I knew I was pregnant for the firs time not because I peed on a stick, but because I couldn't stomach the smell of a bagel. I chocked my nausea up to the stereotypical morning sickness, but once that nausea hijacked my entire life, I realized that I had something much more severe. I had hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), otherwise known as hell on earth. Thankfully, I have an amazing partner who stepped up and took care of me. Though watching someone suffer through HG can make a partner feel helpless, there are ways grown-ass men can help their partner who has hyperemesis gravidarum.
Unless you've struggled with hyperemesis gravidarum yourself, or you're a physician, you've probably never even heard of it. Well, Kate Middleton was hospitalized with it, so she shed some light on the subject. I was pregnant at that same time as the Duchess of Cambridge, and when the news broke that she had been hospitalized, I began to question my own condition. I wasn't sure how much vomiting was too much vomiting during pregnancy, and just assumed that I had a bad case of morning sickness that would subside once I was out of my first trimester. The nausea and vomiting never stopped though, and before I even reached my second trimester, I was diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum.
Unfortunately (and like many women) I had to continue to work through my pregnancy and HG and the never-ending vomit and nausea, and it took a major toll on my attitude and energy and health and, well, everything. My partner noticed the change in my demeanor, but instead of watching on the sidelines as my sunny disposition deflated, he stepped up because that's what a grown-ass man does. Just because you can't physically experience something as debilitating as HG, doesn't mean you can't help. So, if you're in the same nauseating boat that I was, and your partner doesn't know how support you, try showing them the following list: