What wonderful news out of England, that Duchess Kate is now pregnant. She is early in her pregnancy, and is unfortunately experiencing a very severe case of a common early pregnancy symptom. Most of us are familiar with morning sickness, and many of us have experienced it at some point during our pregnancies. However, only about one percent of women will experience morning sickness as severely as Duchess Kate is now experiencing it.
The scientific name for excessive morning sickness is hyperemesis gravidarum, or excessive vomiting during pregnancy. In case you are wondering what qualifies as excessive vomiting (after all, vomiting is no fun so any vomiting may seem excessive), excessive vomiting is so severe that a person has trouble keeping anything down during any time of day and may even become dehydrated. Duchess Kate has had to spend some time in the hospital due to her condition, as people who experience this condition often do.
With garden variety morning sickness, a person is normally nauseous during a specific time of day whether morning (hence the name), afternoon, or evening. Often, symptoms can be alleviated by eating regularly, eating a little something immediately upon waking even before getting out of bed, and identifying what smells or tastes trigger the nausea and avoiding them. With hyperemesis gravidarum there is no rest for the weary and it is often a battle to keep any food or drink down whatsoever.
Sometimes, with cases of pregnancy related vomiting that are so severe that a hospital visit is required, symptoms do not decline as the pregnancy progresses, like regular morning sickness tends to do. This is not only uncomfortable for the pregnant woman, it can impede weight gain of it is not treated. Fortunately, treatment is available in the form of medication that prevents nausea and, in extreme cases, intravenous nutrition and fluids.
It is wonderful that the Royal Family is expecting a baby. Hopefully Duchess Kate’s condition will improve quickly so that she can enjoy her pregnancy.
Photo by ceneal1 on morguefile.com.