Pickles & Watermelon: the perfect combo?

Last night I was eating my dinner at work when I realized that I had just eaten a pickle, then watermelon, then another pickle. It they both tasted delicious. Weird pregnancy eater, no?

FYI I only had pickles at work because I stopped the the grocery store in the way to work and as I abide by my Gramma K's law that Klaussen's pickles are the only acceptable pickles because they are kept in the refridgerator section I had to bring them into work to keep them cold. Hence pickles and watermelon.

Today I am 10 weeks and 4 days. My pants are tight, but I haven't gained a pound. I still have weird food aversions and follow the "smell it first" rule to see if I can eat something. But to date have not vomited. Halleluyah. I still have an amazing nose. I caught a patient smoking in their room the other day due to my super smeller. Of course they denied it but to me they smelled like an old lady who had spent the day at the casino.

The food aversions have begun (dun dun dun)

If I had to eat one food for the rest of my life I have always said it would be salad, especially seeing as how salad comes with endless possibilities of toppings. If I said that today I would starve. For the last 6+ months I have eaten a gigantic organic fancy greens salad with a ridiculous amount of veggies in it. But now the greens make me gag, they are suddenly very acidic and I cannot swallow a forkful. Yesterday I ate half a bag of carrots and some romaine without hating life. At least I'm getting in some vitamin C! Just to clarify I have not actually thrown up, but the idea or more often smell of some foods really turns me off. and now in the a.m. I can't eat my red beans, somehow they are okay in the evening but not in the morning. I think I need more vitamin supplements, now to work up the energy to go buy them...

As for cravings, my little grape sized fetus really likes carrots, toast, milk, bananas, tamales and veggie soup. How much milk does one have to drink to gain 25lbs? I might be able to do it with a few tamales a day! I had my first appointment with the midwife the other day, she said "Since you are underweight we would hope you would gain 30-35 lbs." To which I broke into hysterical laughter. First off I'm not underweight for a normal person, just for a pregnant lady. My BMI is 19 something and I'd have to lose 7 lbs minimum to be underweight for my height, which wouild leave the pancake bottomed girl with nothing to sit on, so I think not to any weight loss. 

Speaking of weight, I bought a scale the other day. To which I must point out I have never owned a scale, we never had one in the house growing up and I have generally never desired to buy one. It's yet another thing to move for this frequent mover. Upon trying them out in Target I weighed 160, 112, 127. I went with the latter scale as I'm about 124 unclothed. Scales are weird, they get you fixated on what you look like, they could lead to eating disorders, and they can definately be off if even the basic kilter of your house' foundation isn't perfect.

"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.