Miriam and Eva’s Journey with Hyperemesis Gravidarum: A Story of Severe Pregnancy Sickness and Support

2024-05-13 02:36:55

Spitting up thirty times in one day during your pregnancy and feeling nauseous even when you have to swallow. That is hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), a very serious form of morning sickness. Miriam van Dijk (46) in Eva Schippers-Crumming (39) he was and they found each other during this difficult period.

Eve: “I had experienced it during my previous pregnancy and I recognized it immediately: HG struck again. I knew that the coming months were very difficult. From that moment on everything was too much for me. The sunlight, the voices of children playing outside. These were all triggers that made me start teasing suddenly. Thirty hours a day was completely normal.”

Miriam: “Very familiar! At the time of my first pregnancy, I had never heard of HG. Fortunately, I have a family doctor who heard my complaints and immediately sent me to the emergency room, and I was admitted for a week later .a nurse noticed that there was still a lot of ignorance about the situation. Then a nurse said, for example: ‘You have to take these medicines.’ She stood in front of me with a glass of water and she didn’t realize that it was the sight of that glass of water that made me spit, and that was exactly why I was there tried to explain it, but I still had the feeling like I occupied the wrong bed and I’m so bad!

“I have turned from a nice, honest woman to a greedy monster in the last two years. And I am deeply ashamed of that conclusion.”

also look at

Confidential: ‘I’m not in love, I love his credit card’

Very happy but so sick

Miriam: “When a friend said to me: ‘I know someone else who is dealing with this.’ I thought at first: yes, definitely!

Eve: “I really enjoyed being in touch with Miriam. It made me feel less lonely anymore. It’s a strange situation: on the one hand, your biggest dream is coming true and you’re very happy that you are pregnant. On the other hand, you feel so sick and terribly troubled by it, we sent each other trigger warnings: ‘be careful, something is coming that you don’t like.’ The other person could then easily respond with: ‘I’ll listen to him later, I’ve just been in hospital and I have to recover first.’”

Miriam: “I can only describe the whole period of my pregnancy as horrible. So it was like lying in a bed upstairs in the attic day after day and not being able to bear anything really. When I think back on it, I still get emotional. I work for an advertising agency and I’m something of a workaholic. I couldn’t even look at my phone or when my sweet husband Lucas asked how I was doing. When the children – I’m a bonus mother – came home from tennis, I thought they smelled ‘of tennis’, and now I couldn’t tell you no more what is that smell, as I could not tolerate any lights, sounds, any screens, not even the smell of the cleaner or the fridge.

Lonely rollercoaster

Eve: “The new life is growing inside you, but at the same time you have the feeling that you can no longer participate. The world passed around me, as I lay flat in a hospital bed in the living room. It was not I could simply do anything to the zoo once the dream was there when she was born. And I filled a box full of all kinds of fun things that we could start doing after my pregnancy. To the pool, baking cupcakes, an indoor dance party. It helped me keep perspective.”

EMDR therapy

Miriam: “HG is really an attack on your life. I understand that some women can’t continue with their much wanted pregnancy or sometimes even with their life. It’s so hard. I still remember a moment when I had to go to the hospital for potassium infusions for a while The doctor in the room didn’t agree with him, but thankfully he understood me. That same Sunday afternoon, my treating doctor called to check in with me. I was fine. “

Eve: “I started suffering from depressive symptoms and could hardly see any bright spots anymore. In fact, my daughter is now six months old, but I’m still not what I was – both mentally and physical. I deal with the problems with EMDR therapy, among other things pregnancy, and doing the daily things to calm my still exhausted body. When I gave birth, I thought: great, we are back at least our oldest, but this time I still feel nauseous with every ovulation, sometimes including spitting up, and my energy level barely recharges.”

Miriam: “Fortunately, my nausea went away after the birth. I had a nice maternity period, with great maternity care. My bed was downstairs and I was able to stir outside for a while now and then. I am physically and mentally as well. the old one is not yet a birthday with a group of friends and family, but when I was getting ready, I already felt that it was a bad idea and quickly canceled everyone D’ it became too much for me to regularly talk to someone who specializes in trauma due to illness. Fortunately, my work is compassionate and they give me time to recover, but if it was on I would have started again a long time ago, it’s hard to be patient for that long.”

More and more information

Eve: “With a normal pregnancy they say: it’s nine months on, nine months off. Unfortunately, with HG it can take much longer. We think it’s very important to share our story, to help other women who are or end up in the to encourage. During my first pregnancy, HG was hardly recognized or acknowledged, but now I notice that more and more information is being received about it, so that you will get better help.”

Miriam: “I was told at first: you are pregnant, that it is only part of nausea. But with HG it is very different.”

Eve: “Sure! Fortunately, my midwife saw the link to HG quickly this time, but if you feel that your midwife or other health care provider doesn’t understand you properly, sometimes it’s best to find someone who takes you in really.”

This article was originally published in Marie Claire 02 2024.

#Miriam #Eva #severe #pregnancy #sickness #voice #spit