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:
links.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.

Sorry for mammoth 3am post...Didn't get back to sleep until gone 4.30 and ds woke me at 5! I'm back in bed! Hope everyone is ok

Morning ickle, I nearly sent you a message as I was awake from 1 until about 3.30. Pregnancy insomnia is harsh especially when dealing with HG and an overactive toddler! I'm at the doctors for 28 week bloods and then straight into work. Yawn! Hope you can have a good rest while DS is at the childminders.

Hi to rae, mrsmonkey, special, lucy, lucinda, vixx, and anyone else I've rudely missed. Welcome to second, sorry to hear you're suffering once again with HG. You are definitely a braver woman than me. I'm not sure we would have had a second if I'd been as bad as I have this time round! Hope you feel more respite today from sickness. Great advice from everyone so far and oils echo how effective ondansatron is. Lots of us are on it in combination with one of the other meds. Unfortunately it has taken most of us at least one hospital admittance to get the meds right.

I hope that you're released from HG he'll soon second!

ickle yes you're right. I used to love it there but this has really given me some perspective on the whole thing. I'm vulnerable now but after mat leave there's nothing stopping me going elsewhere now. Sorry to hear about your DS's bump- hope he's ok! Bet your childminder has had a testing day!

Sleepy I totally agree with you, I can't imagine doing all this again!

Survived another day at work. Did 7-4:30 to try and power through some work before everyone else got in and started asking for help. Was majorly flagging by noon! Time for a very early night I think. Got home and the builders are here doing our en suite- they've layed a latex floor and it stinks- I'm going to camp out in the spare room until this is over!

sleepy hoping your having a better night. Ds just woke up screaming (very rare) but sent dh in hoping I would drift off again. No such luck and awful heart burn...trying to avoid more sickness. Acid was awful when yesterday eve so not holding out much hope.

rae well done for surviving another day at work- would coming home and working from there after lunch help a few days a week? Sorry about smelly ensuite floor that sounds unpleasant mixed with hg.

Very quiet so hope everyone is ok not suffering too badly to post! Ds seemed to have a good day which is great! I managed to get lots work done so hopefully slightly more chilled day tomorrow so can rest as need to go in wed morning. Physio at 8am for my back so an early start...am hoping that get some more sleep before then!

SecondTimeMummy84 Do stay around for support. Don't hesitate to make a fuss to GP's - that and waving kesostix showing high levels of ketones seem to be the only way of being taken seriously.
Rae I am sorry work have let you down. A 70 hour week? My goodness, that is dedication. What area did you say you workedin, where they expect such hours?
icklekid Sorry to hear of LO's night terrors and a bump on the head is always worrying. Poor you. You never seem to have an undisturbed night, and that makes such a difference. I hope the Dr can give you something for the heartburn. It makes the nausea so much worse.
SleepymrsE Great advice as ever. You are so right; it does seem to take some dramatic deterioration before effective meds are given. How are you things progressing?
You are so right, icklekid. It has been so quiet these last few days.
I continue worried about erin and Lucy and others haven't been in contact for a while.

Hope everyone is ok?

How long has everyone had off/been off work for?

vixx so I feel like I haven't properly been in work since Feb! I did try and go back just before Easter but that ended badly...got very dehydrated very quickly. Tried to go back on phased return just before May half term and was doing well for a few weeks then hit 3rd trimester and sickness went through the roof. I think from speaking to Dr and others I have been very unlucky with sickness constantly this bad despite ondanestron and cyclazine. I basically then gave up after last hospitalisation and have just done bare minimum last few weeks of term. (Apologies for everything being school term related- teacher!)

lucinda you're going to love this... so DS woke up at 6 after I had the most awful night sleep (ds woke at midnight - send dh in to sort, then a car blaring ridiculously loud music pulled up outside at 3am for half an hour) he then fell asleep on me - very unusual. He seemed very cuddly/clingy which seemed unlike him- anyway he went downstairs with dh, drank half a cup of milk and then projectile vomited it everywhere! so I am having him today- although he's been very good at watching tv, playing with his birthday toys. Dh has arranged for mil to have him tomorrow morning when I need to go into work. I have just spent nap time getting the work I needed to done! Will be having an early night tonight and trying to persuade Dh to come home early to help!

How is everyone else?

ickle yes I think that I'll have to work from home. I'm so tired and grumpy! Don't want to ask for a while though, I need to keep my head down. I am working from home on Thursday afternoon because I've got my whooping cough jab though.

Lucinda it's nothing glamorous, business analysis. Just super super busy! I'm also worried about the people who we haven't heard from- almond too!

Vixx I was off for 5 weeks, the started phasing back.

ickle what a nightmare! Is your DH home now?

I have had an email from my work saying that they are doing payroll and will be making decisions on my sick pay based on my length of service (7months) and sick note. I have worked so hard since I have been there, haven't used any of my annual leave and have done so much over time that they owe me at least a week.

I don't want to work for them anymore. Would it be stupid of me to look for a new job? I'm going to be 12 weeks on Thursday. So upset.

Oh no Vixx I'm so sorry, you've probably seen unthread that something similar happened to me last week. I certainly feel that I have no choice but to continue in my job- I'm 21 weeks, if I find somewhere else I won't even be entitled to statutory maternity pay and I don't think I could cope with learning a new role feeling this unwell. The bottom line is that we need the money. Are you part of a union?

Rae I saw what happened to you and I was shocked. I'm not part of a union unfortunately. Are you? Why wouldn't you be entitled to smp? For some reason I thought if you had been working for 6months you would be entitled.
I'm not sure if I should look for another job or go in and do exactly what they pay me for and no extras for example leaving at 5 on the dot/not answering calls or emails after five etc!

Vixx no Union here either. I'm speculating wildly that now I have a visible bump and am 5 months pregnant that 1) nobody would take me on, and 2) even if they did, I wouldn't work there long enough to be entitled to it before I had the baby. DH thinks I should be working to rule like you say above but unfortunately I just can't let myself do it, I can't walk away if the job isn't done.

Honestly I'm not sure how sustainable full time is, I've been doing it for a week and am totally broken. There's no right answer! A very senior member of staff (who never notices anything the rest of us do) was going to his car at the same time as me earlier. He said he'd been thinking that I look exhausted and shouldn't be at work- and that's with a generous application of makeup this morning 😩

So sorry, I'm not being much help am I.

... The only blessing for me is that my work 'only' offer statutory maternity pay. So I can just walk away at the end of mat leave and owe them nothing if I find another job. In reality I love my job so it would be hard to leave, but I will consider it very seriously if things get worse. I don't want to pour my heart and soul into an organisation that won't support me in return. The trust has definitely gone for me, i won't be taking their word for anything again, I'll be asking for everything in writing. I was really the least demanding employee ever before HG- never had a sick day, worked stupid hours to get the job done, took on massive extra responsibilities without complaining.

Rae I totally understand! When is your due date and when do you think you will start maternity leave?
I definitely think that you should just do what you are paid for. You can't give your all to a job and then when you need support they don't want to give.

Due date is November the 20th- at the moment I'm thinking I'll start maternity leave at the end of October. I'm saving my holiday to take when the HG is bad and if there's any left, I'll add it on to the start. It's a flipping nightmare isn't it. They know they've got me over a barrel, I can't look for another job because nobody will take me on, we have building work going on and a mortgage to pay. I need to drag myself in.

There's a work social/party in a few weeks, I'm not in the mood to go at the moment which is very unlike me. Maybe I'll get over myself before it rolls around.

Can you speak to your HR department tomorrow to get clarification on what exactly their message means?

Rae, absolutely awful especially when they can obviously see that you are sick! I always thought you were protected during pregnancy.
We don't really have a HR department. I am just going to email tomorrow with the dates I have been off, days I've worked from home and I am going to add every single piece of overtime, evening and weekend work to the list.
If they do not take that into consideration I will tell them straight I'm not doing anything extra!

Oh dear, ickle that sounds so awful, and LO upstaged you on the vomit front, by the sound of things and Vixx and Rae So sorry the companies are taking advantage if your've tried to work hard.

Good for you Vixx, I'll have my fingers crossed for you tomorrow.

Thanks Lucinda, you are lovely

Thanks lucinda he certainly has! At least I'm sick in the toilet not all over the floor 😉 had another friend who we saw on Sunday message saying her dd has been the same so obviously a bug they have caught

vixx and rae much sympathy over work- hard not to be left with a bitter taste when companies can be so flexible when it comes to you going above and beyond (without payment/overtime accruing etc) and yet so tight with sickness absence-especially when pregnancy related. Hard as it may be working to rule/ doing the minimum is likely to be only way to survive until mat leave.

Going to see head midwife at hospital on Thursday to discuss birth plan- I met with her for a debrief about a year after ds birth as found it quite traumatic. She was great at discussing what happened and why so hopeful she will help me see what options are and the right questions to ask this time. However am getting quite anxious thinking about it! Doesn't help my 4am insomnia obviously!

Hope your DS feels better soon ickle. Hope that Thursday goes well. Have you got something going on today that will distract you from it?

I'm at work now, I'm so tired that my ears are ringing 😩

At work already rae? 😴 I'm at work this morning which should distract me!

Hello ladies,

Sorry I've been quiet, have had a terrible few days. Boots put the wrong pills in my prescription (thankfully nothing dangerous to baby), but I took two doses of it & have been extremely ill since. Really really sick & bad stomach too. Feeling really quite low & anxious & am off work. Have a midwife appointment tomorrow, so am going to ask again about the other drug & see if it's a definite no. Feeling more than a bit sorry for myself.

Found out on Sunday that we are having a little boy. Feel quite nervous about that too as always really wanted a girl & have no idea what to do with boys. Seems silly to worry about that, I know, yet I am.

How is everyone? Tried to read through a bit, but have a horrid headache. Can't believe people were at work pre 7 am with HG - that's dedication!

Hello. Sorry to hear about all the problems people are having with work. There's just not enough laws to ensure women don't get dicked over in the workplace when pregnant/on maternity leave. Thankfully, I'm nhs staff so big hr department and I'm in a union, but the amount of discriminatory stuff that's been said by line managers has been a bit of an eye opener.

Anyway, I feel awful. Horrific headache since Monday, neck stiff, spots in vision, nausea/vomiting is back with a vengeance, dizziness when I stand up and temperature. Blood pressure within normal range (bit higher than normal for me though) and no swelling, though my low Papp-a thing does put me as higher risk for pre-eclampsia. I feel properly shit. There's no point me going to gp or community midwives as they'll refer me to hospital for the Papp-A thing, I don't want to go to my local hospital as if it is pre-eclampsia and they want me to have the baby right away I don't want to give birth there, and there is no possible way for me to drive myself or get public transport to the hospital I'm booked in at. Dh can't take me until tonight or tomorrow.

Currently sweating in bed feeling really sorry for myself. Even the cat has been evicted because he came in from the garden and the smell of wet grass on him made me heave. He's meowing and scratching outside the bedroom door. I have a sick bucket by my bed and wish I had someone to fetch me some ice water and a hot water bottle. It hurts too much to go upright.

Congratulations on your little boy Lucy. I'm having a boy and this last weekend had the most gorgeous cuddles with a friends 5week old little boy. I also got to bottle feed him and he fell asleep on my chest for ages. You honestly won't care once he's here - you'll just think your little baby is the most lovely thing in the world.

Not sure I'll forgive dh if baby doesn't look anything like me at all though! I've done all the hard work with growing the baby, it's not fair if dh gets a mini him! Anyway, go get some little baby things to get excited about your boy!

Lucy Congratulations on your boy; I don't know why I say this, but I have one of my feelings that while you wont see it now, and will think, 'Get lost, Mother Hen', you might be one of those who bravely go for a second - and end up with one of each. Could be wrong, though! I'm shocked they got the pills wrong at the chemists. That just should not happen! Why didn't they double check, as you're pregnant? It's ourageous. I hope they were incredibly apologetic. Sorry you have been feeling bad.
Special Stains Really sorry to hear of that. I hope this is a virus. Cyber pats on offer.
icklekid You are a much tidier puker than me - the floor got it several times, and also, a wardrobe was splattered as I rushed by...
I see I must make a new thread as we're getting full up. I'll do that later today.