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Home | For Mothers | Get Support | Ann Marie's Story |
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Ann Marie's StoryAnn Marie King is a co-founder of the HER Foundation, and the wife of co-founder Jeremy King. She is responsible for bringing much needed awareness about Hyperemesis Gravidarum to the United States and worldwide. She is the mother of a healthy son (2003). (e-mail: annmarie@HelpHER.org) I had been looking forward to pregnancy all my life, the joys of taking care of the baby inside of me and anxiously awaiting the baby's arrival. Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG) robs women of a joyful pregnancy and leaves them scared, depressed and feeling alone. The physical agony of HG is difficult enough to handle, but the emotional aspect of HG is the most difficult of all. Was I going to die? Was my child going to die? Would I be able to have children at all? Knowing how desperately I wanted a child and all the joys of being pregnant. Instead, I felt like no one believed me when I was telling them how bad I felt. They all seemed to think it would go away, "it was morning sickness", "just eat a cracker." But no one can understand – only the survivors of HG – that we are tested to the limits both physically and emotionally while trying to sustain the life an unborn child. All I wanted was one woman to tell me that I will be okay, that she too had suffered through it, and that she understood. That is why I am writing my story and making sure the word gets out about HG! I hope you learn something from my story, but more importantly, I hope you know that every night my husband and I pray for women who struggle with this horrific disease. We hope in some way our experience will help others. I was visiting my sister in the D.C. area when I found out I was 5 weeks pregnant. I was tired, hungry and joyful all the time like most women early in pregnancy. That was until the night HG hit me like a bomb. I was up all night vomiting and incredibly weak. For the next 3 days, I was only able to eat small bites of food and very little liquid. I knew I needed to get home to Dallas and see a doctor ASAP. Flying home was miserable and I was happy that airlines had the vomit bags and wheelchairs. At this point, little did I know that HG had only just begun. At home, my doctor immediately tells me I have hyperemesis gravidarum. My husband scrambles to write down what he said and of course asks how to spell it. He gives me some antiemetic (anti-vomiting) meds and sends me home. I get home and the pills won't stay down, nor will water, popsicles, or anything. After throwing up bile at least ten times a day with nothing in my stomach, I knew this could not be good for the baby and me. Twenty-four hours later I am in the hospital with severe dehydration and high ketones. After a week in the hospital, where they shot me up with steroids, potassium and IV fluids, I was able to eat for a couple of days. I saw a gastrointestinal doctor, who would not let me leave the hospital until I was able to swallow pills without vomiting. I kept the pills down and home I went, so happy to think the steroids worked! But after a couple of days, I was throwing up again and keeping nothing down. Back at the doctor's office, he gave me an IV and sent me home. The next day I was back in the ER with severe dehydration and high ketones. At this point, I had lost about 20 pounds and was 8 weeks pregnant. I was afraid for myself, but more importantly, afraid I was hurting my baby. During this time, I was still vomiting over 10 times a day with an empty stomach. My esophagus seemed raw and was hurting more and more each time I vomited. The doctor met me in the hospital and said it was time to place a central line under my clavical bone, above my chest, and feed me intravenously with TPN, Total Parenteral Nutrition. I did not care what he did, I just wanted to stop throwing up, stop feeling weak, stop feeling depressed and start living like a "normal" pregnant woman. The procedure went well in the hospital and after a week I was sent home with a bag of TPN a day and numerous other meds via my central line, including Zofran every four hours, and Protonix to reduce the acid in my stomach. Although I still could not eat or drink, I knew the TPN was sustaining my life and my unborn child's. Despite the TPN, I was still vomiting stomach bile numerous times a day. Over the next few weeks, a home health nurse visited me almost everyday to check my vitals, weight and urine. Then the unexpected happened, things went back down hill one morning when I started going into convulsions with a 104 degree fever. My husband called an ambulance and we went to the hospital. The doctors determined I had a staph infection in my central line. The white of my eyes were now yellow and I could barely move or talk. They called on the infectious disease doctors to figure out how to treat a pregnant women with a staph infection in her IV who can't eat or drink. They had to give me the most potent antibiotic they had for two weeks. They were sure my baby should be fine, but my OB seemed worried about an extended dose of strong antibiotics, yet knew it was either that or nothing. Then they did all kinds of blood work and told me I might need a blood transfusion. At this point I was thinking, something has got to give here. My husband and family prayed that night that my blood levels would go up the next morning, and God answered our prayers and the blood levels were rising, no blood transfusion was needed. However my liver levels (bilirubin numbers) were very low, so they did sonograms on my liver and gall bladder to determine if I needed surgery. Once again the power of prayer came to the rescue and all turned out okay. I was sent to a prenatal diagnostic specialist, a doctor who would tell me if my baby was okay through it all. He told me the baby looked good and told me most HG babies are underweight when born, especially if they have had their nourishment via TPN. But he assured me that HG babies are usually healthy babies, it is the mother who suffers so much. After another week in the hospital, the staph infection subsided and I was sent home on TPN again. Having to get three central lines had to be the worst of it all. Finally, I went home and was slowly able to eat a slice of bread or a sip of liquids, although water never stayed down and had a funny taste to me. I lived on coke, yes with caffeine, and toast for weeks. I started to turn the corner around 17 weeks and was eating more, so my central line was removed. Now I had to get my muscles working again since I had been laying on the couch for the past 14 weeks! What a nightmare it was! My body was learning to do things all over again, not only eat and drink, but go to the bathroom, as little as I did, and remember how to brush my teeth again, one thing that is hard to do when you are nauseous all day and night. I remember waking up from a dead sleep and throwing up, but not being able to make it to the bathroom because I was so weak. I remember saying over and over again, "Just make it go away, just make it go away." I remember my husband waking up every 4 hours each night to inject meds in my IV. I remember the horrors of HG... That is why I will never forget what this disease does to you physically, emotionally and psychologically. This is my advice to all women who survive HG: never forget what you are going through or have been through and help find a cure for this horrific illness. Together we can spread the word and make a difference. You are all in my prayers! Our baby boy was born three weeks early, but weighed 7 pound 2 ounces and came out kicking and screaming. I know he was ready to get out and start living his life. He had already suffered through mommy's HG. He is a healthy little boy and I am proud to be a mother and a survivor of HG! My husband and I have always hoped for a large family, but due to the fact that HG so frequently reoccurs, we can not go through the overwhelming stress and fear that my life or the babies's could be harmed. In addition, due to complications with HG (allergic reactions to meds, infections and overall emotional and physical pain) we have opted to adopt children in the future. Although we would love to have numerous biological children, it is not to be. There are thousands of babies/children in need of a loving family and we hope to give our hearts and home to some of them. For those of you who want more children, but do not want or can't endure another HG pregnancy, I ask you to consider the adoption option. — Ann Marie Treatments:
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