Des Moines Nesties
Dear Community,
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
hyperemesis :(
does anyone have any tips or tricks to help with this...for someone who can't keep anything down...not even water.
Re: hyperemesis :(
Oh no you poor thing! Reading that word makes my heart skip a beat and my stomach drop. I am so sorry that you are going through this. First of all, how many weeks are you and when were you diagnosed? I am surprised that your OB didn't reccommend a plan of treatment when he gave you the diagnosis. Hyperemesis is nothing to mess around with.
I began vomiting even before my BFP so around 3 weeks pregnant. It increased quickly to vomiting up to 20 times a day. I could not keep anything down, especially water. My OB said that most people just have issues with foods but can do the water so it was unusual for that to be my biggest trigger. I literally could not even take a sip without it triggering immediate vomiting. I started the maximum oral dose of Zofran at 5 weeks and it did nothing for my nausea but did minimize the vomiting to about 10 times a day or so but I still had lots of bad days. I was eating less than 500 calories a day (usually 2 pieces of toast a dry baked potato for the entire day!). I lost 15 pounds in 4 weeks.
At my 8 week appointment I was sent immediately to the hospital to receive IV fluids. I was so dehydrated that I was dizzy and had trouble standing. I received 3 bags that day and they had a terrible time even finding my veins. After that I felt a bit better, but was back in the hospital a week later for more fluids since I simply couldn't hold any down on my own. It was then determined that I need to get a PICC line to receive intraveneous fluids daily. I would strongly reccomend doing this if you are unable to keep any water down. I was so nervous to get the PICC and while I hated having it, it truly was a lifesaver. My OB said that had I not gotten it, he is not sure what would have happened to the baby. My DH and I were trained to administer the fluids and IV meds at home and I got 2000 ml every night for 3.5 months. It was hard and it sucked but it became a way of life for us and it was the only thing that allowed me to still function.
My OB told me that the lack of eating was worrisome but not overly concerning because the baby will take all the nutrients it needs anyway but the dehydration is very dangerous in pregnancy. I had lots of issues with electrolyte imbalance, low blood sugar, kidney problems, heart palpations, etc. Due to the stress my kidneys were under I started contracting at 17 weeks and it was a battle the rest of the pregnancy to stay adequately hydrated.
My suggestion would be to try the Zofran if you haven't already to at least curb some of the vomiting and to talk to your doctor about a PICC. If you have any other quesitons feel free to PM me or ask here- I know it was really lonely to go through my pregnancy with no one to talk to about hyperemesis. There is also a forum of hyperemesis moms that I found really helpful- www.helpher.org.
Good luck to you hon- I hope you find relief soon!
Cindy!!! Are you pregnant?? I wondered when you asked for crackers..
I have nothing to add but I'm so, so sorry you are sick
( 
( Call your doctor. I've heard of people getting Zofran pumps so the medicine stays more consistent in the system.
Oh wow our stories sound SO similar! I, too, am a teacher and found out I was pregnant last May! Thank goodness I found out with only about two weeks left in the school year and was able to stick it out. I had very understanding coworkers and set up a trash can in our storage room where I often ran to throw up.
My daughter was also 15 months last summer and that was one of the hardest things for me emotionally- I had all these high hopes of an amazing summer with her now that she was old enough to do so much and it KILLED me to not even be able to care for her. My mom lives in town and took her most days until DH got home from work because most days I couldn't even get off the couch and my vomiting spells were so bad that she got really scared. If I was home alone with her I generally just laid on the floor and she got really used to bringing her toys to me 
It sounds like the PICC may be the way to go if this keeps up for you. Have you felt any better since getting the fluids? It is good that you are keeping a watchful eye on things because it can spiral out of control fast. Right before I got my PICC I hadn't peed in 18 hours and it was dark brown when I did finally go. I was tested and was spilling ketones like crazy which is not good. Unfortunately, there was no drink that I could tolerate. I do know that lots of hyperemetics do better with either really hot drinks (tea, coffee) or really cold like slushies but neither worked for me. I honestly didn't take any liquids orally for several weeks and then slowly could handle about 8 oz a day spread out over many small sips. It wasn't until about 20 weeks that I was able to drink 32 oz on my own a day and I was SO proud lol. Once I was able to drink more, I was able to eat more too. Dehydration is a weird thing. I finally started to gain weight at 24 weeks. I had been threatened with TPN and the thought of that made me so determined to be able to eat and drink on my own!
If you do end up getting a PICC let me know and I have some tips for you that helped me a lot. I would definitely insist on getting it done at radiology and NOT at the infusion center if at all possible. An upper arm placement is also much preferable to the crook of the arm if you can convince them. My first PICC sprang a leak after two weeks so I had the procedure done twice and learned a LOT. I did a lot of research because I just felt so lonely. I didn't know anyone who had gone through it before and it was hard because I felt like everyone just thought "oh no big deal you just have morning sickness- that's so common." Its impossible to explain how debilitating the nausea and vomiting are unless you have gone through it. Hugs to you- you aren't alone and you WILL get through this. The end reward is so so precious as you know from experience!
Feel free to page me or PM me if you ever just want to talk or vent!
I had pretty bad all day sickness, but no where near hyperemesis. You poor thing!
Anything cold, except water, I could keep down. I lived on sonic lemon slushes for a few weeks. I also sucked on lemon drops. The sour seemed to help, too.
I hope you get some relief soon! And thank goodness the school year is almost over!