I Tried To Commit Suicide While I Was Pregnant

In 2004, I was pregnant with my first baby. I was about 7 months along when I overdosed on prescription medication in hopes of ending my own life, as well as the life of my unborn child. I'll stop right here and say that no sane person would ever think trying to kill themselves while pregnant is a good idea. At the time I was unwell, untreated and unmedicated. My cries for help were overlooked because of my pregnancy. Rather than being taken seriously, I was treated like a whiny and wimpy pregnant woman—placated with naps and pats on the head.
Ten years ago hyperemesis gravidarum (HG) was not something regular people knew about. In fact, HG didn't even get media attention until Kate Middleton was diagnosed with the condition during her first (and now second) pregnancy. For me, HG meant that I vomited every day, multiple times a day, from the moment I got pregnant until the day I delivered. Over the course of my pregnancy, I lost close to 60 pounds and suffered numerous other side effects from the regular vomiting. I wasn't just a little nauseous with a few vomiting episodes in the early weeks of pregnancy; I was consistently nauseous all day, every day.