Today I decided that pregnancy is just like starting your period. It doesn’t matter how much people tell you about the statistics of who experiences what symptoms; it doesn’t matter how much people tell you these symptoms are “normal”; it doesn’t matter how many horror stories and home remedies you know… you still will never know what a hell pregnancy and/or menstruation are until you experience them for yourself. They are your own special versions of hell. Nobody else’s hell will be just like yours. The exact balance of mood swings, hot flashes, blood, nausea, cramping, bloating and headaches will be all your own.
That said, for day 3 of morning sickness, I think I’m doing alright.
Of course, I can say that now because I’m currently not experiencing any nausea due to the ginger tea I brought for lunch 5 hours ago, but still; all in all, today wasn’t so bad. I have definitely experienced more pain and physical discomfort in my life than I did so far today.
My cheerfulness today might in part be due to the fact that I got to skip the first hour of uber-early work today because I was lying on my bathroom floor feeling like I was going to vomit. Yay for not having to go to work at 5 am!
It is definitely also due to the conversation I had with my boss when I got to work. As context, my boss is a pretty serious guy. I don’t know very much about his personal life except that he has a woman and a baby and he likes motorcycles. I’m expecting the conversation to be a little awkward.
Me: “I was late because of morning sickness… Oh by the way I’m 6 weeks pregnant. So I’m nauseous off and on all day…”
My Boss: *nods knowingly* “Oh yeah, I know all about that. But don’t worry, it’s worth it in the end. My son is a champ. He refuses to walk yet, but he’s a champ.”
Me: “How old is he?”
My Boss: *animatedly* “11 months. He’ll hold on to the couch and walk around, he’ll hold on to the coffee table and walk around. He’ll hold on your two fingers and walk around, but if you so much as remove one finger he’ll plop right down on his butt. And if you try holding him around the middle to support him he just lifts his legs in the air and looks at you.” *shakes his head* “You just have to get past that *gesturing at me* stuff, then it’s worth it.”
Suddenly he’s smiling on the inside and he pulls out his phone to show me a picture of his son sitting with his legs scrunched up inside a tiny plastic tub. I’ve never seen him so adorably excited about something. Suddenly I am seeing him in a whole new light.
Then he says, “I talked to Thayne [his boss, our supervisor, whose wife recently had a baby, too] about it already and we just want you to know that if there’s anything we can do to help, let us know.” Any anxiety I had about my being pregnant and sick at work is now gone. Thank heavens for two very understanding bosses.
As a related side note, though, basically everywhere on the internet says, “Don’t announce your pregnancy until 12 weeks!” I remember reading that two weeks ago and thinking, “Right… so you’ll just be puking all the time at work and no one will figure it out…” Seems I was right to be skeptical. It’s true we’re at 6-ish weeks now (I never got back to a regular period after stopping birth control, so I’m not sure exactly how far along I am yet), and we’ve managed to only tell our parents, my little brother and my bosses, but still. I’m supposed to go another 6 weeks without spilling the beans to anybody??
Well, unfortunately for the internet, my 21st birthday is right around the same time as our first doctor visit at 8 weeks, so we will definitely be telling all of my close friends at the party that weekend, because when else will I be able to tell everyone face to face? Sure we can save a big “Facebook official” announcement until 12 weeks, but I want to see my best friend Grace’s face light up with excited screaming when she hears the news.
Maybe it’s a good idea to wait until 12 weeks (“just in case” I guess?), but considering the convenience of this party, I think we’re still going to give it a go then. I’m pretty excited!
And when 12 weeks does finally roll around, I’m thinking of doing a redraw of this doodle by one of my favorite sketch bloggers:
For any of my pregnant/parent readers, when did you announce that you were pregnant, and how did you do it? Also HOW DID YOU DEAL WITH MORNING SICKNESS AT WORK???
Thanks for reading!
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