouth with my mucus, they are cream colored looking and have an
odor to them. I go to see my primary care physician this week about those
knots to find out what they are. Again I like to say I'm not trying to scare
anyone about these disorders but I want women informed about what their
bodies are doing.
Ladies I tell you all this because I'm distressed to find out that another
baby has died, I want people to enjoy their babies, I wish I could have, I
go to his grave to be close to him. If you are not satisfied with the care
you are getting, find another doctor. I stayed with mine because I truly
believed he knew what he was doing, and I'm sure he does, but my baby is
dead. The next time I plan to go to a perinatologist who are experts in
high-risk pregnancies. I hope all of you have beautiful babies and that the
angels above watches over you. For those who are just starting to experience
HG there is a light at the end of the tunnel, even though it may look
bleak, it is there, and you will be eating again in 9 months. I am. Pray and
everything will be fine. I cried many nights and asked why, but we don't
know why, only he does. Take care of yourselves. If you would like to talk
to someone just e-mail me at sheress@hotmail.com. Sidelines I just want to
say great job you're doing here, keep up the excellent work.
Back to HuGS!
