Not morning sickness - Hyperemesis Gravidarum.

With the news that the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are expecting a little royal bundle of joy, also came the news that the Duchess, Kate Middleton is suffering from what the press have deemed "acute morning sickness" and has been hospitalized.

I'm not sure which has made me more furious, the ignorance of the press or the response from the wider public. 

So far i have read an endless stream of comments all with one general similarity  "Kate Middleton needs to deal with it like the rest of us, its just morning sickness".

Let me stop you right there. It is not "just morning sickness" it is Hyperemesis Gravidarum and it is hell. 

As a "survivor" of this little known condition i'd like to share something with this with her critics;

When i found out i was pregnant with my first daughter, i was excited, nervous and looking forward to enjoying my first pregnancy. The first time i was sick i was overjoyed, but then it didn't stop, every hour of every day i was throwing up, unable to make it to the bathroom i became very attached to our sink bowl. 

I was unable to keep down food and water, losing weight instead of gaining, with a constant headache i spent most of my time in tears. 

I had no energy, every day was spent in bed, alone, feeling incredibly alone. Like a fool i tried the usual, crackers, ginger, sea bands. It didn't work.

Then came the hospital trips, the IV's, the anti-sickness tablets whose affects on my baby were unknown.

I can not begin to explain the guilt of taking a tablet without knowing how my baby will be affected but knowing she could be affected if i didn't. 

It didn't matter in the end they didn't work.

I couldn't even enjoy my babys scans, because i was on the edge of throwing up the entire time.

It felt like this condition was swallowing me whole, it took away all the joy pregnancy was supposed to bring, more than once i found myself crying on the bathroom floor, my stomach was constantly painful because of how violently i was throwing up, several times i broke down to my partner and family members.

For the first 6 months of being pregnant i barely left the house, except for midwife appointments and Christmas, my sisters birthday and my baby shower. 

The entire time, i felt isolated and alone. Constantly told to get up and deal with it, just like Kate Middleton is being told, nobody seemed to understand that i couldn't. Every movement brought a new overpowering wave of nausea which only ever ended one way. Sick. 

Hyperemesis Gravidarum took away what should of been the happiest time of my life. I found only the hospital understood just how badly i was being affected. Mostly i felt eclipsed by a depression that took away all the light in my pregnancy. 

I was relieved when having my second that the Hyperemesis stayed away. But the affects it had on my first pregancy will never leave.

It is reassuring to see a community of women pulling together to start trying to raise awareness, to show Kate Middleton that there are women who have suffered and who understand. 

I hope she gets through the next nine months without feeling the way most of is do, but its unlikely and with the eyes of the world firmly focused on her and criticising her i am sure the Duchess is going to find this a struggle. The light at the end however will eventually take most of it away. 

The ignorance however of some people is astounding and for Mothers to be criticising her? It enrages me. I would like to see just ONE of these critics live a day with this condition and see how they cope.