Extreme sickness in pregnancy

My DIL had bad morning sickness with both babies. The second was worse because she had the wee one to look after, too. I went and stayed with them for until she was over the worst.

I was also stricken in my last pregnancy but just told my 9yo I had flu and she accepted that. It was miserable, I feel sorry for your Dd!

I’m just wondering if Mumsnet may be the place to give you more up to date solutions for morning sickness kitty.

A natural solution I remember was anything containing ginger which is a natural way to settle the stomach ie, ginger tea, ginger biscuits and also a popular one here, flat Irn Bru which has a high content of ginger. I know from experience the latter works well when any of us have dodgy tummies.

Your poor DD. Hope she finds something that helps soon.

DD2 suffered with hyperemesis and couldn't keep anything down for the first few months. She had to tell everyone about the pregnancy early as she couldn't leave the house.
The GP can help and the medication is perfectly safe to take.

DD2 really suffered throughout and ended up having tests for kidney and liver function because of ketones in her urine, as any food going in went straight to the baby while she got thinner.
I will ask if she took any thing. In the meantime every sympathy to her!

Back in the dark ages I had a similar experience kitty, I also recall ginger but I’m afraid not much more. I was lucky as number one child was too young to understand, he just enjoyed Mummy lying down with him and ignored rushes to the bathroom. I hope there’s an answer for your daughter.

I was sick all the time when I was pregnant. I used to lay in bed with my head hanging out and a bowl underneath it at night.
I don't remember anything much being done about it though, and it went off, eventually, or at least lessened a bit.

I had hyperemisis during both my pregnancies for the entire term . I vomitted from 6 weeks between 6 and 18 times a day right up to the birth and even on the operating table for both c sections .
I was hospitalised numerous times to be drip fed . I had suppositories which took the edge off it for a day or two but soon reverted to not working .
Luckily my husband was able to work from home to look after our 1st born during the second pregnancy.
It's a truly awful complication that was a killer in the past due to organ failure.

I din't have the extreme sickness but suffered from sickness severe enough throughout my pregnancy to weigh a stone less a week after DS's birth than I did at the start of my pregnancy. It is not a weight loss scheme I would recommend to anyone.

Thankfully, second time round it was not so severe. Just say you have a tummy upset, or gastric flu or some such excuse.

I suffered from the same thing it now has a name Hyperemesis Gravidarum I was ill with all three of my pregnancies and literally bed ridden with the last two! It’s worse than just sickness, it’s constant vomiting I had it all day and all night through my pregnancy, lost around 3 stone in weight and became dangerously dehydrated I was incapable of movement as any movement of my head set my vomiting off! I had no support medically and to be honest still suffer with PTSD as a result of my last (surprise) pregnancy. I have three daughters and all of them have suffered with the same hidious condition my eldest ended up in hospital on a drip due to dehydration! I later learned that my mother had suffered from it with me!
I must say that if I had been offered medication I would have taken it by the time I was expecting DD2 as each pregnancy got worse until I was totally incapacitated? I was not able to hide it from my eldest when I was expecting number 2, I had left a nearly 7 year gap due to the trauma of the first pregnancy and she asked why mummy was in bed for so long. We didn’t like to lie to her and she knew that tummy bugs normally only last a few days!

Oh yes sick for the whole pregnancy it never went away but we weren't offered any drugs then. I do feel for her I wonder if alternative therapies might help - relaxation, yoga etc?

DD1 had extreme sickness for 18 weeks in this, her first pregnancy. The doctor and midwife were really helpful and gave her a safe drug which gradually worked. Unfortunately the ketones didn’t go away and she has Gestational Diabetes. Do hope your DDs doctor can help her.

I think she could pass it of as flu/tummy bug for the 6 year old. DD2 found sparkly lemon water helped. For mums with hyperemesis I have had to give daily injections of cyclizine prescribed by the obstetrician. It seems to help. It can be self administered or given by a partner once taught and observed by a nurse.

I worked with a girl who suffered terribly and eventually had to stop working. She got no help from her GP until her mother came to visit and found lying in bed vomiting blood into a bucket. She had her straight into hospital where the doctor went ballistic because he said it could easily be treated and she was on the verge of liver failure.

Just an update.

DH went to the gp yesterday fully prepared to throw up in the surgery if he was unsympathetic.

She walked in and he said she looked awful, was she being sick and did she want something to help? And, if it didn't work to come back.

So, one happy daughter and one happy kitty!

My bloody phone!!

Dd went to the gp not dh!!

Yes kitty I had terrible sickness with my first, in fact sick for the whole nine months.
They do say that it is a sign of a healthy baby but it did worry me in case it wasn't getting enough nutrition.
The first was a girl and my second was a boy and I wasn't sick whilst expecting him, difference in hormones perhaps.

DD suffered terribly with both her boys and was hospitalized more than once with both. I can't remember what she was treated with.
Lovely news kitty another GC. I hope this phase soon passes and DD can enjoy her pregnancy.

Poor girl! Has she tried getting someone DH for instance to dilute a teaspoonful salt and a tablespoon sugar in a drop of warm water and then add enough water to make up 2 pints of the solution? She then literally takes a teaspoonful at a time.

This solution is usually easier to keep down than plain water and is used for combatting dehydration due to vomiting in babies and young animals. I am not entirely sure it works with extreme morning sickness, but it does work with vomiting due to gastric upsets or migraine and it cannot do either mother or baby any harm.

Some expectant mothers find nibbling dry biscuits or cream crackers helpful.

Fortunately however much the poor pregnant woman suffers, baby is as happy as Larry!

FINALLY A BREAKTHROUGH FOR HG! The HER Foundation, researchers at UCLA and USC, and 23andMe, Inc. have conducted the first genome-wide analysis of Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG) and identified 2 genes associated with HG, as published this week in Nature Communications. Contrary to popular belief, the study does not support a role for pregnancy hormones estrogen and hCG. In further work presented at the ICHG last October (bit.ly/ichgfejzo), Dr. Fejzo presented that not only were the genes GDF15 and IGFBP7 linked to HG, but also, their proteins are abnormally high in HG patients. These genes are turned on in the placenta in early pregnancy and code for proteins that regulate appetite.

Dr. Fejzo says “prior research has shown GDF15 is a regulator of physiological body weight and appetite via activation of neurons in the hypothalamus and area postrema (vomiting center) of the brain.” GDF15 and IGFBP7 also play a role in cachexia, a disease with similar symptoms to HG, debilitating fatigue, weight loss and muscle wasting, that causes death in about 20% of cancer patients. These findings may lead to genetic screening to predict which women will have more severe symptoms and need more proactive therapy. This information should put an end to the misconception that HG is “all in your head” and opens new avenues for diagnosis, research, and novel treatments. We are hopeful that this breakthrough will ultimately improve the care mothers receive and the health of mother and child long-term. We thank all our study participants and donors-we could not have done this without you!

UCLA: bit.ly/ucla0318
#maternalhealth #pregnancy #genetics #gene #mother #morningsickness #OB #midwife #UCLAHealth #USC #23andMe #research #genetics #perinatology
University of Southern California
UCLA Health

My daughter had it severely for both her pregnancies, to the point where she ended up in hospital on an IV drip on several occasions. Even when she was at home, she had to go to the doctor's surgery every morning to get a Maxalon injection, and she also had to give herself Maxalon suppositories. Doc told her never to get pregnant again and she has abided by that ! When she was sick with the 2nd child, her little 1 year old used to sit outside the bathroom and cry when DD was vomiting . I ended up going and living with them for a couple of months until DD was back on her feet. Re your question, just tell the little one that Mummy has a tummy upset.