After I had my third child, one mom shared her HG story with me. It was in an unlikely place, at an unlikely time, but I will forever remember that day because what she described to me, I had also experienced. Up until that moment, I had been told my pregnancy sickness was in my head, that I wasn’t tough enough, that if I’d just exercise more, eat more, try (insert “cure”), that I’d stop being so sick.
That encounter was the first time someone looked me in the eyes and said: “It sounds like you had HG, too.”
Because one mom told me her story, I was able to find an anchor point. I did get pregnant again and when I did, it was my most extreme pregnancy of all.
Because one mom told me her story, I was able to discover and study the HER Foundation research, allowing me to advocate for myself and my unborn baby in ways I didn’t have the words for before.
Because one mom told me her story, I was able to take ownership of my healthcare and receive life-saving care.
Because one mom told me her story, I knew I wasn’t alone. I found a community and a tribe of women who genuinely understood what I was going through.
Because one mom told me her story, I was able to be there for my younger sisters through their HG pregnancies.
Because one mom told me her story, I will never be the same. I have and will continue to share my story so that no woman within my reach will ever have to think she is crazy and will ever have to endure HG alone.
—Jayne Ann Osborne, Utah
