Aijia is a founding member of our Ambassador council and struggled with Hyperemesis Gravidarum in both of her pregnancies. She is now an advocate for other women who face this condition and is doing her part to raise awareness, fund research, and advocate for better prepartum and postpartum care. She and her husband, Andy, have two daughters.
In HER words: Both of my pregnancies were ROUGH. I have to say there wasn't much I liked about being pregnant. Our culture tells women that we are supposed to love every moment of carrying a child. And yes, to create life is a gift, but for me pregnancy was all about survival. To add insult to injury, I spent a lot of my effort trying to convince my medical team, my friends, and my extended family of the seriousness of what was actually happening to me. If you haven’t been around someone with this condition, it’s a little hard to understand how absolutely debilitating it is. It seemed many people thought I was being dramatic. “Everyone gets morning sickness.” But this was not morning sickness. I was at the toilet the entirety of the day. I was losing weight. I was fainting. I was malnourished. It felt like I was dying.
My story involves finding out about HG from Amy Schumer’s Instagram where she talked about her condition. I wish I could tell you that my medical team brought it up, but they didn’t. My story involves Zofran pills that didn’t help and finally a 24 hour a day Zofran pump that helped some. It involves a home IV drip for weeks on end, which was changed out by nurses and my family. It involves a support group that I found from this website! If you’re struggling with Hyperemesis Gravidarum, all I can say is that I’m so sorry you’re having to go through this. It’s temporary. It won’t last forever. The baby on the other end is 10000% worth it. I promise. The HER Foundation website will help you find resources to ease your suffering and to keep your body going. You are not alone.
