Lots of women sail through pregnancy without any real issues with sickness, many will have some level of morning sickness and some will have incredibly intense sickness. My wife had the latter, or to give it its full name, Hyperemesis Gravidarum. From a couple of weeks into both pregnancies, she was being sick, right up until the end of the pregnancy and the baby had been born. I feel like I even became numb to hearing her vomit. Lots of people were quick to share their tips with her, dry crackers, ginger biscuits, beige stodgy food, but nothing would stay down. She was prescribed many different types of anti-sickness medicines but this didn’t totally solve the problem. It got so bad that she ended up in the hospital, requiring fluids. At this point in time, she had lost two stone in weight (28 lbs, 12.5 KGs), she was so dehydrated that the nurses couldn’t find a vein for the fluids. After trying her arms, hands wrists and feet, an anaesthetist was called so they could get a cannula in. After having an upturn for a short period of time, it wasn’t long before we were back again for more fluids. The third time, she was admitted for a week, to ensure that she was in a better place before leaving, only to return another time, this time Esther was sent home with some steroids, which helped. These allowed her to eat again and for the most part, keep her food down. The nausea never went away though.
Throughout this, one of our main concerns was if the baby was getting the nutrients it needed to grow, however we were assured that it would be, it would get all the nutrients necessary in order to grow normally and be healthy.
With this post, I wanted to talk about ways in which you can potentially help if the mother of your unborn child is struggling with sickness in pregnancy:
- Let her rest – if you have other children, take them out, or entertain them. Don’t wait to be asked, just do it.
- If there is something that she can tolerate eating, buy it and let her eat as much of it as she wants even if it is unhealthy. Something is better than nothing. Also be prepared for her to not want this the next day. And don’t be judgemental!
- Encourage her to get an appointment with the GP for anti-sickness. Some of these might be suppositories (rectally inserted) so they can’t be vomited.
- Make sure you know when it is time to go to the Emergency Gynaecology Unit (EGU). If she is experiencing any of the following, it might be time to go.
- Not peeing / very dark pee.
- Constant nausea.
- No oral intake.
- Dizziness.
- Feeling weak.
- Constipation as a result of dehydration.
- Be prepared to wait to be seen by a Doctor and don’t moan about the waiting time.
- Know what she might want, or need in an overnight hospital bag in case she needs admission.
- Remind her – It will all be worth it!
This list is not exhaustive, it is to give an idea of how you can be courteous and caring if she is struggling with sickness during the pregnancy. It may be a challenging time for you too, and that’s ok. There are people that have been through this themselves and can give words of encouragement to help you through these times too.