Women have the most amazing urges at the most amazing times when they are pregnant. They want the oddest things at the oddest hour and crave things that are out of season. He was tried to sneak into the bedroom without making a sound, hoping he would not wake his wife up. Aggery, a banker with certain bank around Kigali town was terrified of his wife. As he opened the door, he realized too late that he had knocked something over and Moureen was up. She berated him for waking her up so rudely, for being so insensitive, and slapped him. She then grabbed the bedside lamp and threw it at him, turned over and went right back to sleep. The next day he packed his bags and moved out, as the pregnancy progressed so did the violence towards her husband. Some doctors call that experiencing a “roller coaster” effect of many emotions. Michael fell in love all over with her hubby when she got pregnant. She wanted to sit in his lap whenever he came home from work. When they went out for party she wanted to sit close to him, hold his hand, and eat from his plate… So when hubby dearest got a chance to leave the country for a short course, he took it, and he probably deserved it, the man needed some breathing space. However, on the day he left, his wife packed her bags, went to his parent’s home and moved into his childhood bedroom until the day he returned. And when he arrived, she carried her bags to the car, forbade him to get out even to say hello to his parents and told him to take them home. A woman’s emotions are characterized by mood swings, which can range from great joy to deep despair. Frequently, a woman will become tearful with little cause. When asked why she is crying, she may find it difficult or impossible to give a reason. This situation is very unsettling for the husband or partner causing him to feel confused and inadequate and in some cases, the man, like Paul, may decide to leave her till the baby comes. For some, the cravings the same throughout the nine months, while for others, they change periodically.Many times they take to hating the sight, smell, sound of somebody they hardly know. They get to the point of wanting to throw up every time that person walks by, or says something, for no reason whatsoever. It’s amazing. When my mother was heavy with my little sister, she craved many things, but I specifically remember the day she wanted jackfruit. She nagged and demanded and begged until someone went and bought her some. She proceeded to indulge her urge, eating most of it and leaving only a little piece for the rest of the home. But as we know, the smell of jackfruit doesn’t go away in a hurry, so a few hours later she was totally disgusted by it and promptly proceeded to ban it from the house. None of us had jackfruit until after the little one was delivered. Another jackfruit situation found a man being woken up a little after midnight. His wife told him she wanted jackfruit immediately. If he thought it was a bad joke he had another thing coming. He was spotted driving around some secluded area, knocking at doors and asking for a tree where he paid some kind young men to climb up and get the desired fruit. When he finally got back to his castle, he found her eagerly waiting. Raw earth drives these women crazy, and when it rains a little, the smell of the soils just sends them to high heaven. They attack anthills and eat soil like their lives depends on it. Experts tell us that emotions are often unstable and feelings of depression are not uncommon, often for no apparent reason. It is commonly believed that the mood swings in pregnancy are caused by hormonal changes. The two main hormones that play a major role in pregnancy are estrogens and progesterone. A renowned gynaecologist in Kigali says,” the feeling and fears experienced during pregnancy are intense and varied. They experience a ‘roller coaster’ effect of many emotions. These feeling and concerns are a normal part of pregnancy. Each woman comes to terms with the changes in her own way, with the support of her partner or family.” There is something about pregnant women and sense of smell. It becomes so keen that some women can smell something burning a distance away. Many times men are forced to stop using after shave because the scent nauseates their pregnant partners. Doctors say pregnant women crave foods rich in salt, fat or sugar, especially those they have longed for in the past. During pregnancy, a woman will let herself indulge those cravings, even though she has restrained herself from submitting to these urges in the past. The pregnant woman may also have an interesting physiological mechanism, a taste a version which kicks in to protect the foetus from toxins. Most toxins are bitter on have a strong odour. As a result, doctors say. Pregnant women are more sensitive to bitter tastes and acrid odours, like coffee, and have an aversion to them. They instinctively avoid substance that might harm the foetus and gravitate towards dense sources of sugar and fat. Some food cravings are not just bizarre, they are downright hard to imagine. One craving called pica has women yearning for dirt, plaster, laundry starch, ice or paper. A common theory among medical professionals says it’s a sign of iron deficiency anaemia. Pregnant women are affected most by pica although children may also be affected. Contact: byawakaj@yahoo.com
