It’s easy to forget the not-so-nice sides of being pregnant and although I wouldn’t change anything, this time around all the feelings seems to be a lot more intense. My extra sensitive nose seems to have been contributing heavily to my morning sickness. I think it’s subsiding – I keep reading my pregnancy apps about reaching the second trimester. But until it does fully I’m doing my best to avoid my key triggers. Here are a few of them:

My husband’s deodorant: formerly unnoticed and inoffensive, suddenly over-powering. I try and avoid our room after a certain time in the morning.

Cigarette smoke: I always seem to find myself behind someone at the very moment they’re lighting up – and I can’t escape it. I can even smell it strongly on people in the bus. Urgh.

Fried food on the tube:  sounds a bit random but there’s a certain bit of my station platform that smells like a greasy spoon after hours. It hits me on the way down the stairs and it seems to carry through onto the tube just to taunt me.

Coffee: once a treat, now a torment. I pass a Starbucks each day (like thousands of other Londoners, no doubt) and hold my breath. I also grimace (behind my hand) every time someone makes a cup at work.

Baby bath: the mildest of mild smells is now overpowering. I’ve replaced a lovely herbal bubbly bath with an unscented one for the time being (luckily Scrip hasn’t noticed).

Even writing this has made me slightly queasy so I’ll leave the list there for the time being…

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