HG Girls Go Wild in Wales Challenge

[p]HG girls go wild in Wales is a 3 day stomping 2 night wild camping type challenge!! One that is completely out of my comfort zone!! [/p][p]HG is characterised as extreme nausea and/or prolonged & persistent vomiting that can last an entire pregnancy. As a result of this condition many are left with lasting health problems - mentally (depression, anxiety,PTSD) physically (organ failure, GI damage & complications, loss of baby) and emotionally - as well as socio-economic factors such as financial hardship, debt, unemployment, isolation & breakdown of relationships. This list is not exclusive but merely the tip of the iceberg. [/p][p][br][/p][p]HG is not well known. It's not sexy. It's often dismissed as 'bad' morning sickness - it is NOT morning sickness...lets just clear that misrepresentation up now...Not well known by doctors, midwives and other healthcare providers. Treatments are unpredictable, pot luck on where you live and many women suffer unnecessary because of poor medical knowledge & understanding. A lot of the limited research that is available is flawed & providing a disservice to vulnerable women. This needs to change. [/p][p][br][/p][p]GINGER & CRACKERS is not a CURE!!![/p][p][br][/p][p]Pregnancy Sickness Support is a small charity (based in Cornwall) that provides information, support, 1-2-1 peer support, treatment plans and extensive knowledge for all who need it in the UK. Their service is invaluable & provides a light for those trapped in darkness. [/p][p][br][/p][p]I guess this is the time to share my story, my HG story (I hope my honesty doesn't offend). My pregnancy was living hell. I'm pretty sure their is no other way to describe it. It didn't make me 'glow'. It wasn't the most wonderful time. It wasn't happy. I wasn't happy. I didn't feel pregnant. It felt like an illness. It was miserable. I was bed ridden. I hugged the toilet more than my husband. I couldn't take care of myself. I'd faint. Curl up in pain. I felt guilty. Lonely. Isolated. Dehydrated. Malnourished. Admitted to hospital 15times to be wired up to fluids, vitamins, steroids, and anti-emetics... In order to be able to keep taking anti-sickness tablets every 2hours day & night. These didn't stop the nausea or vomiting, merely reduced its relentlessness. My world was turned upside down. How I survived I'll never know, you just do , one day at a time. I'd smile. It hides a lot. It still does.[/p][p][br][/p][p]I was lucky. You shouldn't have to be lucky. I had access to supportive doctors who were happy to prescribe medications not licensed for HG (usually given to cancer patients so not something to be taken lightly) but which were recognised as the recommended treatment pathway. I was able to self administer injections etc. I was able to rest. I didn't have to worry about money and finding rent or paying bills. This isn't the case for most.[/p][p][br][/p][p]I couldn't prevent the need to be induced early. My liver just wasn't coping but I was over the moon for this to happen, I could finally see an end. However...My tougHGuy needed NICU assistance for the first week... Was that my fault? Im not going to lie...my mental health has had a right kicking...Feelings that I was failing as a mother for not being able to carry my baby for any longer? For evicting him early? For being weak & defeated? For needing excessive medications? For the inability to keep food & fluids down? For failing to provide my little man with a safe warm tummy to grow in? I've been tortured with my own thoughts, the what if's, only now really being able to cope with the aftermath. Accepting what it was, trying to be kinder to myself, it's harder than you think. It's amazing how your mind can so easily cause you to self destruct! [/p][p][br][/p][p]But you know what... I have the most amazing little tougHGuy. He's my precious little miracle! He's a contented healthy happy little soul ?? totally worth the trip to hell and back.[/p][p][br][/p]