Side Note

Oddly enough, after my last blog entry (faith & hyperemesis part II), I feel an unusual sort of relief - like I have done what I set out to do! I think that so far, that was the culminating effort of my blog. Now that I have written out completely my spiritual questions and struggles, it's like my mind is much clearer, and I can move ahead with trying to deal with them cleanly rather than mucking about in confusion.

When I started this blog, I had only one objective - to gather and publish my research into hyperemesis to make it available to other HG mums. However, I realize that this blog has also initiated a much-needed spiritual journey as well, and I am profoundly grateful for that. I simply could not have faced another pregnancy without asking these questions and (hopefully) coming to terms with them.

I wanted to also broadcast a note to April, who left a blog comment on this blog several weeks ago. April, I responded to your comment, but I don't think that it went anywhere, so I am going to republish my response here just in case you're still checking this blog.

Also, I'm going to post April's comment here, as it may be helpful for some HG mums out there:

From April:

"Hiya. I'm an HG sufferer on her second HG pregnancy. This one has been more intense than the first. I'm 9 weeks and have already lost 13 pounds. But, my doc prescribed Zofran early enough that I haven't had any rehydration trips to the ER. The only problem is, the Zofran only quells the vomiting, not the nausea for me. So, while I haven't lost any more weight in the past week, the nausea is still relentless. And, I've found, nausea *without* vomitting presents its own horrors.

"Let me share what I've tried.

"Vitamin B-6 50mg plus 25mg unisom three times a day - did it for two weeks - those were the two weeks I lost 13 pounds. Not saying it caused it, but definitely didn't help.

"Acupuncture. I've gone once a week for two weeks, and I can honestly say I feel significant improvement in the severity (NOT the duration - it's still constant) of the nausea. Going back for another round on Monday. I'll keep you posted.

"Read your blog about vitamin K a week ago. I'm lucky enough to work for a major university and was able to get the original article. The study dose was vitamin K (5mg) and vitamin C (25mg) once a day. The problem is, they used vitamin K-3, which can be toxic at this dose. Also, I have read that high doses of vitamin K (any form) in the last trimester of pregnancy has been linked to increased incidence of jaundice in the newborn. All that said, I found only one place online that sold vitamin K-1 in 10 mg capsules. I have been taking 10 mg vitamin K and 100 mg vitamin C for the last two days. I'll let you know if it touches the nausea in the next few days."

My response:

Hi, April!

I’m so sorry to hear you’re going through HG a second time!! That really stinks. You have more courage than I currently have, as you probably saw from my blog – I haven’t managed to get up courage to try again. I hope that one of the HG remedies can end up working for you. It really seems that different things work for different people. One HG friend of mine told me that acupuncture made her HG worse, while that seems to be working well for you. I’m sorry to hear that the B-6 combo didn’t work for you. It didn’t work for me either, but by the time I tried it I was too sick to keep it down, so I hadn’t counted it out yet.

I will be interested to hear what comes of the vitamin K experiment – let me know! I am surprised to hear that the original study used K-3, as I had read (I think???) that it was K-1 – but that was only a reference to the study, not the original study. I hope that it will have good effects for you.

I will be thinking of you!! Good luck!!!
Love,
Diana

And now, off to get my toddler, who has taken a waaaayyyy-too-short nap!