Some time ago, I wrote a post titled ‘We’re expecting’ and received messages of congratulations from people who saw the title but had not read the post. I guess it was kinda misleading but I promise it wasn’t my intention.😊

So, for most of you, you know that we are actually expecting- finally! I’ve had many questions like “how do you feel?” “You must be so happy” “I bet you can’t wait to meet him or her?”

After seeing those two pink lines I so desperately longed for, it took about 5 days before I had to leave work early due to nausea. I thought it may have just been something I had eaten that baby didn’t like but after a further 2 days, I realised that it was morning sickness kicking in.
I have never been one to throw up but, I found myself praying that I would in hope of the nausea subsiding. It didn’t happen- nope, just got worse. I couldn’t eat, couldn’t drink and found it hard to leave my bed. So, in response to the question of how I was feeling, the answer was “like rubbish- absolute rubbish!” Considering all the physical pain I’d been through over the years, I thought I would be able to tackle the sickness head on and just deal with it-wrong!

I remember when the Duchess of Cambridge was pregnant and the media reported that she had once again been admitted to hospital with severe morning sickness. I remember thinking “really, is she too posh to handle some vomiting?” As I’ve said before, it’s amazing the stupid and silly things you come out with when you know little or absolutely nothing about a subject. I felt like I was being given a taste of my own medicine because of my thoughts. I fully experienced and understood why she was in hospital because I was back and forth there myself.

I slowly began feeling… Umm… Not really sure how to describe it but I remember breaking down and telling my husband that I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t take the pain, lack of sleep, constant nausea, vomiting and dramatic weight loss. My husband sees the positive in everything and told me to picture our blessing that we would soon be meeting. I couldn’t do it, I couldn’t see past each day which appeared to last more than    24 hours. I finally said those words I had been holding back “is this what I’ve waited 5 years for?”

It was true, I found myself asking God why my journey was still a struggle. Why couldn’t I just be happy-go-lucky and carry on as normal? I was constantly being told by Nurses that my sickness was a sign of a healthy baby-really? I mean, I’m sure there are women who are pregnant who have no sickness and go on to have healthy babies… Why couldn’t I be one of them?

The more the sickness went on, the more I found myself feeling sad. I was torn because I so desperately wanted to be happy 24/7 but I wasn’t. I was full of resentment, followed by guilt, followed by exhaustion, followed by anger. Each morning, I’d wake to do my 6am prayers and once I remembered I still had a list of other women I was praying for, I’d quickly put myself in check and remember to be grateful. As the day progressed, the gratitude would always wear off…

I read online that sickness bands worked wonders so, off I went to the shops and spent £8 on something that looked like a headband with a white dot. It may have worked for others but did absolutely nothing for me! I kept thinking of better ways I could have spent that £8 and was back to the Internet to look for other tips.

Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG) 

Excessive nausea and vomiting. This type of morning Sickness affects 1% of women- trust me to be in that 1%! You know, from a young age l’d always pray to be different, set apart, unique- I guess I didn’t really know the depth of my prayers! 😊 Most morning sickness clears by weeks 12-14 but with HG, it could last the duration of your pregnancy… There is no research to explain the cause but, you do need to seek medical advice/treatment.

Signs and symptoms HG 

• Severe and long periods of nausea and vomiting – this can be over 30 times per day.
• dehydration – it’s hard to keep fluids down but not having enough in your body can see the situation worsen.
• ketosis – This a serious condition that results in the build-up of acidic chemicals in the blood and urine; ketones are produced when your body breaks down fat, rather than glucose, for energy
• weight loss
• low blood pressure

Some tips to help cope with the symptoms are

• Rest- I was constantly tired from just feeling so ill. When you do have a period of relief, it’s easy to want to do some of the things on your endless to do list. It’s important to just take it easy and just enjoy the maybe 1 hour of relief and catch up on some TV- in my case it was Home & Away or my kitchen rules Australia 😊
• Avoid triggers of nausea- now, with HG, it can be the smallest most silly thing that can trigger your nausea -like taking a shower. I’m not recommending that you don’t take showers, they are important! I found that the water all of a sudden had a smell, the bathroom had a smell, I opened the window and could smell the soil from the garden… It was awful! My showers began lasting about 3-5 minutes.  I did what I had to do real quick! For others, it may be avoiding foods with strong smells, scented candles or plug-ins, cooking oil, someone talking about something which may be associated with a smell or even the motion of a moving car. Whatever it is- try and stay away from it!
• Avoid dehydration- As hard as it will be, do try to drink as much water as possible. I found that drinking with a straw or sipping it from a mug rather than a glass was helpful. You’ll find that you will most likely throw the water back up, but just keep pushing because, you may find yourself in hospital on a drip – I did a few times.

Due to the severity of my sickness, I was prescribed two forms of anti-sicknesses tablets that seemed to have a mind of their own. I mean, the things would only work once every few days… It just was not sustainable and did not help with how I was feeling.

‘Made a Way’ by Travis Greene Definitely became my daily go-to song for encouragement. His testimony is amazing! Pronounced dead at 4 (white sheet and everything)  after falling from a building then being told his son would not make it as he was born at 21 weeks. The doctors had no faith in his son surviving but their faith was bigger! I just thought that if they could have the faith that their son would survive at 21 weeks, surely I too could have the faith to get through each day of the sickness.

I picked up the prayer book (Prayers & Promises for Supernatural Childbirth) that I had put to one side and restarted daily declarations for the remainder of my pregnancy and delivery.

I didn’t get off to the ideal textbook Hollywood movie pregnancy but once again, my husband, family and friends were there to hold me up. I didn’t step into my kitchen for 15 weeks straight but my husband and I never went without a cooked meal (if I could even eat it!). Knowing that it wouldn’t last forever slowly began to give me comfort and make me see that there are some who are less able who live with excruciating pain on a daily basis…

In life, we have to put our faith in action and start making moves. The word clearly states that faith without works dead. (James 2:14)  Read, research, ask questions, just don’t sit there a feel sorry for yourself!
Be Encouraged, Be Expectant