Monday was not an entirely good day for the British Monarchy. Kate Middleton was hospitalized, and their PR offices were forced to announce a pregnancy to the public—even before the Queen knew of it! Since then, Kate and hubby Prince William have been in King Edward VII Hospital in London, where Kate was treated for hyperemesis gravidarum, an extreme morning sickness that runs the risk of dehydration, which can kill a person if left unchecked. Kate left the hospital today and is now recuperating at Kensington Palace (with a team of superb doctors, we expect), but the pregnant Duchess of Cambridge isn’t out of the woods yet.
Dr. Manny Alvarez is familiar with her condition and explains that her condition doesn’t go away over night. “She’s barely in her first trimester, and women who are admitted to the hospital for hypermesis gravidarum tend to have recurrence and sometimes need to return in order to be rehydrated all over again.” The risk of dehydration is serious, scoff though we might. Kate is carrying the baby that will grow up to be one of the most influential people of his or her age and nothing is too great to protect the fetus. Since Kate isn’t showing yet, we expect that she’s between 7 and 10 weeks pregnant, which means at least another month fighting to keep her baby alive.
Kate has been trying to get pregnant since the royal wedding. We don’t know if this is her first baby or if she’s struggled with miscarriages before, but there are obviously some fertility woes behind this. Most expecting moms don’t announce the pregnancy until at least ten weeks, which is typically viewed as the “it’s for real,” “no known complications” stage. Kate’s hospitalization forced a very early announcement.
We hope that Kate can stay healthy and carry to term, but the stress of pregnancy, plus her condition, plus the Queen’s fury, plus her outraged in-laws Prince Charles and Camilla Parker–Bower, well, it’s amazing she’s stayed out of hospital all day. We wish her the best but know that it’s going to be a long road until she and the baby are in stable, healthy condition and can resume any semblance of a normal life.