One pregnancy symptom no one talks about almost destroyed Nadine: 'I couldn't function'

Nadine Muller curled around her belly on the floor, her mobile phone by her head. It only rang a few times before her husband picked up.

"I need you either to call an ambulance or I need you to come and help me," she said as soon as the call connected, "Because I can't get myself off the floor."

It wasn't the first time she'd made a call like that and it wouldn't be the last.

READ MORE: The harrowing secret Bindi Irwin hid from the world for 10 years 

Nadine was pregnant and suffering from debilitating hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), a potentially life-threatening illness that affects between two and 10 per cent of pregnancies.

Often dismissed as "just bad morning sickness", HG is a serious ailment characterised by severe and persistent nausea and vomiting that significantly affects daily life.

It can cause dehydration, fatigue, malnourishment, weight loss and, in extreme cases, can also lead to premature birth.

Have you got a story? Contact reporter Maddison Leach at mleach@nine.com.au

Symptoms typically worsen over time and don't always improve with lifestyle changes or over-the-counter medications, leading many sufferers to require hospitalisation to manage the condition.

But Nadine, who was working as a nurse at the time, knew next to nothing about HG before it "blindsided" her a few weeks into her first pregnancy.

"I actually couldn't work. I couldn't function socially, emotionally, physically, spiritually," she tells 9honey Parenting.

"I kept on being like, 'I'm a good person. Why would God put this on me?'"

Constantly vomiting and so fatigued she could barely get out of bed, Nadine had to rely on medication and regular hospital visits just to get through her first pregnancy.

Working was impossible and the situation put huge strain on her and husband Dane, both financially and emotionally. Nadine's mental health went into freefall.

READ MORE: Saskia thought the ulcer on the roof of her mouth was harmless

Things only got worse when she fell pregnant with their second child a few years later and the HG returned with a vengeance, leaving her bedridden for months and unable to be the active mum she wanted to be for her firstborn, who was then a toddler.

The worst part is that Nadine felt utterly alone through it all.

"You truly believe that no one knows how you f--king feel," she says.

Centuries of glorifying pregnancy and motherhood have made it hard for women to speak about the difficult parts of bringing children into the world, especially when their negative experiences - like debilitating HG or birth trauma - outweigh the positive.

Social media can make things worse, as pregnancy is often made to look beautiful and blissful online and many women fear they'll be judged or shamed if they don't stick to the 'perfect' picture of pregnancy.

Instead, many women with HG suffer in silence, isolated and alone. That's if they even know they have it.

There's very little research into the difference between HG and morning sickness, so many women with HG symptoms go undiagnosed or are told what they're experiencing is normal.

"My mum had horrific [HG] ... but she was just always told that it was normal morning sickness," Nadine says.

Her symptoms were much milder during her third pregnancy and though her gynaecologist and obstetrician reassured her everything was OK, Nadine quietly worried something might be wrong.

Then one day, in the middle of a family holiday during her first trimester, her symptoms suddenly vanished.

"I just knew. I said to my husband, 'I just know that we've lost our baby,'" she says. She was right.

Several days and an eight-hour emergency surgery later, Nadine learned she had lost the pregnancy. Doctors had also found pre-cancerous cells in her womb.

READ MORE: 'Healthy' Lola's lopsided smile was the first sign of what killed her

Looking back, Nadine believes her unborn child saved her life but that didn't make the loss any easier, especially on top of the trauma of her previous HG pregnancies.

"There was a part of my mind that went, 'Do I have to be terribly bedridden in hospital to have a healthy baby? Do I have to go through HG?'" she says.

Those doubts only grew louder when she lost another pregnancy not long after. Like with her third, the HG symptoms were mild and vanished the moment she miscarried.

Enduring the physical, financial and mental toll of multiple HG pregnancies and two losses weighed heavily on Nadine and over time she found that the best way for her to heal was to speak openly and honestly about the condition that blindsided her.

About 290,000 babies are born in Australia each year and if only two per cent of mothers were diagnosed with HG, that would still amount to 5800 women every year.

READ MORE: Katherine went to her doctor with the flu and got a cancer diagnosis

Nadine doesn't want those women to feel the same fear and isolation she did in her first pregnancies, which is why she's breaking the culture of silence around HG and helping other women do the same.

She shares her experiences loud and proud on social media and in her book, A Reason To Rise, in the hopes of raising awareness, education, and supporting other women through HG.

"I have people that come to me that want to terminate their pregnancy, and I can absolutely make sense of why they have that feeling," she says.

"But imagine if more women knew that there's help, that there's support."

Hyperemesis Australia, a nation-wide charitable organisation focused on supporting sufferers of pregnancy sickness, their families, and healthcare professionals, was a lifeline for Nadine in her darkest moments.

Founded in 2018 by HG survivor Caitlin Kay-Smith, the charity offers vital resources, support, and a sense of community for anyone who is experiencing or has experienced HG.

Perinatal mental health support is available from the PANDA National Helpline on 1300 726 306. In an emergency, call Triple Zero (000).

FOLLOW US ON WHATSAPP HERE: Stay across all the latest in celebrity, lifestyle and opinion via our WhatsApp channel. No comments, no algorithm and nobody can see your private details.