The next day everybody met at the breakfast table. Lisa prepared the breakfast while everybody else was getting ready for their day. The morning sickness had been getting worse and Lisa thought about going to the doctors, because she hasn't been able to keep anything down. What concerned her the most was the loss of weight she discovered before starting breakfast.
She thought morning sickness was normal in a pregnancy, but the constant vomiting and the dizziness that often went with it concerned her.
Everybody was eating something, but Lisa just watched them. She didn't want to give her stomach a reason to empty itself. "Don't you want to eat anything?" Jack asked after a while, but Lisa just shook her head. "I don't feel too well and I don't want to upset my stomach any more than I already did," she said and everybody went on with their conversation, but Jack was worried about his wife.
"When was the last time you ate something Lis?"
"Maybe yesterday?"
"I heard you throw up quite a few times yesterday. So when was the last time you ate something that stayed in your stomach?"
"Maybe three days ago. Could be four. I am not so sure."
"You should go and see a doctor, Lis. That's not normal. You need to be able to eat something. You look a bit dehydrated. Your lips are all dried up and I'm worried."
"You don't need to be worried Jack. I'm fine."
"I'd feel better if the doctor said you're fine so would you do me the favor and pay your doctor a visit?"
"If it makes you happy, I will," Lisa said and smiled weakly. The events of the previous week had drained her energy and the lack of food made her more exhausted as usual.
Jack kept an eye on his wife during the rest of breakfast and hoped the doctor could help her. He knew that this wasn't the normal morning sickness you experience. He had seen many women go through pregnancies before, but none of them had it as bad as Lisa did. He just wanted to be sure that she and the baby are fine.
…
Lisa was on her way to her doctor a few days later. Nothing had got better during the last few days much to her disappointment. In fact it had got a bit worse to the point even Amy started to worry.
"Mrs. Stillman. What brings you in?" her doctor asked as he sat down.
"I've been experiencing extreme morning sickness. I haven't been able to eat anything. Even crackers won't stay down for long. I've been feeling a bit dizzy and have experienced heart race quite a few times over the last few days up to maybe two to three weeks."
"That's interesting… Did you loose any weight?" he asked and she slowly nodded.
"It's not much, but it's the main reason I made an appointment. I'm just worried that there is something wrong."
"Well I do have an idea what it could be. There is a thing called severe morning sickness. The nausea and vomiting that happens in a case of severe morning sickness are so extreme that they can have harmful effects on both the mother and baby. The inability to keep down food makes it difficult for a woman to meet her nutritional needs. As a result, she might lose weight. And a loss of fluids, combined with the loss of stomach acid that occurs during vomiting, also can cause dehydration and electrolyte imbalances."
"That sounds familiar to me," she says and starts to worry even more after she heard that it can be harmful to the baby.
"What can you do against it, because to be honest I don't think I can continue like this… It drains my energy and I can barely do anything because of exhaustion."
"Although treatments that are commonly used for morning sickness, such as eating dry crackers in the morning or consuming a bland diet, may be recommended for women with extreme morning sickness, they may not be effective on their own because of the severity of the condition. There are many options. For example medical treatment. That could mean a short period of not eating by mouth to rest the gastrointestinal system, IV fluids or vitamin and nutritional supplements."
"That means I need medical treatment?"
"Well not necessarily. If the severe morning sickness can't be controlled through other options such as consuming a bland diet, eating frequent small meals, drinking plenty of fluids when not feeling nauseated, avoiding spicy and fatty foods, eating high-protein snack and avoiding sensory stimuli that can act as triggers, then we are giving you medicine to stop it. And then we'll see if it's better to give you the medicine in for of pills or IV. So you see there are many options to help you!"
"So I try it with all the options you have suggested first and if that doesn't help I'll come back to discuss any further actions."
"You're right. I'll write the options down for you since I mentioned quite a lot."
"Thank you so much!"
…
Lisa felt better knowing that there is a cure to all of this. She came home to an empty house and felt a bit less stressed. She knew that taking care of everything around here might be much on top of her pregnancy and morning sickness.
She didn't feel like cleaning the kitchen or vacuuming the living room so she looked through their fridge to see if there are any food items that fit into her new diet. She knew it would be hard to stick to that diet with everybody eating delicious and also fatty food.
As she looked through their food she discovered that there was not even one thing that fit into her new eating schedule. She closed the last shelf and sighed in frustration. She thought about ignoring her growing hunger, but knew she needed to finally eat something.
She made her way into town and went into the first supermarket she could find. Once there she realized that she had no idea what she could eat on a bland diet so she looked it up on the internet, being let unsatisfied.
"So I'm practically almost vegan. The only meat I can eat is skinless chicken and dairy should be avoided if possible. Well that's just great," she said to herself as she scanned the supermarket for any food she could eat.
It turned out that her shopping cart was filled with not many different things, but mostly vegetables and protein bars. She drove home and was still a bit upset that that was her diet for the next few months.
…
She stored her food items and decided to go for a tea first. Chamomile tea was recommended and luckily her favorite tea. While she waited for the tea to be ready, she started dinner for the rest of the family and something separate for herself.
While the rest of the family would be able to eat lasagna she would be eating boiled carrots and peas with no seasoning. On top of that she dared to eat a small piece of skinless chicken as recommended. She already dreaded the tasteless food, but knew she need to eat something and this would be the best choice.
Soon the whole family was seated around the table and she served their dinner first. She didn't have the time or opportunity to talk to either of them about her appointment and new diet so all of them were surprised when she sat down with different food on her plate.
"What are you eating Lisa?" Katie asked innocently. The little girl was jealous that her great grandma didn't ask her if she wanted to eat some of her food as well.
"I'm eating boiled carrots and peas with skinless chicken. Everything unseasoned… You wouldn't want to eat that sweetie," she said and looked at her food unhappily.
"And why so bland? I didn't know you are that type of person." Ty said and everybody looked at her surprised.
"Well that's my new diet for the next few months. I went to doctors this morning because of my extreme morning sickness and was diagnosed with severe morning sickness, which means I have to stick to a bland diet and a few other things. If that doesn't help I have to get medical treatments to help my through the morning sickness," she said and Jack looked at his wife worriedly.
"But the baby is fine, isn't it?" he asked and she nodded.
"It is. I just have to be cautious about what I eat from now on."
The whole family fell into conversation easily and began eating. Lisa, who still was very unhappy with the whole situation, slowly took a piece of carrot and could swallow without chewing thanks to the mushy consistency.
The food tasted bland and she didn't like it at all, but for the first time in days she didn't have to vomit after eating something. She felt quite content with that achievement and was able to forget about the damn diet for a while.
…
Later that evening Lisa and Jack were sitting on the couch, cuddling. That's when her insecurities and anxieties hit her once again. The thought of being pregnant still scared her and her diagnose was just another reason for her mind to tell her that she wasn't good enough for either Jack or the baby.
Her last marriage with Dan had left her insecure on the inside. The side not many people got to see. She could play the confident business woman very well, but it only took Jack's strong embrace to make her thick wall crumble.
She never liked to admit it, but he had made her softer. He made her believe in good things again. He gave her a reason to believe in love again. She knew that she should be happy about this baby, but deep inside she just couldn't.
Even after all the love she received from Jack and the rest of the family, she still felt wrong and uncomfortable with the current situation. This problem came from deep inside and couldn't be erased by simple words and she knew that.
She didn't want Jack to know how she felt after all the effort he had made to make her feel loved and welcome. She didn't want him to think of her as unthankful. She didn't want him to think of her in any kind of negative way.
Her normal way of dealing with this issue was eating chocolate. Chocolate made everything better in a way nobody can really explain. But thanks to the diet she wasn't allowed to eat her comfort food and so she was stuck with a damn protein bar.
She sat back down next to Jack and tried the bar carefully.
"Doesn't taste good?" Jack, who had watched his wife closely, said. He saw that something bothered her. He knew that this whole situation was still getting to her in a way it shouldn't. But he knew better than to pressure her into telling him that. She would tell him when she was ready.
"I want chocolate," she just said.
"Well you can't have that. Why not be happy with what you have?"
"Because this sucks. It tastes not good at all."
"Is it really the protein bar that bothers you or are you just letting your anger out on it?"
"Of course it's just the taste of the damn thing," she said and he knew she wasn't ready yet so he didn't push her any more. She would come to him…
I'm sorry for the lack of updates, but my pregnancy is coming to an end and I'm just felling like I'm about to die. Hah should know better after my last pregnancies. Hope you like it!