What I did not expect prior to being pregnant was how sick I would get and how it felt. The only way I can describe the nausea feeling is nauseousness just sitting and sitting right under your breast (where your stomach is), at least that’s the way it felt for me. The things that made me gag: the smell of eggs being cooked, scented candles, air fresheners. Foods that I started to dislike that I use to love: Buffalo wings, fried shrimp, salmon, certain fruits such as bananas and apples actually made me vomit at least once. The days when I was nauseous and had a headache at the same time made certain days ten times worse, but thankfully that only happened about three times.

The first trimester was very hard. There were days when I had no appetite at all and worried that my baby would not get the nutrients that he needed. After talking with my midwife, she told me that not having much of an appetite in the first trimester was very common. I had my first ultrasound at 14 weeks and my baby was very healthy and active. So I worried for nothing, he was okay. The sickness got much better in the second trimester but there were still random days when I didn’t feel well. My appetite was still not very strong after my second trimester also. I would tell myself “you can do this.” I kept in the back of my mind that all moms had to go through this and they survived.