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I thought I knew everything there was to know about being pregnant. I read every book, every article, watched every television show I could find. I asked questions of my friends, my family, and my doctor. I was ready. I knew it all. Then I got pregnant.

As much as I knew, or thought I knew about pregnancy, there are many things I wish I had known about in advance, but these are the things that nobody tells you about until you actually get pregnant!

It would have been helpful, for instance, to be warned about the sudden onset of a Superhero-like sense of smell. It is truly amazing! Everyone around you thinks you have completely lost it, because the odors you are dealing with are detectable only by you. No one around you can smell what you are smelling. You will be walking calmly through the mall, smiling at the thought of the tiny being safe inside you, tremendously pleased that your nausea (which you have been warned about) is in remission for the moment, when BAM! You pass a lady eating a bag of sour cream and onion chips, and the stench literally knocks you off balance. You do a double take, wide-eyed with wonder that the nice lady can bear to have those vile things near her, much less voluntarily put them in her mouth. By then, your gag reflex has responded in sympathy to your nasal receptors, and you frantically beat it for the washroom...where you are hit full in the face with a whole new onslaught of pungent stimuli. At home, hubby is thoughtfully steaming some nice healthy veggies for dinner, but you can't go in until they are finished cooking. The air is simply too thick to breathe. And of course, once you do go in, you can't eat them anyway. Which brings me to the second thing I wish I'd known about:

Your favorite foods become intolerable, and you suddenly need to eat things you would normally never touch. The books tell you all about "morning sickness", which, of course, can last all day. The articles are happy to inform you about the probability of unusual cravings. I had no idea, however, that the foods I loved, and would have been good for me and my baby, could not be allowed within a ten foot radius of the aforementioned gag reflex. Steamed fresh vegetables, wholesome grilled chicken, refreshing, nutritious milk - these are foods I love, and had full intentions of enjoying while pregnant. Oh well. Many evenings found me sitting outside on the deck while supper cooked, then sitting on the other side of the room eating my macaroni and cheese while

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