Weird Early Pregnancy Symptoms

Morning sickness? No, I do not have it. 

I have evening sickness instead.

From week 6 (when my baby 1st heart beat was detected) to the end of week 7, I still did not quite believe that I was pregnant. Other than having more vaginal discharge and having extremely tender breasts, I did not vomit nor experiencing other usual pregnancy symptoms as what have been illustrated in the pregnancy books. While I thought I inherited the good genes from my mother, who claimed that she did not vomit even once when she bore all her 3 daughters, the 'never say never' curse began.  

Starting from week 8, I began to vomit almost everyday, after sunset. So, I have evening sickness instead of morning sickness. In fact, on weekends, I would vomit throughout the day.

The good thing of having evening sickness during the weekdays was my colleagues did not know that I was pregnant. So, I effortlessly kept my promise to my mother and mother-in-law of not to break the news before I successfully sailed through my 1st trimester. Instead, due to the symptoms of vomiting, extremely lack of appetite and having difficulty sleeping at night,  I had lost 2 kg in 2 weeks. Some of my colleagues even asked me tips on losing weight. This was the answer that I wished I could answer them. ' Be pregnant, that is the best way to slim down'.

Every meal time was a tortura session. I wanted to throw up whenever I saw food, especially meat and seafood. I hate food, but I have to eat something. I survived by taking frequent small meals of Jacob cream cracker, materna milk, corn, tofu, veggie and a bit of white rice. I also stopped cooking our own dinner (which I used to enjoy very much) for 3 months because I couldn't stand the smell of oil. Unfortunately, the auntie staying 2 stories below my apartment prepared fried dishes everyday, without fail.  I suffered so much and had to close all the windows in my house whenever the smell of oil began to sip into my unit. 

I even stopped reading printed newspaper because I would vomit everytime I opened the pages and the smell of printing ink hit me. Thus, I rely heavily on online-news and TV to know what was going on in the world. The only plus point about this was I saved some money and help saving the Earth for not buying printed newspaper until today.

Also, I constantly smelt gas in the kitchen, so forcing my husband to check on the gas tank and the stove to see if there is any gas leakage. He checked several times and found everything was in order. He finally gave up and officially labelled me as 'Dog Nose' . Yes, my nose became so sensitive to an extent that I could smell cigarettes if there was someone smoking within 50-meter radius from me. My husband was also forced to shower extra frequently ( up to 3 times a day), so that I will not reject his hugs. Of course, he was also prohibited to use his usual perfume.

Another changes was my scalp became extremly oily. I couldn't even bear with myself if I do not wash my hair on daily basis. To make my life easier, I cut my thick waist-length hair to shoulder-length shortly after.

I was patiently waiting for week-12, because most of the pregnancy books say that nausea and vomiting will normally ease when the pregnancy reaches week-12.

Week-12 finally arrived but I wasn't that lucky, I continued vomiting until week-15. Before that, I went through all the vomiting session with a sense of gratitude. I knew the arrival of this baby was a miracle, so I am willing to endure all kinds of early pregnancy symptoms.

But on a night in week-15, I couldn't cope anymore and burst into tears while both my arms were still hugging the toilet bowl. Negative feelings flooded in. Why I have to suffer so much? When can it stop? Why baby you tortures mummy like that?.....My poor husband, who squatted next to me looked so helpless. There was nothing he could do to mitigate my sufferings except quietly patting my back.  Luckily, after a few seconds, I calmed myself down, wiped off my tears and told myself that I am a strong lady, nothing could put me down!

That night, for the 1st time, my husband took his 1st attempt to talk to our baby. He softly rub my stomach and told the baby to be a good kid, do not make mummy vomit anymore. I did not know was this an effective method or not, but miracuously I really stopped vomiting a few days later. Touch wood!

Today is week-17, I have been ' vomit-free' for almost 2 weeks. My appetite is also starting to recover. I can finish a proper meal without much struggle now. In fact, the usual sense of 'hunger' that have been missing for almost 4 months is back now.

Thank you baby, for being so considerate. You are a good kid!



Picture source: http://www.coompax.com/