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Allergic to pregnancy
A NEW mum who battled a serious pregnancy complication wants to raise awareness of her illness after fearing she could have died before having her ‘miracle baby’.
Born weighing 8lbs, happy and healthy two-week-old Kurt Lawrence McEwan is oblivious to the physical and mental strain his mum Andrea has been through.
The 26-year-old from Alnwick suffered from severe hyperemesis gravidum (HG), a form of excessive vomiting, throughout her pregnancy, spending around three months in hospital, losing three stone from her already petite frame, tearing her oesophagus and damaging her teeth and gums from constant vomiting.
She said: “It was absolute hell from start to finish. But every second was totally worth it for him.”
Andrea started feeling ill when she was around three weeks’ pregnant.
She said: “For the first month, I was in hospital.I was admitted about 10 times in total, with the shortest stay two days, and some for longer periods.
“I was just constantly vomiting. I was sick 20 times a day and that was on a good day. I couldn’t even drink water. I had to go to hospital to be put on a drip because I was so dehydrated. And when I came home it would only be a day or two before I was back again. It was like an allergic reaction to being pregnant.
“I lost nearly three stone in the first few months. I was like a skeleton, it was horrible. I never want to be like that. I thought I was going to die.
“I could barely go to the toilet by myself, let alone leave the house.”
She was still being sick during her labour but as soon as Kurt was born it stopped.
“It was like flicking a switch,” she said.
Andrea was given steroids to limit the damage as specialists feared she would need a feeding tube because of the constant vomiting. She was also taking anti-sickness tablets prescribed to chemotherapy patients.
But despite the constant struggle, Andrea got through it with the support of husband Kevin and family and friends.
Kevin, a gas man, said: “I put on a brave face for Andrea, we had to keep her spirits up. We all had fears but no one wanted to articulate them.
“I was worried about so many things, I wasn’t sure if I was going to lose the two of them.”
Andrea added: “I didn’t once get excited about being pregnant because I didn’t know if it would end in a baby.
“But now I just feel normal. Hyperemesis changes your whole personality. I just feel relieved.”
Andrea and Kevin lost a baby four years ago, at
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around 20 weeks, because of HG.
Now Andrea wants to make other mums-to-be aware of HG.
“The pregnancy books don’t say anything,” she said.
“They have plenty of information about pre-eclampsia but not hyperemesis, but it is a lot more common than people think.
“I got in contact with other mums in America who told me about the drugs to take and looked on the internet at it.”
She is urging pregnant women to make sure they seek medical help as soon as they think they could have HG as catching it early has helped save Kurt.
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Friday 25 May 2012
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