Whoever decided to call it "Morning" Sickness was a man, I think. Not that I am complaining too hard -- everytime I feel it, I just thank God that my hormones are doing what they are supposed to be doing, and I know plenty of women who have been a lot sicker than I was -- but still, this isn't a just in the morning kind of thing. I am generally nauseous all day everyday, and toss my cookies at least once a day, and generally more like 2 or 3 times a day. By my estimation (based on talks with other preggos), this puts me on the way down the other side of the bell curve -- worse off than many, or even most, but not as bad as people like my friends Nicole or Kristi, who were way out on that tail (Nicole ended up on prescription anti-nausea meds, Kristi had to quit her job in her first pregnancy). This started by the first week of October, and just finally tapered off a bit just after Thanksgiving. By Christmas, I was down to just throwing up once every two-three weeks or so. I started my second trimester 10 pounds lighter than I was when I first got pregnant, and have still not regained it all.
But for some reason, I feel compelled to memorialize even the barfing. So without further ado I present two top five lists:
Dineen's Top Five Morning Sickness Triggers
5. Too many sweets/fatty foods (and mixing them is just DEADLY, see #4 below)
4. Spoiled food or raw meat smells (I didn't do a whole lot of cooking in the first trimester)
3. Bus, Truck, or even car exhaust fumes (that one's fun -- barfing on the street!)
2. Brushing my Teeth (got me every time)
1. Public restrooms (this one's cruel -- pregnant women have to use the restroom more often than when they were not pregnant, and I would often get stuck in an awful cycle where I felt fine going in, but by the time I got through peeing I had to barf like crazy).
Dineen's Top Five Morning Sickness Episodes
5. Hitting the carpet in the ladies room at work after trying desparately to get out of there to avoid the smells. Then having a colleague walk in on me as I am on my hands and knees trying to clean it up.
4. The afternoon that I ate a late lunch of McDonalds (only place open) after eating nothing but Christmas cookies all day. It gets on the list for the sheer gut wrenching force involved.
3. The sidewalk right in front of the Farragut West Metro station (damn trucks!). I couldn't get to the barf bag that I always carry with me in time.
2. The port-a-potty at the Louisianna Ren Fest (luckily, the urinal came to my rescue, and allowed the normally difficult peeing and barfing at the same time).
1. The Atlanta Airport on my way home from visiting Hertle. The heaves were bad, the other travelers were horrified, and the only thing I could think to do was shout "I'm not bullimic, I'm pregnant" between each go. Quite comical.