HG Affected My Sleep Big Time

It is a wonder I got any sleep at all. Being an expectant mom with HG was causing me to lose sleep every night throughout my pregnancy. And after giving birth, my baby wouldn't sleep longer than 20 minutes. Maybe the HG bothered his sleep rhythm. Read more about my sleep deprived nights here.

Herbal Treatment for Excessive Nausea

Herbal Treatment for Excessive Nausea

I joined an HG study!

The HER Foundation is a non-profit organization seeking to help raise awareness about hyperemesis gravidarum. HER is currently in need of 1000 volunteers to begin their research on HG. If you did not have HG, please volunteer as the foundation needs you to be in the control group. For more information visit the foundation at www.hyperemesis.org.

The HG study is designed to identify mothers-to-be who were diagnosed with HG by the collection of DNA samples from salivathrough the mail at no cost or travel for volunteers and to search for genes and risk factors that may be potentially associated with the condition.

To be eligible, you must have suffered from HG and had treatment for your HG that includes i.v. hydration, TPN or other form of non-oral feeding (ie nasogastric feeding), OR both, and are able to recruit a friend with at least 2 pregnancies who has NOT suffered from HG to serve as a control. If you live in the United States and are interested, please contact Marlena Schoenberg Fejzo, PhD at nvpstudy@usc.edu.

The study hopes to find the genes and risk factors that contribute to Hyperemesis Gravidarum will lead to a better understanding of the causes of severe nausea and vomiting of pregnancy. It is there hope that it will be a first step in finding effective treatments or a cure.

Find out more about my personal experience with the study here....

Quality of Life

I couldn't get any sleep and most attempts left me restless. I would just force myself to sleep in short spells just to escape the nausea. I was not able to eat or drink anything and which would result in severe dehydration. I couldn't cook, or clean, or take care of myself properly yet, despite any of this, I was hopeful and looking forward to seeing my little bundle of joy after giving birth. I was treated for dehydration several times in the hospital, as this is main treatment plan. The other options are a choice of three medications to manage the nausea which I refused for fear of harming the baby.

Having this disease robbed me from enjoying the experience of being pregnant. My hope is to get the word out about this disease and to put an end to the needless suffering by finding the cause and the cure for HG.

I Went into Anaphylactic Shock

I was given a drug called Compazine which sent my body into anaphylactic shock. The reaction was fast and severe. My jaw locked and my body began to convulse. I was sweating and crying because it was so painful. I was also worried about what this drug was doing to my baby. This was not a good solution for me, nor is it for anyone else for that matter as there are serious side effects to both the mother and to the baby. The doctor rushed my room and immediately began flushing my IV and slowly my body started to release me from the painful stiffness.

What is HG?

Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG) is a pregnancy disease that causes relentless nausea and non-stop vomiting, usually lasting up to the day of delivery, as it was in my case. For the majority of my pregnancy, I suffered from dehydration and malnutrition because I simply couldn't keep anything down. Everything made me nauseas and none of the usual remedies worked either.

HG is still widely unknown. Learn why here....

I Was Vomiting 8 to 10 Times DAILY

My pregnancy experience was horrible! Everyday, I was too sick to eat or drink anything. When I tried to eat, it would cause the nausea to become worse, as if that was even possible. I felt like dying just to escape the nightmare. I wanted to get rid of pain because I was truly a prisoner in my own home. After countless visits to the hospital, I was finally diagnosed with a little known pregnancy disease called Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG). HG caused me to become dehydrated which required me to have IV fluids every time I went to the hospital emergency room.