Modern Mom: Only the Lucky Ones Get Nausea?

In May, Jennifer Lewis Gause found out she was expecting. She's agreed to stop by Glass Heel every week to share the good, the “aww, so cute!”, and yes, sometimes the ugly, moments that come with being the "pregnant lady" in the workplace.

Wow, I can’t believe this is my third blog post on Glass Heel. Time flies when you’re having fun!  In my previous posts, I told you about my announcement to colleagues and about my experience in telling my boss. Funny thing, as I look back on those moments that I thought we be so difficult, I now realize how easy they really were. I know now that the hardest part was on its way…just me simply getting through the work day.

When I first found out I was pregnant, I expected some uncomfortable side effects, especially during the first trimester. I figured I was pretty prepared for the nausea and tiredness, no big deal.

This is my first pregnancy, so I had no idea what was coming at me. Tired is not even the word for it! I have no idea how the pregnant women before me haven’t just collapsed from the fatigue! I admire you all. I told you last week that my boss caught me doing something? Yeah, he caught me being “tired” at my desk. Whoops.

Now that you know that the tired feeling you get is the most exhausted you will ever feel, we can move onto the nausea. Nausea is my favorite because it doesn’t strike everybody - only the lucky ones.  There is an old wives tale that says the sicker the mom the healthier the baby. Excuse me if I am skeptical. Imagine the worst hangover you have ever had, and then imagine it without having the fun from the night before.  Sounds miserable doesn’t it?  You’re right...it is.

So now envision yourself having to go to work! Just trying to get to work is a feat in itself and then you have to look at a computer the rest of the day. I’ve learned the best way to describe that feeling is to think about the epic movie, The Sandlot. In the movie, there is a scene where these 8 and 9 year old baseball players decide to be big boys and try snuff. They put huge wads in their mouths and jump on the dizziest, craziest ride the fair has to offer, with the song “Tequila” playing in the background. As the song plays, and the camera shoots them on the ride, you see their facial expressions start to change. It goes from pure happiness to the most painful sickly looking expression that you could imagine. And then without warning, they puke on everyone below them and all over themselves.  That’s exactly what this is like. Happiness one minute and sheer terror the next.                                                                                                 

The absolute hardest part is keeping yourself together at work. I still don’t know how the other pregnant women have done it! The best part of my days right now involve coming home and falling asleep for 14 hours until the next day- it’s the only relief I feel sometimes. Somehow I’m managing to pound out 9 and 10 hour days week after week (with, of course, some humiliations along the way). 

I now completely know how strong we women are and that we really do run the world!