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So Kate Middleton is pregnant. (YAY!) But she’s also in hospital. (BOO!) She was admitted with hyperemesis gravidarum. (Um...say what?)
Hyperemesis is, essentially, a severe form of something many of us experience during pregnancy: morning sickness. But this is not a case of the Duchess being a bit of a princess (oh, poor me, I’m feeling a little sick...), because hyperemesis is a serious thing.
The nausea and vomiting that comes with hyperemesis is much worse than average and can be disabling. Worse, it can threaten the health of a pregnant woman (and her baby). Complications can include unhealthy weight loss, dehydration, and nutritional deficiencies. Fortunately, hyperemesis is relatively uncommon.
But the much more common version, morning sickness, is no picnic either. So, if you’re pregnant, what can you do about morning sickness?
We don’t fully understand what causes morning sickness, but it’s associated with increasing estrogen levels and other hormonal changes. Morning sickness typically starts in the first few weeks of pregnancy, as hormonal levels rise, peaks at about nine weeks gestation, and then tapers off after that. It usually resolves by about 12 to 14 weeks of pregnancy, but in some cases it can last all nine (torturesome) months. There’s a broad spectrum of the severity of morning sickness, and it certainly doesn’t have to be limited to the morning—although that’s the most common time. Queasiness can strike at any time during the day.
Good times.
Nausea can make the early weeks of pregnancy downright miserable. If you suffer, what can you do? As it turns out, lots!
So how about you? Did you have morning sickness during your pregnancy? Did anything work for you?