Poorliness in Pregnancy

Sadly the bank holiday weekend just gone has not been a very fun one for us! It’s a tale of two halves so I will start, surprisingly enough, at the beginning, and then the rest will follow in a subsequent post.

Being ill is never fun at the best of times, but I have to say, being ill when you are pregnant seems doubly bad. For a start, you can hardly take any medication when you are pregnant. The only painkiller you’re really allowed is paracetamol, and I can’t be the only person who finds that paracetamol has a limited effect on a stonking headache or if you feel really rough or in pain. It may take the edge off a fever but behind that, it almost feels pointless to me to take it. Everyone is different though, I know.

If you have a cold, you can’t take any decongestants, so that is most cold remedies out of the window, and with nearly everything else you are told to check with your doctor, who invariably recommends you not to take anything if you can avoid it (obviously with exceptions). I understand why, after all, no-one, and I mean NO-ONE wants to test drugs out on pregnant women to see what effects they have on your baby. Understandably no pregnant woman would want that either, but it is really difficult when you are feeling rough and pregnant, and there is basically nothing you can do about it.

The main reason it is harder to be ill when you are pregnant though, is the obvious fact that you are sustaining the life of a growing human being inside you. So while with any illness at any time, you may feel weak or drained, when you are pregnant, this is compounded, as the baby still needs to take all the nutrients they can from you, leaving you with even less. Add to that the dreaded hormones which can make you react to things much worse than normal anyway, as I discovered this weekend…

Friday had been a lovely happy day, in the afternoon my little bro came round to play with Monkey as he does every other Friday after work. I was feeling really tired at this point and a tiny bit nauseous, but, honestly, that’s nothing new with this pregnancy. The 4.30-6pm time is generally a bit rough for me at the moment and I am quite often tired, woozy and occasionally a bit nauseous so I didn’t think too much of it. After my little bro went home I asked hubby to see if he could get out of work a little early as I was really struggling with the thought of cooking the tea. Again, not hugely out of the ordinary as the previous time I had cooked meatballs, I had felt a bit sick, so I assumed it was just all part of the pregnancy fun.

But, well, to cut a long story short, it wasn’t. I started throwing up a couple of hours later. I have suffered in the past (pre- being pregnant with Monkey even, and during my last pregnancy) with acid reflux, which when really bad made me very sick, so initially I thought it may be something like that. Then it got really bad and I was throwing up any tiny sip of water and even if I had nothing the throwing up was approx. every 20-30 mins apart. Then the diarrhea started and by now I knew something was actually wrong. Tummy bug, bad food, no idea, but not just normal.

The next morning we thought I was a bit better and I tried some food. Soon enough though the vomiting started again and as I had nothing left in my system I started vomiting bile, first yellow, then a horrible dark green colour, which smelt bad! Really really sorry if that is too much information, that is the worst I will tell you.

I have had food poisoning once before (many years ago travelling alone in a hostel in Peru, it was not fun) and I know that these things will generally sort themselves out. But there is a big difference in that right now I am pregnant. We are told to not eat certain things as certain bugs can be dangerous for the baby. I have no idea what bug I had but all I did know was that by now I was seriously dehydrated and knew that again that couldn’t be good, but also didn’t really know how/if/when it would be a problem for the baby.

So I called the NHS 111 line and spoke to an out of hours GP, and got an appt with them at the out of hours centre. The Dr I saw was concerned by how dehydrated I was and with the frequency of the vomiting and was worried that if he gave me any anti-sickness medication then it would basically come back up again. The alternative option was a trip to hospital. He called them and they wanted me to go in, potentially to stay overnight.

I was sent to triage on the delivery unit as by now it was Saturday evening, and after being assessed by midwives and a doctor (and listening to my baby’s heartbeat, which was a huge relief!) we were asked what we wanted to do. I could have stayed overnight to be rehydrated and receive anti-sickness medication, or I could get an anti-sickness jab and rush through some fluids to hopefully break the cycle so I could go home. I’d always rather be at home in my own bed so we chose the latter. The important thing really was knowing that the baby was fine and wasn’t going to be harmed by my being ill.

We had a good chat with the midwife who told us that basically if anything, being pregnant just made me feel worse. She said the hormones would probably have made the vomiting worse in the first place, and then because the baby is still getting everything he/she needs, I was being left with even less sustenance to keep myself going. Not very fun but at least the baby wasn’t suffering at all as a result of it.

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I had a really painful injection in my bum (never realised how painful jabs into that muscle are before) and a lovely cannula on my wrist for the IV and then started receiving the fluids, which made me freezing cold! Particularly in my arm, brrr! Hubby was with me (grandparents looking after Monkey in bed at home by now) and we took the opportunity to talk babies’ names. It was really odd being on the delivery unit as women were coming in with their contractions, we could hear the midwife on the phone reassuring expectant mums, and every now and then we would hear the cry of a newborn. Really quite surreal being there, when I barely even have much of a bump!

Thankfully after a couple of hours, when the bag was empty, I was feeling a lot better, and though I was still dehydrated, I hadn’t thrown up in all that time and had a bit more colour in my cheeks. I was again given the option of staying overnight but wanted to come home and so far I have been a lot better since. It’s taken a couple of days of not really eating very much so I am still really tired and drained. Sitting writing this I don’t feel too bad but I know when I get up to do something I get tired really quickly.

Unfortunately though, the drama of the weekend was not quite over….. to be continued...

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43 thoughts on “Poorliness in Pregnancy

    • Thank you, it certainly does add an extra level of misery and worry to the illness but thankfully all on the mend now! xx

  1. Pingback: Our Brave Little Monkey! | Becoming a Stay at Home Mum

  2. Glad you were able to go home on Saturday Caroline. I was reminded of having some of the same kind of thoughts when I was pregnant with EJ although I didn’t have a vomiting bug but one of the worst coughs and colds I’ve ever had in my life – I barely slept for five weeks and the lowest point was probably the day of our 20 week scan which was a bit miserable. I also felt completely out of control because I knew I couldn’t take any kind of medicine. I would normally resort to Night Nurse eventually but even that one promise of some compromised sleep was off the menu. I never want to feel like that again!! Hope you are well on the mend now hon X

    • Ah gosh hon that sounds so rough! Being ill when you are pregnant really is worse than normal 🙁 I had a hideous ear infection the week before Monkey was born and honestly I’ve never known pain like it, I was rocking backwards and forwards in agony in the middle of the night and there was no pain relief I could have that close to the birth and just had to wait for antibiotic eardrops to work. Just awful, and yeah this wasn’t fun either, though thankfully all on the mend now! xx

  3. Oh you poor thing Caroline! I hope you are feeling much better now? Being ill is nasty at the best oft times! Glad they didn’t insist on keeping you in! #MMWBlogHop x

    • Thank you, hmm yes you’ll have to have a read of the Brave Monkey post, it was not a hugely fun few days but we are all doing a lot better now! xx

  4. Oh C, that’s awful. I can completely sympathise: whislt pregnant with bear i suffered an awful bought of food poisoning which resulted in sickness at least 10 times a day for just over a week, & countless hospital journeys. I hope you feel better very soon! xx

    • Oh god Katrina that sounds horrific, that kind of thing is never ever nice but so much worse when you’re pregnant! I am doing a lot better thankyou! xx

    • Thanks lovely, all doing a lot better and semi taking it easy but preparing for our holiday next week so there’s a lot to do! xx

  5. Before I got pregnant the sight of injection or that syringe that takes your blood makes me faint. But since I have so much exams to undergo I got use to it. But I dint really had a hard time hard time. I didn’t experience the vomiting part. Pregnancy is already hard as it is I can only imagine how harder it is. Get well soon may seem futile but I am still wishing you one. I will wait for the 2nd part too. #MadMidWeekBlogHop

  6. I completely forgot how pregnancy can be even at the best of times. When you’re so such and have a little one to look after it just really be exhausting. I hope you’re feeling better really soon and can enjoy the pregnancy a bit too. Xx

    • Thank you, I think sometimes we have to forget how bad it can get, otherwise we’d never do it again! All feeling a lot better now, thankfully! xx

  7. Oh hun! As a HG sufferer I completely sympathise! Many a jag in the bum and tablets that weren’t even licenced for pregnancy use. Hopefully it’s passed now and you don’t have to go through that again. Rotten xx

    • Oh goodness you poor thing, HG must be horrific! All gone now thankfully, I can’t imagine being that sick for so long! xx

  8. It sounds like you’ve really been through the mill. Sorry to hear that wasn’t the end of the drama either. I hope you’re managing to get lots of rest and are being looked after. Pregnancy is flipping exhausting at the best of times, let alone when you have another child to look after and are ill too. Thank you for linking up to the #BlogBumpClub this week – sorry to read about your horrible time. xx

    • Thanks Molly, it was a rough weekend and combined with pregnancy definitely wasn’t fun, but thankfully it is all over now! xx

  9. I am so sorry to hear you’ve been having such a rough time. Poor you, I am looking forward to the next installment but I do hope you are all doing ok now. Take care x

  10. Sorry to hear you had such a difficult time. I also had a stomach bug over the weekend but luckily it passed after 36 hours and I didn’t need any medical care. But you are completely right, the baby takes all your energy and nutrition and just leaves you feeling completely awful. Its taking me days to get over something that normally would have just passed xx

    • Ah gosh hope you’re ok too, nasty isn’t it! Definitely worse when you’re pregnant too and takes a lot longer to recover from! xx Hope you’re feeling ok! xx

  11. Oh bab! I feel your pain. I have picked up stomach bugs with both of my babies. And it was horrific. I remember just weeping and weeping and worrying about the baby the whole bloomin time. The doc said to me too that the babies are generally fine. Thanks so much for linking up to #AllAboutYou and glad you are better! xxx

  12. Brrrr just one look at that cannula and I’m shivering at the memories of having one shoved into my hand for an extended amount of time. Hope you are feeling MUCH better now. thanks for linking up to #AllAboutYou xx

  13. Gosh lady! So sorry to hear you are so poorly, but glad you got the treatment you needed to hopefully be feeling well again! Those cannulas hurt like a mother….don’t they? Get well soon lovely and thanks for linking up! #MMWBH xx

    • Oh they do, they’re awful and always seem to be put in a horrible place! When I had Monkey I had one on the side of my wrist, it was sooo sore! Thank you all better now 🙂 xx

  14. I feel your pain, I got the winter sickness bug when I was 33 weeks pregnant with Ethan and ended up in hospital for three days. It totally wiped me out and I started maternity leave from that point. I was also so worried about the baby but they told me the same thing, the baby will take everything it needs and won’t worry about you. I really hope you are feeling better now. I wouldn’t wish this on anyone! x

    • Thank you lovely, that must have been awful! It’s bad enough when you are not pregnant, but when you are.. it just makes it so much harder! xx

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