Hyperemesis Gravidarum is often described in clinical language as severe nausea, dehydration, and survival. For 1 in 3 HG patients, it also comes with overwhelming grief. Rupinder Prem’s poem, Ultrasounds – Pregnancy with HG, shares her experience from loss to a rainbow pregnancy and baby.
Ultrasounds – Pregnancy with HG by Rupinder Prem
Calm
Cold
Squirt
Rub
an image appears
a flicker, a glimmer, a spark
no flicker, glimmer, spark
She walked into the room
It is nonviable
We will have to terminate
Cold
Clinical
I was wheeled back to my room
5 months later…
Same room
Same technician
Same hospital
Different pregnancy
Same trepidation
calm
cold
squirt
rub
a flicker, a twinkle, a spark, a light
About the Poet
Rupinder Prem is a poet who was born and raised in East Vancouver. She grew up in her parents’ quintessentially Vancouver homes, from a post-war bungalow to a Vancouver Special. She is currently developing a manuscript of her journey through Hyperemesis Gravidarum – three pregnancies and post-partum. Her debut chapbook manuscript, with an ever-changing collection of poems, is in development through The Writer’s Studio: Creative Writing Certificate, where Rupinder is a poetry genre group student. She lives in British Columbia, Canada, with her two children. Find her on Insta @nappingwhilereading.
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