8w 3d history

A few words on my history with babies. I have none.

I have an older brother and two older cousins (none of them parents), and that's it for my entire generation in my family. That's literally it.

Before I met my husband and became ingratiated in his wonderfully large family, the closest I'd ever come to an infant was passing one in the supermarket. Am I intimidated by my own ignorance? Of course. But I'm more scared of "being told" than of not knowing. Meaning: I can't wait to figure it all out for myself. Next summer is going to be hard and exhausting and maybe the toughest time of my life so far, but it will also be the most exciting, hopefully the most rewarding. I won't know until I get there.

Today's symptoms and their reasons:

Nosebleed. My blood vessels have expanded, as well as the volume of blood pumping through my body. Apparently the blood vessels in my nose couldn't take the pressure. Thank you, box of Puffs on my desk and boss's sage advice to "pinch."

Shortness of breath. According to the Internet, I need more oxygen when I'm pregnant, and a certain hormone is telling this to the respiratory center in my brain.

Onions. I smell them when they're not here. I want them. On everything. I also want oranges, but not with the onions.

Bad taste. There has been a constant bad aftertaste in my mouth (not related to onions), every moment of the day. As if that weren't irritating enough, it makes it so that nothing tastes right. Possible reasons are that my body is releasing toxins through the lymphatic system, or it's somehow my body's response to its increased physical demands. After the awful nausea, this is the worst symptom to deal with.

Nausea (still). Constantly feeling like I should be at home, sick, is not easy. Though it hasn't found the cause, science points to a few likely factors: the rising level of the pregnancy hormone, prenatal vitamins, or a poor diet (onions?) are possible. Then there's evidence that suggests that it's supposedly worse (hmm) when you're carrying a girl...


9:07 p.m. update: onions are overrated