Echoes of morning sickness

How long, O Lord, will I remember the evils of morning sickness?

My first pregnancy took place 25 years ago. Our youngest was born 20 years ago. Yet the things that made me ill during my three pregnancies (four, really – there was a miscarriage in there, too. Sigh.) still have the power to make me gag.

This is bad advice, by the way.

This morning I read a recipe in our local paper for a chicken corn chowder and I instantly felt my stomach heave. Holy cow, just typing the words “chicken corn chowder” makes me want to spew. See, I tried a similar recipe while pregnant with child #2. Apparently I will NEVER forget how sick I got while making this dish. There’s nothing in it I don’t like. I’m sure if I could get over my aversion I’d really like the stuff. But it will never happen.

And then there’s Dial antibacterial soap. That’s what we were buying for bathroom hand washing at the time I became pregnant with oldest. For the past 25 years, every time I come across Dial in someone else’s bathroom I have to put my hand over my mouth and run out of the room. It’s a scent I can conjure up even now as I’m typing. GAG!!!!!

And oranges. Yikes! One time while pregnant with the youngest, I was chopping onions for supper, feeling pretty pleased with myself that I was managing the task without getting sick. In fact, I was pretty hungry, and it would be awhile before the meal was ready. Deciding to go with a healthy snack, I peeled an orange and popped a section into my mouth. And promptly hurled into the kitchen sink.  Today I can just about manage a clementine, but oranges still give me nightmares.

If only I could have acquired an aversion to brownies and french fries…

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