My heart was racing. I felt breathless with the tiniest amount of exertion. I felt intense anxiety for, what I felt like, no good reason. I felt like I was having panic attacks – ALL the time.

After seeing the dietician, I became extremely interested – or rather, obsessed – in learning about vitamin supplementation in pregnancy.

“How are you feeling?” she asked in genuine concern. “Depleted,” I said flatly, “like death warmed up.”

I still remember the profound exasperation I felt one morning, when I woke up and in a fit of disgust wailed, “I cannot possibly have one……more……green…….smoothie!”

I wanted to laugh at the absurdity of it all, and yet I wanted to burst into tears. Laughter eventually prevailed, and I found humour was slowly become one of my main coping strategies.

I stared longingly at the raw food bars that I normally stash in the top pocket of my flight suit. “How can these possibly be bad for you?!!” I fretted.

Subtle vibrations began reverberating through the needles into my abdomen. I took a deep breath. This was….weird….but kind of interesting at the same time.