I had it extremely bad last pregnancy, and while I still have bad nausea this time around I'm able to control it much better with timing of eating and zofran. NOTHING worked last time. On a "good day" I would "only" puke maybe 3-4 times in a day, on the bad ones I wouldn't be able to keep down water and ended up with IV's several times for hydration. In hind sight I probably should have been a bit "noisier" about how bad it was. My OB said he had no idea how sick I actually was, and really I probably needed IV nutrition.
I really didn't do much "research" on it or look for support groups, mostly because if I wasn't working or puking I was resting. The amount of effort it took just to exist with HG was exhausting to me. I was really lucky that I had really supportive friends around me that were really empathetic to my nausea so if anything it strengthened my relationships with some friends. It was definitely hard on my relationship with DH though. He was supportive but I could tell he thought me laying around so much was just being lazy. I think it finally hit home when we tried to have sex one night and I literally had to push him off me and run to the bathroom to go throw up. So yeah, it affected every part of my life lol.
Fortunately I had really supportive co-workers which made working through this a lot easier. I'm an ER nurse and several times would have to run from a patient's room to go puke and would just come right back. They were really nice about covering for me. There were a few times I just puked right in the room because I couldn't leave. One of those times we were working a pretty bloody trauma and the medic had a student with him and when I leaned over and puked in the trash can and went right back to putting the IV in he made a comment about "I guess not everyone has the stomach for blood and guts" (something like that) and my co-workers FLIPPED the eff out on him. It was really sweet. There we were busy as snot trying to save this guy and my co-workers went on an absolute tirade on this dude and kicked him out of the room for being such a dummasss. :) They just knew it was not something I could control but that it also didn't affect my dedication and ability to do my job. So I guess I was lucky in that sense.
The good news is that it stopped IMMEDIATELY after I delivered. Literally. I was puking all through the labor and then ended up with a c/s (she was in distress due to my dehydration-oops, mom fail!) and from the time I was in the recovery room my nausea was gone. Didn't puke again until this pregnancy! :) It was so nice to not be nauseated-I forgot what it felt like to be "me" and "normal".
As for the decision to have another kid-my HG last pregnancy definitely made it a harder decision. I've always wanted 2 kids and wanted DD to have a sibling, but the thought of going through that again was terrifying. So while I was ready to have another kid sooner than this, the thought of having to deal with HG and a toddler made me delay a lot longer. I had to wait until DD could do more things on her own before I attempted to get pg again just in case. The only reason I even agreed to try again is that everyone says every pregnancy is different so there was a chance I wouldn't have nausea this time around. Unfortunately that has not been the case, but this time around it's been MUCH better and I've found ways to deal with it.
Some of the things that have helped me this time around were acupuncture and food journaling. I would write down everything I ate and tried to make connections to when I felt bad vs. decent. Then I ended up writing down everything I put in my body, and that was the trick. I found on days I drank more than about a liter and a half of water I was SUPER sick the next day. If I drank other things mixed in (juice, milk, sodas even) I felt better. I realized by drinking as much water as I wanted my electrolytes were getting out of balance. So I've started drinking gatoraid every day and it helps for sure. I've also found that I have to eat as soon as I wake up or I get nauseated and end up spending most of the day puking. Last pregnancy I tried a lot of different things, but I think actually writing it all down made it clearer for me.
Also, I know this is getting incredibly long, but a few tips I wish someone would have told me, especially toward the end of the pregnancy. :)
First of all, it will stop! :) When you are no longer pregnant, you are no longer nauseated. So hope is on the horizon for you!!!!! :)
Secondly, dehydration can cause you to go into labor. I was definitely dehydrated when I went in and my OB said that had I come in earlier for hydration I probably wouldn't have had DD then and she wouldn't have been in distress. So I had a lot of guilt over putting my baby in distress and felt like I caused my c/s because I didn't get enough "help". It's taken me a long time to get over that guilt (and I still carry a lot with me).
Lastly, be careful how you eat once you're no longer sick. I was so happy to not be puking any more and I was breastfeeding (which of course we all hear makes you lose weight!) that I let myself eat whatever I wanted whenever I wanted. Everyone around me had seen how miserable I had been the whole pregnancy and saw that I actually LOST weight in pregnancy so everyone around me was supportive of me eating whatever whenever as well, but I can tell you that was a bad move on my part. I put on just over 20 lbs in the first 6 months or so and it was a beast to get off. So once you are ready to eat definitely do it, just be careful about how much of what you eat. :) Save yourself my misery. :)
Anyway, sorry this is so long, but you are definitely not alone. If you have more questions feel free to either come back to this post and ask or PM me (and tell me in this post so I don't miss it) and I would be happy to give you any more info that I have. Although I think this pretty much covers everything. :)