I’m a mom of two amazing girls and a two-time survivor of Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG), a debilitating and life-threatening form of morning sickness.
I suffered through moderate HG during my first pregnancy and more severe HG with my last pregnancy. I’ve dealt with IVs, PICC lines, all kinds of medication, and the emotional upset that this kind of severe illness can bring to a family. We treated this past round of HG aggressively which has made a big difference. Specific treatment details are available in The Protocol section of this blog.
If you have or have had HG in the past, I hope the information I post will be useful in helping you find either relief or peace. If you’ve never personally experienced HG, but know someone who has, I hope this gives you a window into our world.
I also write about attachment parenting, breastfeeding and extended breastfeeding, lactivism, natural birth, and green living. My second daughter was born outside of the hospital in a birth center and into the water. With both girls we’ve struggled with all kinds of breastfeeding challenges, but we’ve ultimately persevered. Now we’re learning day-by-day: The girls are growing and learning about their world and I am learning from them on how to be the best parent I can be.
I’d like to invite you to join me on this journey. Maybe my parenting and birth experience will help you see new possibilities for yourself or your friends. Ultimately, take what you need and leave the rest.
November 12, 2010 at 9:46 pm
The tandem nursing thing…you’ll do fine. I had sweet memories reading this, despite the challenge of “getting them here”.
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January 6, 2011 at 10:21 am
Thank you so much for these writings…
My darling girl is 18 months old. To have her I suffered through 9 months of nausea, 4 months on IVs (midlines), 5 months on an NJ tube, countless amounts of Zofran, prilosec, 5 admissions to L&D for fluids and 3 admissions to the maternity ward for prolonged treatments.
I just found out today that I am pregnant! I see the doctor tomorrow for an ultrasound as we are not sure how far along I am, but the nausea is already here…
I am praying for you that you will succeed soon – and that maybe the HG fairy wont be visiting (yeah, right).
Thank you again for your writings.
January 15, 2011 at 11:02 am
Hi there! I just saw your request for a blogging buddy on wordpress. My blog is totally different from yours, but I would be happy to offer/exchange support, encouragement, and ideas.
And no I am not grossed out. You just have a high level of commitment. If you’re going to do something, do it to the most, right?? 
Me
January 15, 2011 at 11:40 am
Hi Me!
I posted over on your about page as well. I’d love to be blog buddies. How cool that you are doing your grad work abroad. I love travelling so much, and I’d love to follow your adventures in Scotland.
–PA
January 21, 2011 at 12:01 pm
A friend passed your blog information along to me and i look forward to seeing what you do for your HG. I am 7+weeks pregnant with my third – the first was what i thought was a “bad” pregnancy until i got pregnant with my second daughter and threw up violently from 8 weeks until 4 days before i gave birth – and i convinced myself it wasnt so bad and maybe i couldnt get it again – i feel worse than i did when i was 7 weeks with my second and feeling completely deflated – we are filling the zofran tomorrow and really hoping something works this time – zofran did nothing via pill form or iv last time – from about 10 weeks to birth, i was at the hospital every 1 1/2 to 2 weeks for iv fluids and really cant do it again this time, now with two girls to worry about…..hoping your posts can help me along but for nothing else, i am not alone.
February 1, 2011 at 2:38 pm
Uuuuugh. Hyperemesis gravidarum. My mother dragged me into the doctor about 2 and a half months into my pregnancy, having finally convinced me that I was not “being a wimp” and that “no, it’s not normal for pregnant people to throw up this much”. Fortunately Zofran worked for me; about 16mg per day by mouth. I could, and did, go on 8mg per day when we couldn’t afford it, which was most of the time. At the time, Zofran averaged about $40 per pill & we didn’t have insurance (we were both 2nd degree-seeking college students). I’ve got a wonderful little dude to show for it; he’s great and I love watching him turn into a little person. He’s also 4 years old, and one of the main reasons I haven’t been gung-ho about having another baby is the memory of the constant nausea when I wasn’t actively vomiting; 9 whole months of feeling like I was a stranger in my own body, that everything I knew about myself physically was suddenly wrong. I HATED pregnancy & it was all because of HG.
WHICH SHARES MY INITIALS. That is profoundly not cool.
February 9, 2011 at 7:13 pm
I’m glad to have found your site. I’m also suffering from HG again. My first pregnancy was 4.5 years ago. It looks like i’m actually due pretty close to when you are! My due date is early Sept. It’s really hard trying to tend to my almost 4 year old and not throw up every 5 minutes. I wish i had know about all this the first time around and could have planned a little better for this time. I’m already at the point of not keeping much down even with meds. I wish you much luck and prayer in your journey too.
March 18, 2011 at 4:28 pm
Molly, per your encouragement, I did it. I started a blog. Which, really, that wasn’t scary, because I’ve had blogs before… what’s scary is letting my friends and family know the blog exists! I’ve written 3 entries already, and the most recent one documents my journey through HG and my path to adoption. I hope you’ll join my (currently non-existent) reader list. Also, from a clearly successful blogger, how can I boost my readership so I’m not writing to the nether??
July 26, 2011 at 8:08 am
I have suffered from HG 4 times, 1st one I had a miscarriage, 2nd abortion, and third time I suffered every single day/minute but now i have 1 healthy baby boy and am currently 13 weeks pregnant today HG with him started at 6 weeks till i delivered early at 32 weeks because of being so dehydrated which causes contractions.
HG for my current pregnancy started around 8 weeks and just recently got worse. Me and my husband are both in the military, he’s active duty army and I am army reserve. So much has changed and we are living in a new state away from family and friends.
Its so hard waking up everyday just hoping the day will end and i can just fall back asleep.
I HAVE ALWAYS HAD STOMACH PROBLEMS EVER SINCE I WAS LITTLE AND MY MOTHER HAS TAKEN ME TO THE DOCTOR SO MANY TIMES AND ALL I WAS DIAGNOSED WITH WAS…. GAS! WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!
I HAVE A BACTERIA IN MY STOMACH CALLED, ” H. PYLORI” IT IS VERY COMMON FOR WOMEN WITH HG TO HAVE THIS, THERE WAS A STUDY DONE ON THE LINK BETWEEN H.PYLORI AND HG, THEY TESTED FOR H. PYLORI 105 WOMEN & OUT OF THOSE 105 ….95 OF THE HG SUFFERERS WERE INFECTED WITH THIS. There HG symptons started to diminish after 2 weeks of treatment with antibiotics and proton inhibitors like prilosec to reduce stomach acid (where the bacteria lives)
I have not started my antibiotics yet, I am going to try and hydrate as much as possible, I am now on a H. Pylori diet which includes a lot of veggies, fruit (nothing very acidic) and lean meats like chicken and fish. NO DAIRY
Treating HG is hard when you do not have a doctor who knows anything about HG my last doctor was wonderful and always researched into HG for me and always offered new ways of helping me thru my pregnancy.
My husband will be training for a month and I will be visiting with family in CA! so excited I just really hope i will be able to fight this h. pylori bacteria and hopefully get rid of my HG problems for good.
-Rinah
rinahlerma@gmail.com
July 26, 2011 at 9:48 am
Hi Rinah. I really hope you get relief once the H. pylori dies off. I’ve heard that treating the H. pylori (for those who have it) can be a cure for HG. I certainly hope it’s the case with you.
If you’re having trouble getting support from your doctors, there is a ton of info over on the helpher.org website that you can print off and bring in. I recommend starting the treatments NOW. Early, aggressive treatment made a huge difference for me.
May 10, 2012 at 6:18 pm
I wanted to tell you that I love the title of your blog. I’m so glad that there are people out there writing about hg! I’d love to get some feedback from you about my blog. I’m new to blogging, and very interested in learning how to do better. Thank!
November 17, 2012 at 8:51 pm
Thank you for sharing your HG story and for raising awareness about hyperemesis. I am currently going through my 2nd HG pregnancy and recently started blogging about my experience as well. I think your HG protocol can be so useful for future HG pregnancies. I have nominated you for the Very Inspiring Blogger Award. You can read about it here – http://prisonerinmyownbody.wordpress.com/2012/11/18/very-inspiring-blogger-award/