joys of pregnancy

I love to brush my teeth first thing in the morning. It helps me to feel somewhat ready for the day even though I'm still in my robe and my contacts have yet to meet my eyes for the day. So it is quite disheartening when the pregnancy hormones settle in and my gag reflex is heightened to the umpteenth degree. The sounds coming from the bathroom are definitely not pleasant ("Oooyick" and "Aaaacck"). It irks me to the point that it has made the top of my list of pet peeves. The phrase, "The Joys of Pregnancy", automatically kicks my gag relfex into high gear. Don't get me wrong -- I am truly blessed to be able to even get pregnant the old fashioned way minus the gadgets and drugs, etc. I am even more blessed to have babies thus far without any serious physical or mental ailments (though sometimes they make me mental). I do realize that. But all the in- betweens (aches, uncontrollable urge to pee, uncomfortable sleep, nausea and vomiting, swollen ankles) make it harder to focus on the pure joys of having a beautiful baby as the end result.

In my quest to overcome this unpleasant relfex, I have come up with ways to try to avoid the inevitable. You know the feeling -- your mouth starts to water, you can feel your tummy begin to boil over, your tongue betrays you by moving into place to help whatever in your body that wants to come out, come out. After how good I treat you and this is how you repay me?

• when I first feel the gag I immediately tip my head up and look at the ceiling in my bathroom. This usually leads to thinking about how awesome of a paint job Ammon did and how I hate to paint, with a passion! Then I feel glad we were able to pay someone to do it instead of having to ourselves. To live with that kind of regret is just awful. Paint regret -- shudder.
• when I have to tip my head back down to spit and I feel the gag return I scoop some cold, cold water in my mouth to swish.
• if this still doesn't work, then I get some more cold, cold water to gurgle. I usually do this several times in an effort to try and freeze those gag muscles in the back of my throat. Then I do a little dance, a party will do. Do a little dance, a party will do. Do a little dance...um...

At this point I know I have won. I have defeated the gag and can now face the day without feeling overly unpleasant. Or with a bad aftertaste in my mouth that seems to never go away. One ailment down, 457 more to go. ;)