HG Must Haves
Please note, I am not a medical professional, and this post is not intended as medical advice. The contents of this post are items I personally found helpful during my pregnancies with hyperemesis gravidarum.
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HG Must Haves
Hyperemesis gravidarum is a grueling pregnancy disorder characterized by extreme nausea and vomiting. To learn more about hyperemesis gravidarum, please see HG: A Primer.
When I was dealing with extreme nausea and vomiting day in and day out, there are a few things I found particularly helpful. And no, ginger was not one of them! ;)
If someone you love is experiencing extreme nausea and vomiting in pregnancy, and you’re feeling helpless but wanting to provide some relief, consider gifting a few of these in a care kit.
Emesis Bags
Emesis (a fancy word for vomit) bags were absolute must haves! I carried them around everywhere. I had stashes all around the house, in all the bathrooms, in my car, and in my purse. I just never knew when the urge to vomit would hit, and it was a huge relief to know I had something close by no matter where I was. Sometimes, you just can’t make it to the toilet fast enough and having something to throw up in was so much better than hoping for the best and then having to scrub the carpet, the kitchen, the car upholstery, etc when I was caught off guard.
These bags, linked here, were my favorites. They were recommended to me by a dear friend, who was also my HG mentor. I appreciated that they weren’t opaque. Once something was in the bag, you couldn’t see it. They have quaint pointers for avoiding vomiting (would it be nice if they worked?) and quantity markings printed on the side.
My third HG baby, wanting a turn with the bag
Altoids
One side effect of constant nausea and vomiting is something called, “ptyalism,” or hypersalivation. If being sick all the time weren’t glamorous enough, throw in some constant “pre puke mouth sweats” and you’ll really feel like a 10.
During my third HG pregnancy, I discovered that Altoids mints were quite helpful at curbing the ptyalism, and neutralizing the taste of the inside of my mouth. I lived almost exclusively on those and Pringles for over a month.
These were my personal favorites: Peppermint Altoids
Ketone Test Strips
No one will know just how sick you are if you don’t speak up for yourself. Advocating for myself and clearly explaining what I was going through didn’t come naturally, but was so helpful in getting the medical help I needed. One way to track your dehydration and physical state is by testing for ketones. The presence of ketones in urine is an indicator of starvation - of the body actively feeding off the fat in your body rather than glucose. While being in ketosis isn’t necessarily a cause for alarm, being aware of ketone levels can give you concrete evidence of your physical to share with your healthcare provider.
By tracking my daily ketones (as directed by my OB), I was able to better gauge when I needed IV fluids, or other medical attention.
HG Journal
When you go through something most people have never heard of, and many don’t believe in, the world becomes a pretty lonely place. Writing is wonderful, cheap therapy in such instances. Having a safe place to express all the ins and outs of your suffering, all the nuances of a very changed situation, the emotional burden, the worries, the fears, the internal struggles, etc. is life giving.
Hyperemesis Gravidarum: My HG Journal is meant to be that safe space for women going through, or who have gone through, hyperemesis gravidarum. It pages are filled with positive affirmations, written by fellow HG survivors. The book is divided into sections containing writing prompts to help guide through the entirety of the experience.
I know from personal experience that in the worst parts of HG, the thought of sitting up or even holding a pencil was out of the question. However, as the pregnancy progressed, there were moments of relief where writing was really helpful. I can’t recommend enough taking the opportunity to write out all the things weighing heavily on your heart. The struggles and the rock bottom you experience during such extreme seasons of suffering are fertile ground for future growth, compassion, self respect, and pride in what you’ve overcome.
IV Port Shower Cover
There is a range of severity when it comes to hyperemesis gravidarum. My fourth pregnancy was the first time I had it extreme enough to require a leave-in IV port. Grateful as I was to be able to administer my own IV fluids as needed, it made showering that much more difficult. IYKYK.
I was terrified that I’d do something wrong and get an infection in the port site. Being stuck with needles over and over again as the nurses tried to find new sites to place the port made me want to do everything in my power to keep the ports as good as possible for as long as possible. Showering made that really difficult!
How do you keep the port site dry in the shower?
There are a few different ways to go about it.
Raise your arm in the air, like you just don’t care! At the very least, you can just shower one-handed, raising the other arm up and out of reach of the water.
If the port is placed in your hand or wrist, these long gloves, plus a little medical tape, can do the trick. Pro tip: tape your skin directly, around where the top of the glove will hit. Then, slide the glove on, and tape again, so that you’re taping the glove to the tape. I found a lot less water leaked in this way.
If you’ve got a port anywhere else on your arm, these shower sleeves are super helpful.
Medication Side Effects…
You take medicines to ward off the illness, but then you’re stuck with the side effects. Some of these side effects can be worse than the illness itself.
I won’t go into the details, but one medicine and I played a pretty wild game of chicken. It was the only medicine that would make the vomiting stop (and trust me, I tried them all), although it did nothing to curb the nausea. There were times I just couldn’t bear to vomit one more time and so I’d take the medicine and then have to deal with it’s signature side effect. It wasn’t pretty.
During my first HG pregnancy, my record was ten days. Ten days without being able to pass a bowel movement.
I can’t describe the pain. It was so horrible, most of the time I preferred the vomiting, painful as that was as well.
My doctor suggested Dulcolax, Miralax, Milk of Magnesia, fiber pills, etc. Nothing helped. They all aggravated the vomiting. The next suggestions were Fleet suppositories and enemas.
When Mommies Get Sick
Last, but not least, a plug for my children’s book, “When Mommies Get Sick.” When a mom gets sick, it’s hard on the whole family. This children’s book was written and illustrated with input from my whole family, as we thought long and hard about what helped us get through these difficult pregnancies four separate times.
When Mommies Get Sick is a resource to help connect families during times of maternal illness because, as the book states,
“When mommies get sick, and sometimes they do, remember my dear, that they always love you.”
-excerpt from “When Mommies Get Sick”
For more advice and activity suggestions for anyone experiencing hyperemesis gravidarum with other children at home, check out my blog post: HG: Ideas For When You Have Other Kids At Home.
Having a friend who had gone through hyperemesis gravidarum before, and who could offer helpful suggestions on how to get through it, was beyond helpful. It was everything. If you have any other items or tips and tricks that helped you through an HG pregnancy, let us know in the comments below! You never know, your suggestion may be the thing that helps make this difficult time a little lighter for someone else.
