How are you feeling: What to Share When You're Expecting

As soon as you become pregnant, everyone who knows always asks the same question upon seeing you or talking to you on the phone: "how are you feeling?" It is sweet of them to ask. It is hard to tell them the truth sometimes. People expect you to say you are sick to your stomach and a little more tired than usual. But when a sweet lady at church or your father-in-law asks you how you're feeling, they may not be ready to hear how you really feel. For instance, for me, at any given moment when a kind person asks me this question it is quite possible that I'm holding in a fart because of the horrendous gas that is caused by pregnancy. Then there is the constipation, swollen tender breasts, acne, frequent urination, congestion and runny nose (yes, those are really caused by pregnancy), and a whole other barrage of weird and uncomfortable symptoms. So, because I always think it prudent to be prepared for every situation here is a list of pregnancy symptoms people are comfortable hearing about, (your mom, sister and girlfriends are not "people," so they get the gory details):

1. Nausea- no one wants to see you do it, but everyone is pretty aware that it happens with pregnancy. And strangely enough, when you tell people about this you might even get an, "awww," like it's cute.
2. Fatigue- we're making people in our own body! If that doesn't wear you out nothing will. Tell people about this one just because it is like bragging.
3. Irritability/emotional- who doesn't like a good story about someone whizzing a Diet Coke can (caffeine free, of course) at their husband because he breathes too loud or crying because the vacuum cleaner broke?
4. Appetite/cravings- so you ate vegetable soup and dunked s'more pop tarts in it? That's your business but if someone asks how you're feeling and you want to fess up to this go for it. Currently, I spend about 56% of my day standing in front of the fridge or pantry looking for something to eat and "mixing cusines." Last night I had a handful of dry Froot Loops while waiting for my vegetable soup to heat up. That's normal, right?
5. "I feel pretty good"-if you don't have any of the above, just say that. Even if you have other symptoms not listed, just say, "I feel pretty good."

That's about it for things people want to know about and things you have time to explain. I have gained a lot of knowledge from What to Expect, but I don't think the average passerby wants to know why my runny nose and constipation is pregnancy related. I guess the rule of thumb when it comes to what to share with others when they ask how you're feeling is this: If it happens on a sitcom, you can share it; if the sitcoms avoid it, so should you. However; I think if someone catches me on a bad day my rule of thumb will be: If you didn't want to know, you shouldn't have asked!