The result of our trip was finding out that Freyja is super healthy and quite the little smarty pants. Both nice things, but what I'm most pleased with is that she's happy, which from the massive amounts of giggling she's been doing lately, I'd say mission accomplished!
During the course of the appointment, he asked whether Freyja had allergies to medications, or had seemed to show allergies towards any specific foods so far. I said that it didn't appear so at this point.
He then asked me about myself, and I mentioned that I had a severe allergy to the drug Phenergan, and as all physicians do when I say this, he asked me what happens to me when I take it. I told him about the hallucinations I was reported to have had has a child from taking it (I don't remember this, but I've been told), and then about the hallucinations, paranoia, and manic behavior I had when taking it as a teenager, despite telling the nursing staff at the hospital that I couldn't take it (nice, huh?).
I said that this allergy has been a real bummer for me during pregnancy because I suffer from Hyperemesis Gravidarum during my first trimester and beyond. Two of the most common medications for the treatment of this are Compazine and Phenergan, and I can take neither, since Compazine contains the same active ingredient which I have an allergy to. This left the medication Zofran, which is often given to cancer patients to relieve the nausea and vomiting experienced during chemotherapy. It was absolutely unaffordable, and out of the question, even with insurance. So, I turned to other options. I tried changing my diet, and using certain foods to combat the problem. I tried herbal remedies. I even tried a doxylamine and vitamin B6 therapy, which has been reported to give some women relief. Nothing I tried worked, and thus I had to spend the first half of my pregnancy feeling pretty horrible. So horrible, in fact, that despite the fact that I really, really want to have more children, the thought of going through that kind of spine-wrenching pain and discomfort all over again had me wondering if I could actually do it.
I mean, the nausea, fatigue, and constant vomiting was far worse than having Freyja. Can you imagine?
So, when the doctor non-chalantly told me that the pharmaceutical company had lowered the cost of Zofran, and specifically mentioned how much, I wanted to jump up, run over to him, and give him a kiss.
If it's in the cards someday to have another child, I'm definitely going to spend some time researching other ways to deal with the very real possibility that I'll have Hyperemesis again, without having to turn to Zofran. I don't certainly don't want to take a prescription medication every day during my pregnancy! But the fact that I can take it if I can find no other relief takes some serious fear and doubt away, which feels so good.
