A mum lost five stone while pregnant due to extreme morning sickness which saw her vomit up to 50 times a day. Karee Upendo, 34, suffered with hyperemesis gravidarum during all her pregnancies and would be sick up to 50 times a day.
The stay-at-home mum was diagnosed with the condition - which causes severe nausea and vomiting during pregnancy - in June 2006 while pregnant with her son Alex, now 16. After meeting her husband, Avery, 35, who teaches homesteading, the couple sought help from doctors to try and ease Karee's symptoms so they could add to their family.
Karee gave birth to their son, Aven, eight, in May 2014 after experiencing mild hyperemesis gravidarum and started to think her dream of having a large brood would be possible. But when she ended up hospitalised and throwing up so much she ripped a hole in her esophagus with her third baby, Asher, three, she was advised not to have any more children.
The couple unexpectedly fell pregnant with a girl in January 2020 but found out their daughter, who they named Lavender, had passed away at 23 weeks - when doctors couldn't find a heartbeat. Devastated Karee was surprised to find out she was expecting another girl in April 2022 - and suffered so badly throughout the pregnancy she was bedbound and dropped 5st 6lbs.
Despite it all, Karee felt like she was “in a dream” after giving birth to Solea, now seven weeks old, weighing 6lbs 3oz, in January 2023. Karee, who owns a homesteading farm with Avery, in Lovejoy, Georgia, US, said: "At my worst I couldn't even swallow my own salvia.
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"I was on the brink of death. I thought Alex would be the only child I would ever have. Having Aven gave me a glimpse of hope for the big family I had always wanted.
"I was devastated that wasn't going to happen after nearly losing my life with Asher. Losing Lavender was horrible.
"When I fell pregnant again, I didn't think there was any way I could put my body through that again. But when I found out it was another girl, I had to go through with it.
"It was the worst pregnancy. I lost 72lbs and had to be hospitalised two hours away from my family. But seeing my little girl for the first time it felt like a dream. I was amazed I was holding her."
Karee was just 17 when she was pregnant with Alex and her sickness was so bad she said it left her suicidal. After being diagnosed with hyperemesis gravidarum she didn't think she would be able to cope with having more children.
She said: "I didn't think I could put myself through it again." Karee met her husband Avery in April 2013 and the pair started looking at ways they could get medical help after he had his heart set on having five kids.
Karee felt lucky to only experience mild sickness during her pregnancy with Aven. She said: "I lost 15lbs but was still able to work up until 36 weeks.
"It wasn't life devastating. I thought 'maybe we can do this.'"
But Karee's dream came crashing down when she was left hospitalised for most of her pregnancy with Asher. She said: "I had to be put on a feeding tube.
"I was throwing up 40 to 50 times a day. I lost 54lbs and was vomiting so much I ripped a hole in my oesophagus.
"I had liver and kidney failure - I nearly died. I was so scared."
Fortunately, Karee and Asher survived the ordeal, but doctors warned her it would be dangerous for her to have another child. Karee and Avery were shocked when they found out they were expecting a baby girl in January 2020 – after Karee forgot to take her birth control.
But she was at a loss when she found out her daughter, Lavender, had stopped growing and passed away at 23 weeks. She said: "I'd been struggling throughout the pandemic and had forgotten to take my birth control.
"I lost 33lbs and at my ultrasound at 23 weeks the doctor couldn't find a heartbeat. On June 18, 2020, I had to deliver my child stillborn."
After their heartbreak, the couple decided to uproot their lives in the city, Wisconsin, to live 900 miles away on a farm in Georgia - and were shocked when they fell pregnant in April 2022. Karee said: “I thought there is no way I am putting my body through this again.
“I was the happiest I had ever been and didn’t want to put myself through that physically and mentally again. But I found out it was a girl and couldn’t not go through with it.”
Karee ended up having her worst experience yet and had to be hospitalised hours away in Piedmont Newnan Hospital, Georgia. She decided to travel back to Racine, Wisconsin, to have her baby after she started losing clumps of hair and lost 5st 6lbs.
She gave birth to baby Solea on January 7, 2023, and is relieved her experiences with hyperemesis gravidarum are over. Karee said: “I was so thankful and amazed I was holding her.
“I kept staying ‘she’s alive’. Our journey is complete here.”
