Puking my life away

Whew! I am so glad that is over. Hopefully some of you noticed that I have been gone. Maybe even hoping I would come back soon to share more crazy stories with you...I did read your comments so I know some of you are keeping up and I really appreciate all of the well wishes. I don't even know where to begin with the insanity I just went through. My last post was short and simply informed you of the morning sickness that had accompanied my pregnancy so far. It was bad but I thought it would pass in a few weeks and we could move on like normal.I was wrong. Very, very wrong. 11/2009-2/2010 will forever be known as the worst months of my life! I will try not to go into too much detail but the 3 weeks following my last post I lost 16lbs and was in the hospital half a dozen times. I was so ill that I could barely move by myself.I would actually get motion sickness when I would sit up. I couldn't even keep water down and kept being hospitalized for dehydration. I was so sick that I started pulling muscles in my stomach from dry heaving so hard. yuk. Aren't you so glad you joined me today? Don't go away! please! I will keep it short and to the point while hopefully sharing a laugh or two.

So, I was finally diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum or HG for short, which is basically a severe form of morning sickness with unrelenting, excessive nausea and/or vomiting. I honestly felt like I was going to die. The pain was not simply physical but mental as well. I remember lying in bed wondering how I would make it though the day. How I could make it another week. I couldn't take care of my children or myself. It really started getting my down and began affecting my moods. I lost interest in doing anything but sleeping because that was the only time I got relief from the pain. I spent most of my days tossing and turning in bed trying to get my mind off of my cramping stomach & constant nausea while hoping Harrison's brain wasn't turning to mush from watching hour after hour of cartoons. He seems to have survived and somehow through it all learned how to spell his name and count to 20. Unfortunately, I don't think I was responsible for teaching him either one. From me, he learned the importance of properly holding your hair back when throwing up and that when mommy is lying in the bathroom floor she probably can't get you more juice for a while.

My doctor finally decided that I wan't going to be able to keep the pill form of the medicine I needed down and set me up with a home health nurse who came to the house and hooked up a small machine that pumped the meds straight into my stomach. I must say that after only a few days, I began to feel a difference. I was able to sip on liquids and not immediately throw them up and after only a week and a half, I was able to move around without getting motion sickness. I finally started getting some of my energy back after about 2 weeks and was able to go visit with some family for a few hours on Christmas day. I was told that I may have to keep the pump in throughout the entire pregnancy but there was a possibility that I would start feeling better once I hit my second trimester. 13 weeks came and went with no change but I was at least able to move around and the vomiting was somewhat under control so I wasn't complaining. I am now 17 weeks and I was finally stable enough to take the pump out this past Friday. Hooray! I have only felt nauseous a few times but I think I can handle it. The baby is still doing ok and I have finally started to gain a little bit of weight.I actually started feeling it kick last week. I go back in a few weeks to do the ultrasound and we will finally find out the sex. I am so excited.

 Sorry if this post was a little bit long and maybe boring but this has had such a huge impact on my life that I really wanted to share it with you all. Maybe some of you have experienced the same thing or are maybe going through it right now. If so, let me know. I would love to talk to you and offer some encouragement if needed. Hope you all are staying healthy! I have lots of exciting things to catch you all up on and look forward to seeing what you all have been up to as well!