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A mum who suffered extreme morning sickness which made her vomit 30 times a day considered getting an abortion.
Chrissie Goodenough suffered with hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), which is an extremely type of morning sickness that causes severe nausea and vomiting.
The 34-year-old was left housebound and vomiting up to 30 times a day, during which her weight plummeted by two stone in the first seven weeks of pregnancy, leaving her unable to get out of bed.
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She luckily had the support of her husband, Anthony Goodenough, 39, who did ‘everything’, including caring for their daughter Alana Belle Goodenough, 4.
"He was so supportive and he said he was behind me whatever I decided to do with the pregnancy.
"I closed the blinds and wanted to deal with it on my own. I was very low in mood and it was affecting my mental health, it absolutely floored me."
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Despite the complications, the personal trainer gave birth to a 7lbs 4oz healthy girl called Esme on August 19th, who she said had made it all worthwhile.
Chrissie, from Maidenhead, Berkshire, said: "I found out I was pregnant just before Christmas and the sickness started straight away.
"I had a discussion about abortions [with Anthony] because it was so overwhelming, I can't describe it.
"It's nausea I've never experienced, I just wanted the feeling to go away."
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While expecting Esme, Chrissie said that by 26 weeks, her symptoms eased but she was prescribed anti-sickness medication, not getting her appetite back until she gave birth.
Before becoming pregnant with Esme, she had suffered a miscarriage back in 2017.
Chrissie said: "I had so much guilt because I'd pray for blood in my underwear even though I've had that traumatic experience [before] because I had a miscarriage. What it does to your mind is crazy.
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"I always wanted three kids, I wanted more but I'll never go through this again.
"I kept counting it down and I never did that with my Alana Belle [with her] I enjoyed being pregnant.
"I was happy and excited about having the baby but at the time I couldn't see past the nausea.
"My husband and I feel that due to HG we can’t do it again. It was so tough on my whole family."
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Anthony is now booked to have a vasectomy in November.
Chrissie said that thoughts of her daughter's 10-week scan persuaded her to go ahead with the pregnancy, as well as help from her husband.
"With Alana Belle, I had loads of scans so I knew what she looked like at every stage and at 10 weeks she was moving around so much, she was basically a tiny baby.
"So I said that if I went down the abortion route, it would have to be before 10 weeks."
She said without the support at Wexham Park Hospital, she would have had a termination.
"The unit looked after me. I just called them up and they saved me a bed.
"If it wasn't for them, I would have had a termination, no questions.
"They'd give me an IV with anti-sickness meds because I couldn't keep the oral stuff down.
"That would give me about three days where I'd feel ok and it would take the edge off."
The mum-of-two, who didn't suffer with HG while expecting Alana Belle, said the condition had triggered PTSD, so she opted for a c-section to help her feel more in control.
Thankfully, six days after she gave birth, Chrissie said the nausea had completely subsided.
For help and support with HG please contact Pregnancy Sickness Support.
Gregory Robinson