Though I tried to cook and clean and play with my kids and run my business as usual from the very start of this new pregnancy I found myself weak and nauseous in the extreme. Well doesn’t everyone suffer from morning sickness? But this was beyond. I couldn’t keep down any food at all — my body’s reaction to the least morsel was almost instant. I couldn’t venture out long enough to pick up my kids from preschool. I had to hire someone to do it for me. Not that I was capable of taking care of them when they were home either. I’d hear my kids in the other room whining bickering and crying. I know my kids. I only had to go in there hold out my hands and start a funny dance sing a silly song and the atmosphere would turn around. But I was unable to do so. I cried in my bed feeling terrible and helpless that I couldn’t do my magic. There were no specific triggers to my nausea — it was endless unceasing and suffocating. I lay in bed unable to run the air conditioner because the slightly processed smell and the air movement made me vomit. Any movement — from my left side to my right — made me retch. Brushing my teeth. Taking a shower. Talking. It all made me vomit uncontrollably until I felt as if I might suffocate. I forced myself to drink water dribbling it down my nightgown as I was unable to sit up. My esophagus burned I had a terrible taste in my mouth my internal thermometer was totally out of whack so I burned with heat or shivered. The reaction was so violent that I phoned my doctor. “Can you throw up a baby?” I asked. Normal interactions vanished. My life consisted of eat drink feel sicker than sick. I knew I was putting my life and my baby’s life in danger by starving so I forced myself to push some plain bread and one cup of water daily down my throat. There was no relief. Each night I went to sleep crying wondering how I would be able to wake up and face the next day.