Recovering from HG

[Littletoaster2021]

Hi all. This is my first pregnancy, am currently 17 weeks and have had HG. I’ve been on medication for about 9 weeks now and it’s helped a lot, the recovery has been slow but I’m now at the point where I can get out of bed, shower and even leave the house. My sickness has always been worse in the evenings, but recently I’ve been able to go 3-4 days without vomiting as long as I’m careful about what and when I eat. This basically means very small amounts of pitta with hummus, a few chicken dippers, toast, crisps. Every time I try to reintroduce fruit/veg it always ends with vomiting.

I was a committed vegetarian for years before this and loved eating veg and my current diet makes me feel a bit disgusting and also a bit sorry for the baby. One day of vomiting also almost certainly guarantees a few more days of it before I get in the clear again, and although it’s down to just once or twice a day it still makes me feel crap and more tired (and also physiologically worry that I’m going to slide back into being bed bound etc). I know lots of women have it far worse than me but I wondered if anyone who’s recovered from HG had any advice, or could just tell me how long it took for them to be able to eat more difficult to digest foods?

Hi OP, I'm 32 weeks and recovering from HG - I really feel for you, it has been the most miserable few months of my life!! Mine started to improve gradually at around 22 weeks and by 24 weeks I could eat a little - mostly carbs, to be honest, which is a shame because, like you, pre-pregnancy I was vegetarian and eating healthily and I just feel so gross now!! I've found fruit easier to reintroduce - those with a high water content, so melon, mango, the occasional grape (although I then had a bad experience so have gone off those again). Same with vegetables, I can stomach steamed spinach and courgette but that is it.
If I try and think of foods, my stomach will generally either turn or not so I have a fair idea of what I might be able to tolerate. It is utterly utterly shit though and my body feels so broken after months of barely eating and drinking - god knows what my vitamin reserves are like.
My doctor told me not to worry too much about the baby, they take all the nutrients they need from you and you just get the leftovers. Being able to keep something down (particularly liquids) is the most important thing. Good luck xxx

OP I had HG in my previous pregnancy (vomiting 5-20 times a day throughout). Im 36 weeks now and this pregnancy has been so so much easier (no official HG, very different nausea). However, even in this pregnancy, I've eaten mainly carbs. In last, I survived mainly on Toast with raspberry jam, frozen/cold lucocade sport and occasionally plain pasta with butter. I couldn't stomach water! Second trimester I had a bit more flexibility, but I'd never eaten as bland or unhealthy a diet in my life before!

For what its worth, my little one from that pregnancy is now 15 months, and loves her food and veg! So I second the poster above, if you can try to be kind to yourself. HG is miserable and anything that stays down in a benefit. Forget ideas of healthy eating, and eat what you can, when you can.

I cannot wait until lettuce and greens taste and smell yum again - even in this pregnancy they smell rotten! For me, it cleared up after birth and my own habits were such a relief - I think it made surviving the early baby days easier. It was like a switch and suddenly food smelt good again and some of my favourite things stopped tasting like sawdust (or way worse)!

Anyway, I just wanted to say this isn't forever. Baby will be ok and in time, so will you. Hope your feeling as ok as can be x