Hyperemesis Gravidarum HG

So far I have briefly mentioned the fact that I have terrible pregnancies.  I get a pregnancy disease called, Hyperemesis Gravidarum or HG for short.  Little is know about HG, but about 2% of pregnant women have the misfortune of getting it.  There is a wide range of severity, but even at it's "least" it is awful.  Some very unfortunate souls get it so bad, it is a miracle they live.  Many have died.  Some call it "extreme morning sickness" -that gross understatement makes me sick.  HG is not morning sickness.  First off, you aren't just sick at one time a day!  But calling it bad or extreme morning sickness is like calling an amputated arm "an extreme paper cut." 

My last pregnancy was my worst case of HG and I will summarize the nightmare it was in these brief bullets (not all of these issues lasted throughout the entire pregnancy, but I was ill throughout the entire pregnancy):

• Was ill to the point of almost throwing up before I even took a pregnancy test
• Was throwing up at only a week and a few days post conception
• Able to detect offensive smells miles away
• Vomiting episodes that last for more than an hour
• Nausea that never ever let up
• Waking from dead sleep to vomit
• Not being able to keep any food or liquids down
• Throwing up foamy yellow stuff (bile) and beginning to black out from the lack of oxygen (hard to breathe when you are vomiting non stop out your mouth and nose)
• Getting so many IVs you lose track
• Getting so many IVs your veins begin to collapse
• Getting on a PICC line
• Getting TPN *because at 28 weeks along I was 20 lbs under my starting weight and losing about 2 lbs a week. 
• Weak beyond words
• Unable to watch TV or listen to music because it triggered vomiting episodes
• Changes in temperature increased nausea and vomiting

HG was awful to endure and I would only wish it on all the non compassionate doctors I saw throughout the pregnancy.  I even had one accuse me of just wanting to harm my baby and suggested mental health services.  I was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, PTSD about 6 months after Rockwell was born.  I had it with my first pregnancy and maybe with my second, but neither time was even an 1/8th the horror the last pregnancy was. 

So throughout this blog I will mention HG and PTSD.  I hope that I don't mention either that much (not pleasant topics!) but I will, they are two parts of my life story and this blog is about my life, our family's life and I don't believe in avoiding reality (it only makes matters worse).

Here are a few photos from my pregnancy highlighting HG.  I felt awful, even if I was smiling in a photo.  I was on a never ending rocky boat ride and I only made it through because I was determined to not let the HG win.  

This is an image of my PICC line.  I don't think I got any that showed the insertion point, but this is part of the whole system.  I had a double lumen one (two lines -you can see there was blood in one of them).

I took a picture of one of the many hospital summaries that came in.  It's mind boggling to me why doctors don't do more to help women with HG, so they don't have to be in the hospital.  One would think the insurance companies would encourage better "up front" care to avoid such bills. 

A pregnancy shot with my girls.  The white band on my arms is where I hid my PICC line cords when they were not hooked up to an IV bag or later on, TPN.

one of the ugly post IV bruises

some of the supplies for a PICC line.

An image of a post-blown vein bruising

This is a terrible-quality image, but it shows the ugly PICC line and if you look at the blue ring in the center is the insertion point.

TPN - a complete form of nutrition and may include a combination of sugar and carbohydrates (for energy), proteins (for muscle strength), lipids (fat), electrolytes and trace elements.  I infused a bag like this every day over 20 hours (I injected extra vitamins and such and mixed it up before beginning the infusion).

See me? I'm the one in the pink top.  This was me at my baby shower.  I had to wear my ugly back pack that held the batter and pump to infuse the TPN (see above image).  Since it had to run 20 hours a day, I had to go everywhere with it.  See my white cord? That's the TPN coming from the bag and going to my PICC.

Opening gifts (my girls watching) I'm sharing this image to show the TPN in the line feeding to the PICC.  As you can imagine, lots of people questioned me on "what is that thing?" but most just stared with a gross-out look.