OH Where to Begin???

WOWZA!  I can't believe it's been a million years since my last post!  AND I not only didn't post my 10 week belly pic, but I completely missed my 11 week belly pic!  We weren't even able to take one!  Things have been....um....crazy to say the least.  

I have been feeling something terrible!  Nothing has wanted to stay in my tummy!  And just the thought of the smell of my kitchen is enough to make me dry heave!  For an entire week, every time I walked into my kitchen, I tossed my cookies!  It got so bad that last Tuesday (9/23/08) James had to take me to the ER!  I was moderately dehydrated, which just made my nausea worse!

The ER doc diagnosed me with Hyperemesis Gravidarum, which only happens in 1 out of every 200 healthy pregnancies (LUCKY ME!).  It's basically just a severe form of nausea and/or vomiting.  It causes weight loss, dehydration, and malnutrition and occurs during the first 20 weeks of pregnancy (ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?!).  

So the doc called my OB and the OB called in a n order for a special IV with some kind of sugar drip (or something like that...wasn't really paying attention).  It seemed to help more than just the normal saline IV.  They also shot me up with a chemo-sized dose of Zofran in my IV.  That probably helped some too :)  

The nausea comes and goes in waves now, but the dizziness is almost constant.  And I'm never really sure when the gagging is going to hit.  The kitchen still bothers me, so I try to avoid it at all times.  And when I can't, I plan out my trip in there before going so I can get everything I need as quickly as possible.  Most times I can hold my breath....for the times I can't, I just keep my shirt over my mouth and nose and pray!