I have a ton in common with Duchess Kate.  Actually, I'm pretty sure if we met we'd be instant best friends. Here's why:

1. We're both natural brunettes
2. Both married to a Prince (mine might be figurative)
3. Entrepreneurial family
4. Excellent British accent (one might be faked)
5. Bald(ing) husbands
6. Love of hats
7. Love of shoes
8. Baby due this summer
9. Hyperemesis gravidarum

For those of you that don't speak Latin, hyperemesis gravidarum roughly translates to "getting b*tchslapped by my digestive system", or more specifically, extreme nausea, vomiting, and dehydration due to pregnancy.

I'm sure the Royals didn't want to release the pregnancy news as early as they did, but I was relieved when I heard the story because I just went through it myself. Unfortunately, some people have a perception that women who suffer from extreme nausea in their first trimester are either wimps or faking it for sympathy.

I encountered this attitude firsthand when I was just 6 weeks pregnant with my first child. I was on a media trip and had been feeling well until that point, but when room service stopped by with a complimentary platter of seafood from the hotel the smell nearly made me yack. I knew right then I wouldn't be able to handle bobbing on the ocean waves during a catamaran tour that afternoon.  

Being so early in the pregnancy I was reluctant to speak of it, but I felt I should tell the organizers the truth since my participation was expected.  One of the women in charge was sympathetic and understanding but the other brushed it off saying, "Oh you'll be fine. When I was pregnant I never felt better!"

Needless to say I let Ms. Pregnant-Is-The-Best-I've-Ever-Felt be disappointed and spent the afternoon by the pool instead.  Sadly, hers was only the first of several similar comments I received where the implication was that I am weak or worse--a drama queen.

To be clear:  I do like drama, but preferably in the form of a rose ceremony or an elderly couple holding each other as they drift off to heaven.  I'm not going to pretend I have a gross condition that makes people feel queasy just listening to the disgusting details.

My first experience with "morning sickness" was very unpleasant, but it did not prepare me for what I have faced during this new pregnancy. Though I haven't been hospitalized like poor Kate (other than one short visit to the emergency room), I have been quite sick and needed to take medication just so I could digest some food and carry on with the day. Thankfully we are both in our second trimesters now and I am feeling much better. Hopefully she is, too!
 
If you, like Kate and me, are going through something like this please know you are not alone and that it will improve at some point.  Don't feel bad if you have to take the medication. I'm pretty sure it is better for both you and baby to be on a well-tested certifiably safe drug for a few weeks than to waste away on the bathroom floor unable to keep anything down.

For those of you who do enjoy super easy pregnancies and a short labour before delivering your baby naturally…I'm happy for you.  I really am.  I might hate you a little bit on the inside.

What was/is your pregnancy like? Have you had to take medication? Did anyone make you feel bad about it?