We have some very exciting news to share with you all. We're having a baby! Now we're half way and thoughts are turning to what should I pack in my hospital bag? What do we need for baby? We thought we'd share our news and what we're planning to use and pack. 

Firstly, I  thought I would start qt the very beginning and raise some awareness.

As some of you may already know I always suffer with Hyperemesis when pregnant and this time its no different, this time around has been the worst out of the 3. 

Hyperemesis is a severe form of morning sickness. It affects around 1-2% of pregnant women in the UK. It can last the entire pregnancy and is managed with different antiemetics and rehydration via I.V. For some women it can last the entire pregnancy for others it can ease off. Either way it's truly awful no matter how long you suffer.

Weeks 6 to 16 were tough. They were tough on everyone. The children not understanding why I couldn't do anything anymore and Panda getting confused where Mummy kept disappearing to. Andrew couldn't be faulted he took care of everyone, spoke to doctors at the hospital via phone and all without complaint. I was pretty much sofa bound if I wasn't in the bathroom or hooked up to an I.V in hospital. There were many trips to hospital at all times of the day and night to be rehydrated. By 16 weeks it was clear this was not improving and I was very poorly, we spoke to my consultant who admitted me to begin a course of steroids. Lots of women manage on the antiemetics meant for chemotherapy patients and don't need steroids. Unfortunately this time I needed them this was the last treatment they could try and I was desperate for some relief. If I could describe how it felt to me it like I was being poisoned everyday, not enough to kill me but enough to make me feel very poorly indeed. 

Fortunately for me the steroids took the desired effect and ceased the vomiting enough for me to eat and drink. I use dream constantly about food and drink and it felt good to finally drink a whole drink and eat some toast without the feeling I was to commit. I'm still taking a cocktail of medication and do still feel nauseous but at least I now feel like I'm living again and not existing.

I also want to give a huge shout out to the pregnancy sickness support charity (pss). I urge you or if you know someone who is suffering then get in touch with them. They are very kind, empathic and supportive. They can assign you a support buddy which I can't stress how wonderful mine is we don't talk as much as when I was super sick but she has been a constant support providing information on different medication, hospital policies and most importantly listening to me and  understanding how truly terrible I felt because she had suffered to. Their website is full of facts and information, they also have a hotline. They work tirelessly to raise awareness for women suffering from hyperemesis and supporting the woman suffering.

Now I've done my part in raising some awareness for Hyperemesis, look out for part 2 where I'll be discussing what I'm going to pack in hospital bag.