Day 456

"Oh no, I'm going to be sick again," I hurried to the toilet and emptied the contents of my stomach: the breakfast I had just attempted to eat. I hadn't had an easy pregnancy with Ralph either but this was a whole new level of misery. And here I was well into my 2nd trimester still puking my guts out regularly.

I spoke to my obstetrician at my last appointment. She didn't love how ill I was still feeling, but she was satisfied with my weight gain. She did note my discomfort in my chart and told me to monitor my symptoms, and if anything changed rapidly to let her know and head to the ER. Of course, Toby just had to weigh in, and though he hated seeing me so miserable, he reluctantly agreed with my non-Harvard-trained obstetrician. My main concern was a healthy baby, whatever that took. If the morning sickness (more like all-day sickness, but I digress) was the price I paid, I'd gladly pay it.

Now Walter was a whole other story, he was beside himself.

He accompanied me to every exam and sonogram, complaining at each medical encounter about my symptoms. But at the last appointment, it took me literally taking his hand and pulling him out of the doctor's office, my hand firmly placed over his mouth, to stop him from shouting at the doctor and nurses. He considered doing a wait-and-see approach to my nausea and misery tantamount to malpractice.

As miserable as I felt, generally, I did have good hours and days, and as soon as I felt at least semi-well, I knew I needed to do something before Toby ended up needing to sedate Walter. I had a friend from "room mom" duties with Ralph's class from a couple of years ago that I still kept in touch with. She had dealt with severe morning sickness that year and I knew that she swore by a local acupuncturist who had helped reduce her morning sickness symptoms. I texted her and she was thrilled, both that Walter and I had gotten married ("I always had a feeling about you two!") and that we were having a baby. So of course she gave me the number.

When I mentioned it to Walter, I thought his head was going to explode. He already thought most Western medical practitioners were charlatans and snake oil peddlers, but alternative medicine practitioners made his head nearly spin around.

"There was no way I am going to leave my wife's safety and my unborn child's health to the tender mercies of– of –" he searched for the vilest epithet his 197 IQ could think of… "worse than quacks… dangerous quacks!" It really wasn't his fault he couldn't come up with an actual insult. The intelligent part of his brain was being co-opted by the part of his brain that was worried about me.

But as the day dragged on and I was just so miserable and I wanted to try something… anything… so badly to feel better, that he finally revised his opinion.

The decision made, Walter sprung into action, even making the appointment, and driving me to the office himself. Walter, ever being Walter, insisted on being in the room during the session. It wasn't the normal course of action, but Emily, the acupuncturist, agreed to let him stay after seeing how determined he was to be there.

Walter watched with equal parts fascination and disdain as the acupuncturist, placed the tiny needles into my wrists and hands before moving on to my ears. As the session progressed, I was able to relax in a way I hadn't been able to for weeks. Walter, of course, noticed. He was watching me so intently. I caught his eye and whispered, "The nausea is gone, truly gone since that week we went for sushi. When I told you the baby was coming."

"Gone?" Walter breathed, "Really? That's a–"

"A miracle," I finished for him, even though I knew he would hate that choice of words. But I could not think of anything else to call it other than that: a miracle, a living, breathing miracle, much like this baby growing inside of me.

Emily wisely chose to stay silent, she just smiled. She placed the needles precisely on my wrists to release the flow of the chi by stimulating points along the energy pathways of my body that were affected by the morning sickness. Once the needles were placed, I spent a few minutes just breathing and feeling the flow of energy helping to dissipate my chronic nausea. The session ended after Emily removed the needles and allowed me a few more minutes to lie in silence on the table, I closed my eyes in relief and enjoyed the feeling of relaxation that flowed through my entire body. It wasn't easy, since Walter was watching every move like his life depended on it.

I laughed with joy as Walter helped me off the table and to a standing position. It was so easy to move! Hand in hand, we walked effortlessly out of the office and to the car. He started the car, "Where to? Home? The Garage? Somewhere else? You pick."

"I would love to go to Kovelsky's for a burger."

If this request surprised Walter, he did an excellent job at not showing it. "Kovelsky's and a burger for the beautiful and brave Paige O'Brien."

"But no fermented fish, let's not push the limits of the acupuncture power." Walter nodded. He still didn't believe in the tenets of Chinese medicine, but he couldn't argue with the results.

That burger was the best thing I had eaten in months, possibly ever. I devoured it along with an order of fries and a strawberry shake. I could not help myself. Walter watched me closely the entire time. I know what he was waiting for. I knew what I was waiting for. I was nervous that the morning sickness would come back with a vengeance, but the food just tasted so good and I was so hungry!

We left Kovelsky's and Walter continued to watch, looking for any sign of the morning sickness' return. As the minutes and then hours passed and the food I had eaten stayed obediently in its place in my stomach, Walter and I breathed a collective sigh of relief. The acupuncture had worked!