"Do you smell pee?"

To preface I do work in the hospital and am around alot of bodily fluids. I had been thinking it was too soon to be have super smelling power...until today.

Case #1:  I am discharging the nice old gal who heart turned out to be just fine. We are in her room, I am explaining test results to her and a friend when I smell pee. Like how it smells if you are a "yellow mellow, brown flush it down" type of person. But she isn't wearing an incontinence pad and does not have a bedside commode. Hmmm. I lean closer to her, explaining her new meds. Still no smell. I give up on my amateur detective skills because it's time to send her home. I wheel her out to meet her friend to go home. Her friend comes around to her her get into the car, and like a wave the urine smell flows all over me. I hold my breath a little, it is the nice old gals friend who smells like pee. Luckily they are excited to go home so my smeller does not get tortured.

Case #2:  A coworker's patient motions for me to help him. I smell pee. Again no diaper, no urinal, no bedside commode. This nice guy who might have had a heart attack (or more likely just has acid reflux) smells like he passed out in an alley and wet himself.  I ask my coworker about the patient, "Doesn't he smell like urine?" "Not to me, we checked his blood alcohol level and there wasn't any."  I think this is confirmation that my smeller is super sensitized by this blueberry sized creature growing inside me.

Also: yesterday I bought cheese (gouda and havarti). I ordinarily love havarti and have a smell induced craving for gouda (Noel came home smelling like gouda, but swore he doesn't use any at work, but then I had to have some, although it was disappointing because in my hurry I hadn't realized that I actually wanted smoked gouda). But the havarti "smells funny," if something can smell "mushy" it does. So I cannot eat it, but haven't given up quite yet. Maybe I can bake it with something stronger smelling?

Things I am dreading smelling: the ER nurse who wears Lolita Lemptika (it gave me headaches before being pregnant), ER cheeseburger parties (there is something about the way a McDonalds wrapper smells), the coworker whose deodorant does not work, bowel movements of any patient.

"Panchito"

I am "finally" pregnant! It feels like a "finally" statement because we have been talking about it for so long, but in reality I knew I was by the 88th day off birth control (Saturday). Woo hooo!!! I actually did do little celebratory dance in the shower before I told Noel.  I am thrilled and refer to our embryo as "our little alien" as that big black dot of an eye and neck/body really do make it look like an alien. Noel refers to the embryo as "Panchito" and refuses to pick a less terrible name. I am trying to think of the name as a way to say "our little revolutionary." But seriously, "Pancho"???!!!  Noel is still in shock and is very worried about being a good dad and how we will afford a baby. Seriously, they aren't that expensive (are they??!!). Kind of like having a new car with the upkeep and whatnot, at least milk is free compared to gas ;)

Speaking of 88th day, dating a pregnancy from the first day of your last period is crazy, it adds about two weeks to your pregnancy. I mean take the first day of your last period, add a week and then add 9 months and that is your expected due date. But what if you don't ovulate on day 14 (like 80% of the female population). For me, who did not ovulate until day 32 (yes 32, not 14 like most people or up to 22 like the occasional other, but 32 due to, I feel, the weirdness of stopping the pill). So while the nurse practitioner at Planned Parenthood (Noel wanted "confirmation", like two positive home test weren't enough, so off I went to PP, the quickest place to get tested) said I was 8 weeks and 2 days, I am more like 6 weeks and 2 days (who do you think will be going wayyy over their estimated due date???).

As for pregnancy symptoms:
- nausea...nope
- sore breasts .... oh yes, ouch
- super sensitive to odors .... see next blog
- headaches ...none
- weight gain ... way too early for that, but I did buy a scale
- weird craving ... "Noel, were you cooking with gouda tonight? (sniffing clothes) "No, definately not"... next day I buy gouda cheese, all other cheeses smell funny