Customer Reviews

Beyond Morning Sickness: Battling Hyperemesis Gravidarum

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(1)
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Ashli McCall has written a superior book for women suffering from HG. Her sharing of personal stories as well as much valuable information and self-help suggestions on this awful illness will help sufferers and those who love them to bear down and get through these terrible days of illness. There is hope at the end of this tunnel and it wears a diaper! Ashli's book will give women the strength to persist in their pregnancies with hope until birth. HG DOES end!

Thanks, Ashli, for a really wonderful and helpful manual.

I found this book with my current pregancy. My hyperemesis was full-blown again, and I was desperate for new help. This is my third hyperemesis pregnancy. Ashli's book was the greatest resource I found. The personal anecdotes helped me feel like I was not alone and I could get through this hell. Her medical advice was clear, step by step, and easy to understand. I was able to give certain stories to my husband and parents so they could understand my plite better. I downloaded the HG pamphlet to give to my medical group which was suprisingly uninformed about hyperemesis. Because of the knowledge I have during this pregnancy, I was able to get on Zofran immediately and request hydration twice a week as soon as the vomitting began to last all day and night. I moved in with my parents for help with my 3-year-old, and am doing so much better now at 5 months. During my first pregnancy, I was deathly ill ALL 9 months because I didn't get the proper care early enough. I wish I had this book in 2005!

With my 4 pregnancies I have felt yucky some of the time and so when I heard from other people that they were sick all the time, I naturally just said, "Yep, I know what you mean". Oh boy, after reading this book I now know that I DO NOT know what they mean! When you hear one HG story, it is easy to wonder if it is really that bad or if your friend is just wimpy. However when you read Ashli's book you come away with an understanding of the medical information as well as some understanding as to how it feels to have this dreadful condition. This book alternates between a personal story, many that are deeply honest, followed by a chapter of medical information. This format makes the book easy to read (even though the subject is difficult)and it is a must have for the HG sufferer, her family and friends and the doctor. This is truly an amazing book that took a lot of courage to write and share the dreadfulness that HG brings to the suffer as well as the hope and tools to get through this time.

I loved this book. It made me cry. For once I feel like someone understands what I go through. I am 13 weeks pregnant and still battling everyday. This is a must read for anyone that is experiancing this disorder.

Anyone who is going through or has been through HG or knows someone who has been through HG, will be deeply touched and helped by this book. Ms. McCall handles an extremely painful subject with sincerity, dignity, intelligence, thoroughness, and even humor that can make the most severe cases laugh out loud. And anyone thinking about pregnancy again after suffering from HG will benefit by reading this book in preparation for their next pregnancy.

I love this book. I had hg with all of my pregnancies and with the last I couldn't get over all that I went through. That was until I read this book. I wish I had known of it when I was pregnant. It would have done a lot to let me know that I was not alone in how I was feeling and treated. I definitely reccommend it for the pregnant, family members, friends, and even your OB/GYN!

Very compelling read, really captures the pain and torture of Hyperemesis Gravidarum. Does a wonderful job of explaining many different treatments to try.

Definitely a must-read for any Hyperemesis Gravidarum sufferer or survivor.

Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG) is a severe form of "morning sickness" which is characterized by one or all of the following: unrelenting nausea and/or vomiting, dehydration and/or malnutrition, rapid weight loss, and the inability to keep food and/or liquids down (or even eat at all).

If you are reading this review, you are most likely suffering from HG, a past sufferer from HG, or the friend, relative or caregiver of someone suffering with HG.

If that is the case, here is my recommendation: Before you read any further, stop, go back to the top of the page, and order "Beyond Morning Sickness: Battling Hyperemesis Gravidarum." You need this book.

As a matter of fact, order a couple. One for you, one for your doctor or caregiver, and one for family members. If you're exorbitantly rich, buy a small stack and hand them out to every insensitive person who says, through word or deed, "Oh come on. We all dealt with morning sickness. Stop whining and get over it."

After my own relatively-minor bout of HG, I started looking for answers. Where does it come from? What can we do about it? Well, no one knows the answer to the first question (theories abound), and there are multiple answers to the second (although each person requires specialized treatment - what works for one may not work for another). This book deals in depth with treatment options for HG, from the minor to the life-saving, giving details, risks, procedure descriptions, drug information, and oodles of personal testimonies.

I first found Ashli McCall through her excellent blog, which details her fourth trip through this fiendish disease:

http://www.hyperemesisgravidarum.blogspot.com/

There is literally no experience having to do with HG that this amazing woman has not dealt with, from the amusing to the tragic. She is truly the be-all-end-all in terms of knowledge about this disease, because she has dealt with almost every drug, treatment and procedure for HG that currently exists.

One of the best parts about this book is the realization that "Oh my gosh, someone FINALLY understands!!" HG sufferers know firsthand the infuriating comments that we get by the handful:

"Oh yeah, I had bad morning sickness too. Couldn't eat bacon for weeks."
"Go outside and get some fresh air. You'll be fine."
"Stop thinking about yourself so much. You're making yourself sick. Just snap out of it."
"Eat crackers and drink ginger ale."

Due to the rarity of this condition, most people have not heard of it. When you combine that with the fact that most women have dealt with some sort of morning sickness at one point or another, that adds up to a bad combination - and the result is that HG sufferers almost never get taken seriously, by friends/family/coworkers/general acquaintances or by doctors and caregivers. By outsiders, HG is seen as the subject of an amusing joke. "She's really making a fuss over such a common thing. She needs to get over it." etc. etc. etc. This book is incredibly validating in that it gives me something to give to people and say, "Here. Read this!" For myself as well, it was a very healing process to learn that there are other people out there who have been through this nightmare (and, let me say, with versions of HG that made mine look like a bad sneeze).

I recommend that one have this book in hand whenever one is dealing with the medical community. My husband and I are thinking of trying to get through a second pregnancy, and I will be taking this book with me everywhere I go.

Especially helpful are some of the appendices - There is an appendix of antiemetic drugs, with all of their classifications, alternate names, and information. There are also lists of books and websites that are of invaluable assistance to address the needs of HG women.

This is the best book that I have read on the subject, and I HIGHLY recommend it. You cannot afford to be without this book.

Thank you, Ashli!!!

This is my 3rd bout dealing with HG but the very first time someone stood up and said "this is a real problem". I felt so validated in my feelings by reading this and sharing the info with well-meaning friends and family members. I think this book is truly a life-saver for those dealing with HG. Thanks goes out to the author for her amazing research and heart-wrenching stories she shares.

I came across this book after suffering with HG for 2 pregnancies. Finally a book that does not tell you to eat some crackers before getting out of bed and the morning sickness will go away. Women need to know that HG is not just "normal morning sickness". This book is so full of information you are sure to learn a lot from it, but in the very least you will get comfort that what you are suffering from is a real sickness that needs special care from your doctor. Also, this is a must read for anyone who is caring for a woman suffering from HG.
Thank you Ashli for the time you took to write this book. All OB/GYN offices should have a copy of it.