On September 6th 2008, I found out that I was going to be a mother. It was the most exciting, thrilling, and terrifying day of my life. In the span of a few moments, my whole life changed and I got a new meaning to my living. It would still be another eight months before I realized what being a mother is, but I was already in training.
It was only after a couple of days that I realized the changes in my body and the morning sickness came in. I saw it in movies and some hands-on experience with family and I was actually happy about it. Unfortunately for me, the excitement didn't last long. I thought being pregnant was all about eating good food and people pampering you but before I knew it, I had gone from eating and drinking whatever and whenever I liked, to eating and drinking whatever i could keep down.
By the time i realized that the "Morning Sickness" was not so normal and would just go away, I had already been ill for several days, barely keeping down anything. The throwing up increased every fifteen to twenty minutes.
I finally called my doctor’s office when I wasn’t able to get out of bed because I was too weak. The doctor ran a test and said you need to go to the emrgency room immediately. And soon before I knew the infusion center at the hospital became a place of worship for me where I devotedly went every 3 days.
It was then that I learned that I had a problem: hyperemesis gravidarum.
I was restricted from taking prenatal vitamins, and I had to take a short leave from work. The doctor tried various medications, the only thing that worked upto an extent was Zofran, an expensive anti-nausea medication that is used to treat chemotherapy patients. The only thing it helped me in was throwing up from every 15 mins to maybe an hour.
All the while, I was still on leave from work. I would try to return, but even sitting for an hour seemed impossible to me. A few more visists later to the Infusion center my doctor prescribed me home medication. She put me on a 24 hour supply IV of Zofran. And it helped! the only thing it didn't help was our pockets.
As I progressed into my second trimester, the need for the IV decreased. The hyperemesis lasted into the third trimester though. I still could not eat normal, I continued to take Zofran, in lower doses, until my third trimester. My daughter was born at low birth weight. She weighed 5 pounds, 6 ounces at her birth.
Every day through my pregnancy, i felt my world was coming to an end. I would lay on the bed and think that my child might never come into this world. At some point I thought that I could not even take this pregnancy any further. If it was not for my husband's support I might have never ended up holding a child in my arms.
Today I think about it and wonder whether this was worth all of the problems. I find myself saying Yes. There is something I have learned ever since my daughter was born. The benefits outweigh the risks, the payment received is greater than anything money can provide, and every pregnancy is different.
My next pregnancy may not result in hyperemesis. If it does, me and my husband are aware of my condition and will be able to treat it more easily than before. The birth of your beautiful child and all of the love it spreads around you, It makes it all worthwhile, in the end.
It was only after a couple of days that I realized the changes in my body and the morning sickness came in. I saw it in movies and some hands-on experience with family and I was actually happy about it. Unfortunately for me, the excitement didn't last long. I thought being pregnant was all about eating good food and people pampering you but before I knew it, I had gone from eating and drinking whatever and whenever I liked, to eating and drinking whatever i could keep down.
By the time i realized that the "Morning Sickness" was not so normal and would just go away, I had already been ill for several days, barely keeping down anything. The throwing up increased every fifteen to twenty minutes.
I finally called my doctor’s office when I wasn’t able to get out of bed because I was too weak. The doctor ran a test and said you need to go to the emrgency room immediately. And soon before I knew the infusion center at the hospital became a place of worship for me where I devotedly went every 3 days.
It was then that I learned that I had a problem: hyperemesis gravidarum.
I was restricted from taking prenatal vitamins, and I had to take a short leave from work. The doctor tried various medications, the only thing that worked upto an extent was Zofran, an expensive anti-nausea medication that is used to treat chemotherapy patients. The only thing it helped me in was throwing up from every 15 mins to maybe an hour.
All the while, I was still on leave from work. I would try to return, but even sitting for an hour seemed impossible to me. A few more visists later to the Infusion center my doctor prescribed me home medication. She put me on a 24 hour supply IV of Zofran. And it helped! the only thing it didn't help was our pockets.
As I progressed into my second trimester, the need for the IV decreased. The hyperemesis lasted into the third trimester though. I still could not eat normal, I continued to take Zofran, in lower doses, until my third trimester. My daughter was born at low birth weight. She weighed 5 pounds, 6 ounces at her birth.
Every day through my pregnancy, i felt my world was coming to an end. I would lay on the bed and think that my child might never come into this world. At some point I thought that I could not even take this pregnancy any further. If it was not for my husband's support I might have never ended up holding a child in my arms.
Today I think about it and wonder whether this was worth all of the problems. I find myself saying Yes. There is something I have learned ever since my daughter was born. The benefits outweigh the risks, the payment received is greater than anything money can provide, and every pregnancy is different.
My next pregnancy may not result in hyperemesis. If it does, me and my husband are aware of my condition and will be able to treat it more easily than before. The birth of your beautiful child and all of the love it spreads around you, It makes it all worthwhile, in the end.
