Why I’m grateful Kate Middleton is so honest about her extreme morning sickness

Kate Middleton is expecting her third child, Kensington Palace announced Monday, and we at #TeamMotherly could NOT be more excited. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge’s baby will join 4-year-old George and 2-year-old Charlotte in what is sure to be an incredible degree of cuteness and mischief.

And while all baby news is super exciting, the confirmation Kate is once again suffering from Hyperemesis Gravidarum (HG)—a severe form of morning sickness—has my heart going out to her.

I would know. I’m an HG survivor, too.

A post shared by Kensington Palace (@kensingtonroyal) on Jul 9, 2015 at 7:04am PDT

The happy news that I was pregnant was quickly overwhelmed by morning sickness so severe that I lost 10 percent of my body weight. I became severely dehydrated. I couldn’t work. I couldn’t even get out of bed. I could barely talk on the phone to tell my doctor how sick I was—begging them to please give me something, anything—to help. When government helicopters flew over my apartment in Washington, D.C., I found myself wishing they would crash into my house and put me out of my misery. Hyperemesis Gravidarum is that bad.

Yet, the Royal Family’s announcement that Kate Middleton is suffering from the condition is a reminder of how much women around the world sacrifice and endure to sustain their pregnancies.

From the anxiety of trying to conceive, to miscarriage and infertility, to morning sickness, weight gain, insomnia, difficult prenatal diagnoses, round ligament aches, contraction pain, postpartum recovery, breastfeeding challenges—and so much more—women heroically endure it all.

Pregnancy is the ultimate selfless act—and one that deserves to be celebrated out in the open, not just hidden behind closed doors and spoken about in whispers.

Kate’s news is a reminder that behind the beautiful facade of a pregnant woman’s glow, is an heroic degree of sacrifice.

There’s no one stronger than a mother.