by Betsy Shaw posted in Pregnancy

We hear it again and again: "Morning sickness has a purpose." "Morning sickness is worth it because you are rewarded with a beautiful baby in the end." "Be grateful it's only temporary."
All this may be true, if you're one of the lucky ones whose worst pregnancy complication is your garden variety hormonal "queasiness." But what about those women whose morning sickness is something bigger, something more extreme, something more deeply toxic than a week-long tequila and cigarette bender could ever induce" What about women who suffer from hyperemesis gravidarum (HG)"
Never heard of HG" Picture this:
Imagine being so sick you can't keep even one sip of any liquid down for longer than ten minutes. Imagine getting so dehydrated you need to go the the ER for intravenous hydration, sometimes weekly.

You eat nothing, so you have to go to the ER for intravenous nutrition.
Instead of gaining 8 pounds in the first trimester, you lose 15.
You vomit so violently and so frequently you have to go to the ER for intravenous, prescription, anti-emetic drugs.
You will possibly need to continue taking these drugs until you deliver your baby.
You feel fear, and intense guilt because, while the drugs are helping you survive, no one really knows what they are doing to your unborn baby.
Imagine being so debilitated you miss weeks, even months, of work. You might lose your job.
You are so miserably ill, 2...