19-year-old mother, Breanna Schroeder, went through the pregnancy of hell after being struck by an extremely rare medical condition that made her vomit on average 80 times a day.
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Permanently damaged organs
The American woman started experiencing severe morning sickness within the first three weeks of her pregnancy prompting her to seek medical attention only to be told that her symptoms were mild and normal. Upon further consulting with doctors after her seventh week of pregnancy, the young mother-to-be was diagnosed with Hyperemsis Gravidarum (HG) which is a disease that causes nausea and vomiting in pregnant women.
However, her case was so bad that Breanna found herself sometimes vomiting as many as 130 times per day. This has now left her with permanently damaged organs. She explains that:
I couldn't comprehend what was happening to my body. On my worst days I would lose count of how many times I'd been violently sick at around 130, at which point I was throwing up bile and blood.
Before adding:
The vomiting got so bad that I permanently damaged the lining of my stomach and tore my oesophagus.
Raising awareness
Though her pregnancy was very painful, her baby girl, Adela, was surprisingly born completely healthy. Since giving birth, the new mother has been able to eat normally without having to violently purge every consumed meal.
As a result of the hardships she went through, she now wants to raise awareness around HG as she believes experts were not reactive enough in diagnosing her with her problem. She said:
When I look back on my pregnancy, my immediate thought is I wouldn't wish that upon anyone.I want to raise awareness about HG as well as funding for research that will help medical professionals understand more about the condition.
I hope that in the future other pregnant women with HG receive better treatment than I did, and they don't suffer as I suffered.
And added:
The most important thing now is that Adela is happy and healthy, and having her as my wonderful daughter has made it all worth while.
