Nausea and spitting up when you're pregnant. It happens! I received a response from Lisanne on an earlier article that we published. She reacted about her morning sickness; being ill for 9 months. I couldn't imagine it, but after reading her reaction I became curious about her story. I'm so glad it was spared me. Lisanne tells…
Just 26 years old and living with my friend Kay. Everything is in order, including a house that we are very happy with. How nice would it be to start a family now. I stop taking the pill and a month later I get sick. “Gosh, I picked up a virus at work,” I think. I work in a rehabilitation center and it is precisely during this period that the NORO virus is prevalent, which manifests itself in nausea and vomiting, among other things. I also recognize these symptoms. My boyfriend insists I take a pregnancy test and I brush it off with a 'I just stopped taking the pill'. I really can't imagine being pregnant, let alone having morning sickness - also known as Hyperemesis Gravidarum. It can't be done that fast and I just picked up the virus, that's my opinion.
But things are different.
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Table of contents
It's Sunday and my friend, who is a military man, has to go on exercise that same day, for 6 weeks. In the days that follow, I get sicker and sicker. Until I wake up on Wednesday puking. The following Saturday I celebrate my 25 th birthday, by going out for a walk. At least that's the plan. I think I'll do a test just to be sure. If I am pregnant, I will never forgive myself if I consume a lot of alcohol in an evening. And then the nausea can also be explained. So hop, to the action to pass a test. Yes, yes, so still… pregnant! Of course I'm very happy, only my boyfriend won't be home for 6 weeks and I can't reach him either. That's a minus. But the puking and spitting up has been explained, so I still suffer from nausea!
The moment I finally get hold of Kay , he is of course very happy. I tell that I am very nauseous throughout the day and vomit a lot. But I have read on the internet that morning sickness can last until about the 12th or sometimes the 16th week.
Soon the nausea got worse and worse. Until the 6th week it was mainly a nauseous feeling with occasional vomiting, now I vomit continuously. At least 10 to 20 times every 24 hours. I can't really say which times of the day are the worst. Everywhere I go I have a bucket with me, but often I can't even turn my head to spit in the bucket. So I spit wherever I can - or actually can't. It will be set up in no time and then it has to come out right away.
I don't tolerate sound, and the same story applies to light. I mostly lie on the couch or in bed. I can't take a shower alone, because this is way too tiring for me and so I have to be helped with a shower.
I still don't tell anyone how bad it is, after all you should be happy that you are pregnant. Complaining is kind of not done. And in fact I don't want to complain - and I feel guilty if I do - there are by definition enough people who cannot get pregnant. So what am I nagging?
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When I go out to get some fresh air, I regularly get comments. “Gosh, are you happy with the pregnancy? You don't look happy.” Or the well-known:"A little nausea is part of it", "Being pregnant is not a disease", "You have to pay something for it" and "Eat a cracker."
One evening when I am vomiting again, I see that there is blood in it and I keep falling away. My friend -with my mumbling protest 'this is not an emergency'- calls the midwife. Of course she knew about my morning sickness, but now that she sees me, she immediately sends me to the hospital. It turns out that I am dehydrated and seriously underweight. I am now almost 20 weeks pregnant and I only weigh 47 kilos.
Fortunately, in the hospital they take it very seriously, I immediately get an IV and after a few days I feel a lot better. I can even eat a dry biscuit without immediately feeling nauseous or throwing up! #milestone
After a few days I can go home and I feel pretty good for a while. About a week. And everything starts all over again. If I see even a tomato (which I loved before pregnancy) on TV, I vomit again. This morning sickness is not only an attack on my body, but also has quite an impact on our relationship.
Now I can do what I want -especially as little as possible in this case-, because my boyfriend is away from home a lot. But when he is at home, I also want the house to look neat, so that he comes home to a nice house. But going around the house with a pregnant belly and Hyperemesis Gravidarum making your stomach contents more on the tip of your tongue than where it belongs… you get it. That's not doing. I've tried, but more than once I couldn't help but lie in bed all day.
I haven't slept for almost 9 months because of the pregnancy sickness and the many spitting up. My teeth hurt (yes really!). I can't even brush my teeth because of the constant spitting up. I can't bear a toothbrush with toothpaste nearby. Spontaneous vomit is the result of just thinking about it. I also have problems with my muscles. Holding or lifting something is very difficult. Because I'm constantly on the verge of dehydration, my muscles don't get enough fluids, resulting in persistent muscle pain.
In addition, I often feel lonely, even though I have enough people who want to come by. Parents, in-laws and friends regularly offer to help me, it's not that. But very often I just don't like that, it's too much incentive.
I still try to go to work every now and then so as not to feel completely useless, but this too is unsuccessful. My nice team manager doesn't exert any pressure at all fortunately. I can come whenever I want and if it doesn't work, then I don't. They even want to sign a permanent contract with me, even though I can't work during this period! That could of course turn out differently, I am well aware of that.
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Once labor begins, I only feel relief! Finally, the 9 months of being sick comes to an end. Yet I am also a bit sad, because despite the fact that it is a heavy pregnancy, there are also moments of intense enjoyment. When I feel my baby move for example, what a fantastic feeling! Or the echoes. A happy accident. Because of the morning sickness I get the stamp 'medical pregnancy' and therefore also a lot of ultrasounds, which I really look forward to every time 😉 .
Finally, on September 26, 2016, our healthy daughter Lily Rosie was born by Caesarean section. More than 2 hours after the caesarean section, all nausea has disappeared like snow in the sun and I can eat and drink again!
After months of supplementary feeding in the form of nutridrink (a nasogastric tube is also used, but this doesn't work because my nose and throat are completely broken from vomiting) a filet American sandwich tastes extra delicious! I can tell you that 😉 .
My recovery is going very well, it soon feels like I can take on the whole world again. For example, a week after the cesarean section I go out to eat. Delicious! Even now I still have a few pounds to go before I get back to my pre-pregnancy weight. But I have high hopes that this will turn out well.
And now?
We would like to have more children in the future. But the Hyperemesis Gravidarum also keeps me very busy. What if I'm nauseous again for an entire pregnancy? So we're not over it yet. At least for now we are enjoying our daughter very much 😉 .
Love, Lisanne
Image used via Shutterstock
