After 3 Years, I Finally Got Pregnant. My Joy Turned Into A Nightmare I Wasn't Sure I'd Survive.

I grew up believing that being pregnant would be one of the best experiences of my life. I heard about the glow and all that bliss that comes with it. I expected nothing less than the pure joy of anticipating a baby, and I never imagined that my pregnancy could be brutally different from the way I had always imagined.

Things began fairly typically. At first I got sick riding in a car and then I threw up again when I got home. The next morning, the nausea was back and remained with me throughout the day. I had been trying to get pregnant for three years, and, after being disappointed so many times, I put off taking a test for several days. When I finally did, the test was positive. Still, I was unconvinced, so my husband and I visited my OB-GYN. My doctor performed an ultrasound and confirmed I was eight weeks pregnant. When we heard our baby’s heartbeat, I burst into tears and finally let myself embrace what was happening.

My husband and I were ecstatic. We hugged and laughed through our tears. Suddenly I got sick and threw up in a plastic bag. My doctor assured me I was just experiencing morning sickness.

“Just make sure you drink enough liquids and eat,” she said. “You should be fine by the second trimester.”

Just a few more weeks, I thought to myself as I tried not to vomit again.

The situation escalated dramatically in the following days. I was severely sick all day every day — not just in the mornings. I could barely eat anything. Whatever I put in my mouth came back up and was flushed into a toilet just a few minutes later. My nausea was so extreme that it wasn’t long before I completely stopped eating.

Within a week I was so weak that couldn’t even get out of bed. My husband took me to the ER, where they hooked