Why Adoption?
Welcoming our boys into this world was far more difficult than we expected. After some difficulty getting pregnant, Bryant joined our family in the summer of 2014. During Bryant's pregnancy, I was diagnosed with Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG), which is a pregnancy complication that is characterized by severe nausea, dehydration, and dangerous weight loss. His pregnancy required me to have IV therapy three times a week while I consistently lost weight, unable to eat. The pregnancy seemed to go on forever and was extremely difficult, but we were so happy to be parents and finally hold our sweet boy for the first time.
In April of 2016, I became pregnant with my little Chase man. His pregnancy was much worse than Bryant's and I ended up not being able to eat or drink anything at all and had to get all my nutrition via feeding tube and eventually intravenously, through a PICC line. After this pregnancy we were advised by our doctor that becoming pregnant with another child would be dangerous for my health and therefore detrimental to our family. We had to make the extremely difficult decision that I would not carry any additional children. In spite of this, we realize we are beyond fortunate to have our two boys and are forever grateful they joined our family.
Below I'll go into a little more detail about my pregnancies and what Hyperemesis Gravidarum is.
In April of 2016, I became pregnant with my little Chase man. His pregnancy was much worse than Bryant's and I ended up not being able to eat or drink anything at all and had to get all my nutrition via feeding tube and eventually intravenously, through a PICC line. After this pregnancy we were advised by our doctor that becoming pregnant with another child would be dangerous for my health and therefore detrimental to our family. We had to make the extremely difficult decision that I would not carry any additional children. In spite of this, we realize we are beyond fortunate to have our two boys and are forever grateful they joined our family.
Below I'll go into a little more detail about my pregnancies and what Hyperemesis Gravidarum is.
Hyperemesis Gravidarum
Hyperemesis Gravidarum. HG typically includes nausea that never goes away and excessive vomiting that leads to severe dehydration. This doesn't allow women to keep any food or fluids down. HG can lead to dehydration and poor weight gain during pregnancy. If not treated properly with intravenous fluids and anti-nausea medicine, it can be life-threatening to pregnant women and their babies. The American Journal of Perinatology says, “Morning sickness is normal, Hyperemesis Gravidarum is not.”
There are varying degrees of HG, and I've experienced it all. With Bryant, I was diagnosed with moderate HG. It was more manageable, but still horrible. But during my pregnancy with Chase, I experienced severe HG. HG is a real, physiological, debilitating, and potentially dangerous disease that about 1% of pregnant women are diagnosed with. Even though that number seems small, chances are you know more than one person who has or will suffer from it. Sadly, if it is not properly treated or recognized by medical professionals or the sufferer’s families and friends, it can end in abortion because ending the pregnancy is the only thing that can cure symptoms. I hope by sharing my story, it will help you develop an understanding of what it is and how debilitating it can be. I hope that by discussing my experience with Hyperemesis Gravidarum, I can raise some awareness of the realities of the disease and the physical and mental suffering of the women who endure it.
My HG Story:
I found out I was pregnant with Chase when I was 3 weeks and 5 days pregnant. I had already started feeling nauseated. I started IV therapy at my 6-week mark because I had already lost 11 pounds and was unable to keep down most fluid. Around week 9, my veins started giving out. I would get an IV placed and, within 24 hours, it would start burning and hurting immensely. My vein would usually collapse, and I was unable to finish the fluids I had started. My arms had scars all over them from being poked and prodded, and they were all bruised from the veins collapsing. They hurt all the time. I started keeping rice packs on my arms regularly because there was a constant ache. By this time, I had lost an additional 9 pounds. I was feeling really discouraged at this point, and I wasn’t getting the fluid I needed because my veins couldn’t handle the IV’s any longer. Things started to spiral downhill. I ate less and less, and I was feeling more nauseated and less hydrated. The constipation had gotten so bad at this point that even suppositories and enemas didn’t always work. The vomiting was getting much worse. It’s not the same kind of vomiting that comes with the stomach flu or even the beginning of pregnancy. It's a vomiting so violent that I couldn’t hold up my own head while puking. I was vomiting up to 25 times a day. My body was so dehydrated and malnourished that I lost even more weight and started losing my hair. My lips were so chapped that they constantly bled. I had multiple mouth sores, and I threw up blood because my throat was so raw. My ribs would slip out of place from the vomiting, and my body was so sore from lying in bed all day for weeks and weeks.
Because of certain hospital policies, I was unable to get the treatment that I preferred without giving other options a try. First, we started with a feeding tube that they placed into my intestines. I threw up the feeding tube within 24 hours and ended up in the emergency room. The next day, they placed a midline to provide me with the fluid and IV medications that I needed until I could meet with my doctor again. Finally, I ended up with a PICC line so I could receive TPN food formula intravenously. I had to stay hooked up to it 24 hours a day. The pain of starvation actually kind of subsided, even though the formula wasn’t actually going into my stomach, I felt (somewhat) satisfied and didn’t feel completely starving all the time. The nausea was still crippling, but it felt a little better knowing I wasn’t starving myself or my baby. I had 2 ports on my PICC line: one for the TPN and one for my medications. I switched them up daily so that my line wouldn’t get clogged and risk infection. I was alternating IV Benadryl and IV Zofran frequently; Benadryl every 4 hours and Zofran every 6. I was also taking Pepcid every 8 hours for the heartburn. This lasted for about 20 weeks, and then I was able to keep enough food and water down to no longer need my PICC line. Even though things improved, I continued to vomit and feel nauseous until I delivered at 37 weeks and 4 days. I delivered a beautiful baby boy who was a very healthy 9 pounds at delivery. Chase continues to thrive today despite the difficult pregnancy we went through together. We're so glad he made it here safely and we're able to put his pregnancy behind us.
