Michelle’s HG Story

Having suffered from hyperemesis for all of my pregnancies, I get it. And I know that most people don’t.

With my oldest daughter, I was so ill but I was never officially diagnosed with HG. I knew most women got sick during pregnancy, but I wasn’t handling it as well; so I wondered, “Am I just a huge baby?”

I had a lot of shame and guilt surrounding this. People offered me remedies left and right and for about the first 29 suggestions, I tried them. Nothing worked so finally I told everyone to just…stop.

“No, ginger isn’t helping. No, eating crackers before I get out of bed isn’t helping. No, getting up and moving around isn’t helping.”

People would often suggest the notion of mind over matter. At first I was like no way, but after hearing it over and over, I started to think… “Ummm…I don’t think this is just in my head…” Wait, was it?

I started to doubt myself. I began questioning myself on this constantly. Therefore, one day, I decided to just power through and force myself to get up and go about my day even though it seemed like the most dreadful thing. Let’s just say I got so far as to get into the shower. And that is exactly where my husband found me 20 minutes later after hearing my cries from upstairs. He found me laying in the tub unable to even stand up by myself.

It was at that moment that I accepted *something* was wrong. However, I wouldn’t actually figure out that this thing I had was hyperemesis gravidarum until well after my daughter was born and I had done my own research. Therefore, when I got pregnant with my son, I was ready…well as ready as I could be.

I had lined up as much as I could before I became bed bound for the next few months. While awaiting the doom to set in, I had a session with a counselor I had been meeting with for several years. She sympathized with my fear of this horrible condition–the intense sickness, feeling misunderstood, the loneliness and isolation–would soon be upon me. Near the end of the call she said to me, “God doesn’t waste anything. He uses what the enemy meant for evil and turns it to good.”

After our call, I just sat and prayed on that. It was then that an idea for a ministry to walk alongside and support women with HG was born. Many are left unable to work and care for themselves or others–which can be devastating physically, emotionally and financially. I wanted to help. I didn’t know how but the idea was there. I asked God that if this was truly His will, that He would sharpen this vision and keep it in the forefront of my thoughts. And that He did just that. 4 years later, I was still thinking about it and I offically decided to move forward with starting Hugs Over Ginger.

Katie’s HG Story

After witnessing my sister’s (Michelle Lawlor) first pregnancy, I had an idea of what HG was. During my first pregnancy, as soon as the 5 week mark rolled around, I started feeling nauseous and throwing up. I couldn’t get out of bed. The nausea was so intense. I would go through a few “bad days” and then get 1-2 good days when I was actually able to get up and move around. I wasn’t sure if it was HG or not since it looked a little different than Michelle’s experience. I sometimes questioned if it was since I did have some better days. This pattern continued until about 12 weeks, when most people said I should be feeling better.

I went out to eat on a Wednesday night and was not able to keep down anything I ate. The next day I was not able to keep anything down, even water. By Friday morning I was so dehydrated and miserable that I decided I needed to go to the ER for fluids. The doctor on call officially diagnosed me with HG and wrote me a prescription for Zofran and Diclegis.

I was hesitant to start meds because I was fairly naturally minded and had been told of some risks of taking meds during pregnancy. I was hopeful that just the fluids would suffice. Unfortunately, that was not the case. I was not able to keep anything down the rest of that day or night, or even the next morning. It was then that I came to terms with the fact that medication was essential for my and my baby’s health. Michelle filled the Diclegis prescription for me and it worked almost immediately! I was able to drink and eat and started to feel better. Even though I vomitted off and on throughout my whole pregnancy, staying medicated helped make it livable.

When I got pregnant the second time, I made sure to get a Diclegis prescription ASAP. The food aversions and nausea started earlier, and by 5 weeks were full blown, even with the Diclegis. I was angry that the HG had returned and that I was bed bound. This time around it was harder with a toddler to care for and I relied on my husband, parents, and daycare center for help.

Some mornings I would force myself to get up to pack a bag for my son for the times we would stay over at my parents’ house. After doing so, I would spend almost the entire car ride throwing up and feeling worse. I realized lots of movement was not possible, no matter how hard I tried to fight it and power through.

During this time, Michelle had already started talking about creating a ministry. It became clear to me that I was being called to help her and support other HG mamas.