My HG story: Alanna Jones

I found out I was pregnant at 4 weeks, I remember naively thinking to myself “I feel great, how lucky am I to have no nausea” how wrong I was. 

I started vomiting at 5weeks  pregnant, at 6 weeks I saw my OB and asked if I could take anything to help. He prescribed me Zofran wafers which were of no help whatsoever. I was vomiting around 30 times a day, it was nothing but completely debilitating. I couldn’t stand up for more than a minute without getting dizzy and was often fainting, I couldn’t keep food, water or even ice cubes down. I eventually started to bring up nothing but bile and pretty much gave up on food.

I had my first hospital admission at 6.5 weeks, I went in thinking I’d be there for a couple of hours but was told I’d need 6-7L of fluids due to how dehydrated I was. My pee was a reddish-brown colour, and I was told my body was in ketosis. I was given Ondansetron through IV and for the first time in over a week I could keep water down. My OB said I should have come in sooner and would need to come back if I again couldn’t keep fluids down. This became my new norm for the next 7 months.

Once leaving the hospital I quite quickly went back to 30+ vomits a day, I was visiting the hospital 3-4 times a week. I’d go straight from work, stay the night then discharge myself at 6am and head into work with little to no sleep.

I was forced to tell my boss I was pregnant around 9 weeks as I was spending more time laying in my car or on the bathroom floor than at my desk. I was super lucky to have such a supportive workplace.  I started working from home/hospital a couple of times a week which was a little more achievable with such regular hospital stays.

By 17 weeks pregnant, I weighed 44.5kg. I turned up to the hospital as per normal, I could hardly walk myself through the door, I had been sick so many times I literally had nothing left. My veins were already shot, often collapsing from all the IVs. I was seen by a dietician in an attempt to gain weight as well as a nephrologist to keep an eye on my liver/kidneys, I was told my kidneys were at risk of failing and would begin taking steroids in another attempt to ease the vomiting.

The dietician pushed for a nasal gastric feeding tube as I was malnourished and underweight, I hesitated and was told the only other option was longer hospital stays. I was admitted for 3 weeks and started steroids in the hope this would control the vomiting. I hadn’t been to work in quite some time, my doctors encouraged me to stop work altogether as I was putting both the baby’s and my own health at risk.

From this point on I did 1-2 week stays on the maternity ward with occasional days at home here and there to break it up. I remember those days at home so well, my husband would go to work and I’d lay in bed with a bucket and vomit 5-6 times every 20-30 minutes the entire day. Sleeping was the only way it seemed to slow down. I couldn’t watch TV or read or even talk. I would lay there in a dark room staring at the walls crying a lot. I didn’t even have the energy to sit up while vomiting and would often choke. I started vomiting blood due to a tear in my oesophagus. Time dragged on and I remember wanting to give up so many times. I have never felt so unwell in my entire life. Almost everything set me off. The smell of absolutely anything. Loud noises, the sight of food, perfumes, moisturises, walking, car trips, and specifically showering.

I attempted a shower one afternoon while home alone. I ended up vomiting to the point of feeling faint so decided to lay down for a while with the water running. My husband Ben had been trying to call me and got worried so called my mum who rushed over and found me laying on the shower floor in my own vomit, unable to stand up. I didn’t shower alone again after this.

I was often told that the end result would be worth it, I didn’t doubt that and he certainly is but it didn’t make it any easier at the time. It was hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Doctors kept telling me I was bound to improve. I first heard it at 12 weeks, then 16, then 20, then 30. I gave up, then finally there was some improvement at 33 weeks. Both Restavit and Zofran (taken religiously) finally had a positive impact and I could now keep down fluids like sprite and apple juice as well as some dry food. I was now only vomiting around 3-5 times a day which was a walk in the park.

Due to the baby’s slow growth, my OB decided to induce me at 37 weeks and 1 day. Nine hours into labour, our beautiful baby boy, Emre Hart Jones was born and I felt pretty great shortly after.

By the time I got to 37 weeks, I had put on 4kg and Emre was 2.8kg, which was still bigger than expected by my doctors.

The day after Emre was born I was eating my own body weight in sushi. It was amazing how great everything tasted. I remember also appreciating how good it felt to crave and enjoy drinking water again.

The thought of ever having another baby terrifies me, I haven’t decided if I will. For now, we are enjoying every minute with Emre.

I was extremely lucky to have such amazing family and friends throughout my HG struggle.I truly could not have got through it without their support.