Couvade is the medical term for sympathetic pregnancy. Yes, that’s right, it means that during pregnancy, dad can often experience many of the same symptoms as mom… for example:

Variations in appetite
Weight Gain
Nausea / Vertigo
Headaches
Mood swings
Backache
Itchy skin
Food cravings

I’ve heard stories about this phenomenon in the past, but I didn’t really give it much thought, and I sure as hell didn’t think it could happen to me… boy was I wrong! The symptoms started in Sarah’s first trimester with a strange rash on my hips. Back pain and nausea soon followed, usually attacking me on Saturday and Sunday mornings when I was trying to sleep in. I’ve had weird random headaches that only last 5 minutes, crazy roid-rage like mood swings, and intense food cravings (Not so much for specific foods, but for ALL foods)… I’ve gained about 7 lbs since November.

Then last night, the weirdest thing yet happened. I got up about 5am to use the bathroom and when I laid back down, the room began to spin like crazy. I’ve never experienced vertigo before, and the only way I can describe it is to say it was like spinning on a merry-go-round x 1000. It only lasted about 25 seconds, but it totally scared the crap out of me.

So I’ve come to the conclusion that I am a complete and total nut-job psycho (as if you had any doubt).

Craziness is only a sunny crumb of melting plastic snoring to the tune of truckness.

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