I read every book and article I could get my hands on before going into labor, hoping to be as prepared as possible for whatever may happen. I wanted to read about every possible glitch that might happen so that there would be nothing that would take me by surprise. It was my way of trying to have some power in a potentially scary situation.

So what did none of these books or articles cover that totally took me by surprise? Although I had never thrown up from morning sickness throughout my entire first pregnancy, to my surprise I spent a good portion of my labor alternating between throwing up into a little bucket and dry heaving. The doctor and staff kept saying, “Oh, don’t worry, this happens all the time,” but what I didn’t understand is that I had never read about this phenomenon anywhere. How frustrating.

The good news was that all the throwing up actually helps push the baby through the birth canal faster. It was like forced pushing, but I had no choice. I guess that’s one way to do it.

You can add this to another possible labor issue, my pregnant friends. Apparently it’s pretty common. I will tell you that there’s nothing quite like giving birth to a baby while throwing up at the same time. It’s almost as if the inside of my body declared, “Okay, everybody out!”