Commonly Asked Questions #3

The third question asked after we say "We're having a baby!" is:

"How are you feeling?  Were you really sick?"

It's a very nice question.  It's nice that people are concerned.  But it just also strikes me as funny that SO many people ask it.  I mean, I expect it from family and close friends and maybe even women in general (I have learned that every mother likes to talk about their pregnancy (which I actually enjoy)).  But everyone asks.  Women and men.  Women that were never pregnant, women that have 4 kids.  Friends, work colleagues, people I just met.  It just strikes me as odd.  It's not something I ask a lot of pregnant women (though maybe I will now?).  I always asked my close friends, but never acquaintances or work colleagues or pregnant strangers I just met.  Again, very nice, just a bit surprising to me!
Common Answer: "Pretty good!  Can't complain!"

Truthful Answer: "The first few months were sort of like a perpetual hangover, without the joy of being drunk the night before."

Why have none of my friends ever described "morning sickness" as a hangover???  Because, for me, that is exactly what it was like.  Not a really bad hangover.  But maybe a 4-beer or half-a-bottle-of-rum hangover.  I was tired, and felt sort of like vomiting, but never really did.  I wasn't really hungry, but I knew that if I ate food, I would feel better.  And the food I wanted was usually french fries or pizza.  The smell of certain foods and trash (and preserved animals in the lab that I work in) really bothered me.  I could still function and go to work and drive without a problem.  I was also dehydrated no matter how much water I drank and I peed a lot.

You know, a hangover.

If someone described those symptoms to me, I would assume that the had a nice drinking binge the night before.  Though now I will wonder if they are just in the early stages of pregnancy. 

Maybe I have just experienced more hangovers than my friends that have recently had babies?  I mean, I did go to grad school for 7 years, and got in plenty of drinking in Buffalo/Canada before that time.  Perhaps this is why my mind immediately jumps to hangover.

Luckily, I made it past the "hangover stage" (which will forever be my new name for "first trimester") with only a few really bad days.  Now, I feel less hungover, though still tired.  I fear the tiredness has more to do with the amount of work and travel I do and the seriously minimal amounts of caffeine I drink.  Certain smells still bother me (eww -- bananas!!!) and some food just really grosses me out. 

But I am feeling pretty good!  Can't complain!