The baby was born, but the morning sickness was still here
As told to Rachael Lavon
It’s hard to pinpoint when my stomach issues started. We were newly married, living in Eretz Yisrael and enjoying every second of it. Though we missed our families in the States, my husband and I shared a dream of building our home in Eretz Yisrael.
When I found out I was expecting, we were over the moon. My older sister and mother both suffered from hyperemesis gravidarum (excessive nausea and vomiting) while pregnant, so I was expecting nausea from the get-go. Sure enough, the symptoms began right away. I never knew when I’d feel sick; the terrible nausea would come and go throughout the day, but I assumed it was all part of the pregnancy package.
“After the first trimester you’re going to feel a million times better,” friends and family members reassured me. As the weeks passed, I waited anxiously for the relief that everyone promised was imminent, but the nausea and vomiting persisted. I became slightly more functional toward my due date, but unlike my mother and sister, I suffered from debilitating nausea all the way until the end.
“You’ll see,” said my labor coach. “An hour or two after birth, you’ll feel like a new person.” I couldn’t wait. At last our princess arrived, right before Pesach, and we dived right into parenthood, overjoyed with our little bundle. The only thing shadowing the simchah was the nausea, indigestion, and random bouts of vomiting that still hadn’t gone away.
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