Hyperemesis Support

[LucindaE]

I hope everyone suffering from the Horrors of Hyperemesis will find this thread useful as a source of support and information.

There's no TMI on here - can't be by definition - and nobody should feel ashamed of moaning as much as they feel the need to.

MOH's wonderful website is full of useful information on this illness:
sites.google.com/site/pregnancysicknesssos/
Another invaluable website is:
www.pregnancysicknesssupport.org.uk/
If you need help in obtaining medication, this phone number is
brilliant:
024 7638 2020

Lastly, the NICE guidelines on treatment are useful:
cks.nice.org.uk/nauseavomiting-in-pregnancy#!scenario

I would like to thank everyone who has given such invaluable support and advice on this and on previous threads.

Remember when you are at your worst, 'This Too Shall Pass'. It really will.
So many women on this thread have thought they couldn't get through this, but they did.

Posted too soon!!
Only sick this morning. Iv managed some dinner & picked at sone chicken breast & toast this afternoon.
Gonna try & take my folic acid & thyroxine & see if they will stay down.
Thank you all for your concern :)

1more, glad to hear you've been getting plenty of rest and feeling marginally better. For the HG you need to see your GP as midwives can't prescribe, and I think midwives are generally unsympathetic about HG anyway (of course there are some exceptions though - is it Ickle who has a good proactive midwife?).
MrsMonkey, good luck with your scan. Try not to worry about the medication. I felt reassured when Special said the other day that her DH, who is a GP, is absolutely fine with Ondansetron in pregnancy and no worries about her taking it. Although as you say, the constipation is horrendous. I'm on just 1x4mg a day now, but still struggle.
MrsAmerican, I know how dispiriting it is being at the bottom of the due date list - I remember being there in September, when I spent weeks lying in bed. I remember watching the trees from my bedroom window and seeing them change colour and thinking 'it will never be spring, I'm going to be stuck here forever!' But the time does pass, and it will for you. Hang in there.
Reebok, I can already hear an improvement in you, just from your 'voice'! I'm so glad you can finally rest, and are feeling slightly less nauseous. How is your OH behaving himself now?! Good luck with your scan, am sure all will be well.
I wonder when Icant is having her growth scan?
Cheerful and encouraging waves to Squeezed, Shoop, Spandau, Ickle, Special, Amys and anyone else I've stupidly omitted. And of course Lucinda and Ealli.

Ah glad you're not in hospital 1more. Sleep is def one of the best remedies. I think whether MW or dr is best will depend! My experience was MW didn't give two hoots about vomiting (last pregnancy) and only GP could prescribe.

Ps. Thank you for wise reassuring words about medication lucinda and MOP. I know you speak sense!

mop not my midwife she helpfully suggested ginger biscuits

mrsamerican I know that feeling of desperation because the end is so far away but I honestly think 1 day at a time is the best I can do

reebok horray for proper rest especially with childcare. Had to have conversation with my childminder this eve about ds1 not going back in September because of maternity leave. The summer holidays (term time only ) whilst heavily pregnant are going to be tough enough without a newborn but at least groups will be back on to distract ds!

1more please push for your gp but if you struggle your midwife may be able to help get you an appointment.

I'm afraid my memory can only cope with one page of the thread at a time and I should really get back to sleep. Another day of no food staying down and doubting how I will manage even reduced hours next week but can only try...

1moretime I so agree with Icklekid and others, do try and get a GP appointment. Here, I'm saying 'do as I say, not as I did' . It's very hard to be assertive when suffering. So glad to hear you could actually eat chicken! But you were in a bad state a couple of days ago, and I'm concerned they were so casual about it.
mrsmonkey I'm glad reassurance was helpful.
MotherofPearl Time drags when you are suffering. Glad you are progressing up the list!
Waves to all. I hope all those returning manage to get reduced hours and that colleagues are sympathetic.

Icklelid I meant to say, do you have to go back? You don't sound up to it.

lucinda no but for my mental health maybe...I kind of feel I need to try and then if I get signed off again so be it but at least I tried. ..does that even make sense?

Oh ickle I was thinking the same about you not sounding ready to go back, but what you say about mental health makes sense too. Please don't soldier on if it doesn't work out though. I'm frightened to try going back! I've been thinking about reduced hours, but I think maybe starting with fewer days might work better in my job rather than say just mornings.
Just had my call from GP who agreed he should sign me off for another two weeks. It's a relief to know I have the 'right' to keep resting but I will need to address my return soon. Will see what consultant says tmw.

Hello, just a quick one as on lunch break.

I would second returning on reduced hours initially. I didn't and am having to use annual leave to make my weeks a bit shorter (though needs using by April anyway).

mrsmonkey I still have moments where I worry about the ondansetron, and at scans/Doppler I've been desperately asking if everything looks normal. I am very keen to have my anomaly scan in a couple of weeks. Hopefully that will put my mind at rest. From what dh tells me, and the research I've done though it is the better option (though constipation is awful!), and risks are minimal.

for everyone.

Hello all, came back from my scan. Baby isn't growing as well as she should be. Been booked for a growth scan on 24th March....if she still doesn't show improvement, will hAve to be induced 😞

Oh dear Reebok that is worrying for you I'm sure. Maybe now that you can rest and hopefully keep more down, baby might have a growth spurt?
Special, it's a pity you need to use your annual leave to keep your hours down. I remember Mellee, who had her baby around the same time as Ealli, doing the same. She booked off nearly all Wednesdays, to give herself a midweek break. Maybe you could try something like that Ickle?
MrsMonkey, glad you've been signed off for another fortnight.
I'm on the train home after a day at work. Yes Lucinda, when I go in to teach my students it's a 2 hour commute each way, door to door! Most of it is on the train and I generally get a seat, but still finding it exhausting. The Braxton Hicks are taking their toll alongside the nausea. I can feel an acid vom brewing for when I get home. Hope everyone else is surviving.

Reebok Poor you, that must be worrying. I have heard that sometimes they get it wrong, due to positioning, etc. I hope, like others, baby has a growth spurt. This pregnancy really has been draining and worrying, one way or another. Cyber hugs on offer (not too tight).
MotherofPearl That sounds a very long journey. I wonder how you coped at all, earlier on.
Sorry that people have to choose between overdoing it or being isolated, which is, as icklekid says, not great for ones' state of mind.

Fingers crossed for you Reebok - hopefully baby will have a bit of a growth spurt or as others have said it may just have been down to position. I know somebody who had her baby recently, was being monitored for growth as had history of big babies. They kept saying baby average size, not big - turns out she had a huge nearly 12lb baby two days after her last growth scan.

ickle you really don't sound like you're well enough but I totally get the feeling that you just want to give it a go - I guess we all have to go back eventually.

After having a fairly good few days, I've been late taking my medication this evening and really feeling it! Hoping the food I've managed today stays put but not sure that'll be the case. Time for bed I think, if I manage to go to sleep I think I stand a better chance. We HG ladies really do live the rock & roll lifestyle.

reebok So sorry to hear about the scan. Hopefully you get a spurt shortly.
special I think you could still go to gp and get a fit note that states reduced hours, so you get to save your leave.
Ickle I totally understand how not being at work is worrying from a mental health perspective. But overdoing it can also be counterproductive. Are your employers supportive?

I've given up on work and won't be going in for the rest of the week. Not sleeping with spd, really tired, vomiting more and feeling awful. Definitely overdoing it.

reebok thinking of you at this tricky time. Just focus on doing what you can and know if you are induced baby will be fine and get the best possible care.

Thanks everyone for the support - I've had a horrible very sick day which has made me doubt going back to work. I'm very lucky in that work are very supportive and not pushing me before I'm ready. I also only work mon-wed so not even full time. Going to speak to head tomorrow and see what he thinks is best. Would like to try half days but might not be manageable realistically.

sleepy hope you managed a successful evening

Thinking of you reebok waves to everyone else... Feeling drained today, early night for me!!

Just popping in quickly before I go to sleep to say sorry to hear about the scan reebok, I hope baby is ok and fingers crossed for a growth spurt in this final stretch. X

Sorry to hear about your scan Reebok. I'll keep everything crossed for good news in a couple of weeks.

Reebok sorry to hear that. Keeping my fingers crossed for both you and I can't.

Squeezed I agree my gp would probably agree to put me on reduced hours, and my work haven't been difficult about anything (NHS, big HR department), but from the last woman who went off on long term pregnancy related sick leave, I know how pregnancy related sickness will be percieved. If it keeps me in better graces with the managers to use my annual leave to take off Wednesdays, at my stage of career I need to play the game. Eventually, when I take over the world, things will be different, but for now not all employers are fully versed and believing in equal rights.

Anyway, because it's my day off today, I'm still lounging in bed. I had a bad weekend, and bad Monday (vomited at work), but Tuesday night cooked for the first time in months (a veg stir fry). I was knackered last night and was asleep by 8.30. Because of the sickness, I think I must have missed the first trimester tiredness and be experiencing it now! 17 weeks today. :-)

I think I'm starting to feel baby kick! It's not obvious, but kind of like occasional tiny, tiny electric shocks inside my lower abdomen. It's def not trapped wind or constipation (as dh kindly suggested), but I know it's a bit early to be feeling anything in a first pregnancy. Everyone has told me it would be a more fluttering feeling to start,and it's not exactly like that. I may be wrong, and something more obvious start in the next few weeks.

ickle don't go back until you are ready. I think despite the tiredness/retching I needed (mentally) to go back, but doesn't sound like you are there yet. Def go back initially on reduced hours. I know it's easier said than done.

Lucinda how are you getting on?

Hi everyone. ickle good luck talking to the head, hope you can work out a way to try going back.
special that's rubbish about having to use your annual leave but I TOTALLY get your point about it not being worth it. DH wished me a 'happy women's day' yest and I'm afraid I muttered darkly about being paid less and lack of transparency in pay. I'd love my employer to confirm I'm being paid the same as my male equivalents but then I remembered all my male 'equivalents' have been promoted to a higher grade than me before or whilst I was on my last maternity leave... I hope the working world is a better place for my daughters!
I hope you have a restful day off. Stay in bed! And excited to hear you are feeling first movements. I don't think it is too early. First preg I think it was 20 wk for me but this time around 17 wk, movements have become more definite over last few weeks (20 wk now).

On my way to scan. Praying baby ok. I've been crying on and off all morning, hormonal mess that I am!
X

Reebok that must be very worrying for you. Try not to blame yourself tho. Do remember that many of us HG mummies manage to grow monster babies (like me!), and most grow perfectly healthy sized. And many completely healthy earth mother mummies grow babies with weight issues. Also, as had been said, scans are not completely accurate.

special I don't think it is too early, I felt my first flutter at 17 weeks. I distinctly remember being in a meeting and suddenly realising that I'd completely zoned out cos I'd been distracted by baby wriggling for first time.

Thinking of you for your scan MrsMonkey, let us know how you get on.

mrsmonkey hope scan goes well, am sure it will

Thanks for the messages. Beyond relieved to report baby monkey is developing well and is a good size so far (in fact bigger than average like her sister was at this stage) despite the appalling nutrition and Ondansetron poisoning... I was so pleased to see her wriggling away, no 'abnormalities' detected.
reebok I hope you are feeling ok and getting lots of rest.
I wonder how icant is doing too.
I'm now killing time until my consultant apt at hospital, as I couldn't face the journey home and back, so very bravely (and tentatively) having avocado on toast and a jasmine tea in a cafe. Cannot remember the last time I ate out! Threw up straight after scan so hopefully will be ok on this, will pop another Ondansetron.
Hope everyone is having an ok day x