I admit that writing down that title makes me want to knock on wood. I don’t want to jinx it or dare the nausea into coming back. It was not a pretty time.

First thing I learned about pregnancy is this: the movies lie to you. Morning sickness does not involve the lead character emerging from the bathroom primly wiping her mouth after making a few gagging noises behind a closed door.  The nausea can hit you anytime, anywhere — in the restroom of Makati Shangri-La Hotel (in the middle of the meeting), the streets of Salcedo Village, Makati (while stuck in traffic), the corner parking lot at Emerald Avenue (in full view of co-parkers) — You get the picture.

For the past two months or so, I have neglected almost all activities except the absolutely necessary ones such as bathing and work deadlines. I didn’t even get reprieves at night. Apparently, morning sickness chooses no time. It lasts literally, the whole day. The entire time, I felt like I was staring at this:

Of course, the picturesque scene is a symbolism for images I want to spare you.

I should say that the entire time I was feeling sick and being roused from my sleep by dreams of rocking boats or moving cars, it was very hard to complain. I may have uttered a whimper or so, but I didn’t mean it. Really. It’s hard to see the bad side of it when the little one is saying hello.*

*My husband knew exactly what to say to make me feel better. Every time I would get dizzy or get sick, he would say that it was the baby’s way of communicating with us. He would even imitate the baby, curl up his arms, and say “I love you, Mommy”.