Well this is very moving. From the Miracles of St Stephen. There was a Carthaginian lady, of noble descent, even nobler in her faith in Christ, named Megetia, rich in the world, even richer in God. Her Christian mother was named Vitula, but her husband, her father-in-law and her father were pagans. She was pregnant, four months since conception. As she was affected with nausea and retching, she suffered from shaking of the stomach, distention of the mouth, vomiting, bad health and illness, so much so that, I do not know how, a paralysis ensued. Just as her teeth and windpipes came out of their sockets, she was no longer able to close her broken mouth, nor could she accomplish the usual and simple movements of the palate and tongue in order either to send something out of the mouth or take something into the mouth. This pious and chaste woman gained an appearance that was deformed and repulsive, and she had stains and blemishes [sc. pregnancy mask] marked on a part of the body where they cannot be hidden: indeed they were on her face, of which someone once said ‘the forehead holds forth people, and it cannot be covered without shame’. De miraculis sancti Stephani 2.1 #hginhistory #hyperemesisgravidarum #hyperemesis #hg #hgsurvivor #miraclesofststephen
