Well, I'm through the worst and have survived! In fact, I've more than survived, I have actually put on weight in the first trimester for the first time in any of my pregnancies... I'm not quite back to my pre-pregnancy weight yet but I'm only a couple of kilo's under it! How amazing is that?!
This pregnancy really has been a whole different experience to my previous ones. Although severe nausea has been fairly constant and unpleasant the actual vomiting has been a fraction of my previous experience. Bare in mind, I was sick on average about 1,000 times per pregnancy, with the vast majority of that in the first 16 weeks (20-30 times a day), this time round I have probably vomited a TOTAL of 20-30 times!!! It's actually bordering on a 'normal pregnancy' and I wouldn't describe it as Hyperemesis at all, more like 'moderate-severe Nausea and Vomiting in Pregnancy (NVP)'.
I can honestly put my positive experience down to two main factors:
- Effective, evidence based, pre-emptive medication.
- Support, Support, Support! From both my HG friends dotted around the country who have been simply amazing, texting regularly and just 'being there' for me, and also from my involved health care professional; my fantastic new GP, Dr Tulberg, and my Midwife Mandy Bellenger who has cared for me through all 3 pregnancies. (oh an of course my long suffering Husband Rob, Kelly our indispensable nanny and Jo, our farm volunteer/friend who is keeping our business and house running)
I can not tell you how crucial having effective support is for this condition. I have luckily managed to keep my medication to a minimum which has meant minimum contact with my GP. However, last week I felt I had had enough after 8 weeks of feeling totally awful, and needed to go on to the next step on the treatment plan I had devised in advance with my GP. Rob took me to the surgery and came into the appointment with me. Afterwards he said he was so glad he did as he wouldn't have believed that a consultation could go so incredibly well! For the first time during my long battle with this condition (a total of 21 months now) we left a consultation feeling like we had been listened to, believed, treated with care and support and that the doctor had done a thorough job! She checked my weight and compared it to the baseline, looked into my blood results and questioned whether they needed rechecking, discussed hydration criteria and ultimately discussed the medication in partnership with me and WITHOUT judgement or guilt at my taking medication in pregnancy! This is how all GP's should treat patients with this condition but it is certainly the first time I have experienced it! I felt better just for having such a positive consultation and the medication I have stepped up to (Domperidone) has made the improvement I needed to carry on at this point and maintain adequate hydration and nutrition.
I went for my scan on Monday and the healthy little baby was bouncing around all over the place. I had hoped to update this blog sooner but have had a blinding headache for the last week or so and have been avoiding looking at screens more than is entirely necessary.
