Time pressed on as it always does, but somehow it seems to morph into “slow-mode” when you’re pregnant. It’s probably because from the second you find out that test is positive, you want it to be 40 weeks later with a baby in your arms. Naturally, I was no different. Like a child marking off the days to Christmas, I kept the weeks logged in my planner and every day was one less day until May 27th.

Those days were long days, however. I started getting sick the weekend that I was 6 weeks along. I thought I had the flu, I remember thinking there’s no way this is pregnancy related, it can’t be this bad. Oh boy was I wrong! Every day from there on would be a gambling game called “What smells will make Jamie sick today”. It ranged from meats (very common, I know), to perfumes and spices – but the worst smell of all was cinnamon. The one and only time during my pregnancy that I ventured into Walmart was the final straw for me. It was a good 2 months until Christmas, but you know they had cinnamon covered pine cone potpourri lining the front of the store. As if it were a “Jamie barrier” to prevent me from coming any further into the store. Point taken, and I did not set foot in Walmart again.

I remember making deals with God, bargaining and pleading to not throw up as I walked into classes at UNCC most days. It did no good, as I wound up spending about half of each class running to the bathroom. Thankfully all of my professors understood and were more than gracious when it came to my daily 30-minute late tardies. I didn’t know it then, but these same professors would wind up having a much larger impact on my life than just turning a blind eye to my attendance record.

Thanksgiving came finally, and guess who didn’t partake in any turkey? This girl. It was a sad story, but chicken and turkey were not my friends at this point. I was okay with that, I always wanted to be a vegetarian anyways but never had the willpower. As any mommy-t0-be would, I started to worry about eating enough and getting enough protein; so I found other means of nutrition intake. Cottage cheese and cereal became my best friends, and nightly dinners. I still had hope that once I passed that threshold into my second trimester that the sickness would magically disappear and I would be able to eat again. I had no idea that crossing into my second trimester was about to mean a whole lot more than losing the morning sickness.