Emetophobia and Pregnancy: Part Two

My whole life I remember thinking that all pregnant women vomit. It was an inevitable part of life, then in college during my Philosophy of Women class a professor told us that she never got sick once when she was pregnant with her daughter. This news changed my life.

Up until then I had vowed never to have kids, I was going to adopt. Why? Because I have emetophobia. Simply put emetophobia is the fear of vomiting.

This instructor had a theory that green vegetables caused vomiting during pregnancy. I don't know why, or what she thought was in them that made a pregnant women sick, but she said that by avoiding green vegetables she avoided morning sickness. For some reason I never forgot this piece of information.

I would hear things throughout the year from other people like always keep saltines next to your bed. One women swore by ginger-root every morning. I gathered all of this information and kept a mental checklist for the next ten years.

My second step in preparing myself for pregnancy was to find out what I could and could not take while I was pregnant. I had so many anti-emetics at home, but which ones would be safe during pregnancy. Throughout the years my therapist used to laugh at the fact that I carried around an arsenal of medications, ginger root, compazine, and cola syrup. The trick was to find out which ones were safe during my pregnancy.

I researched normal cures for morning sickness and investigated a few alternative medicines. I found that I could hang on to my old stand byes, ginger-root and cola syrup, but the compazine would have to go.

I found some new herbal alternatives to try out. One thing I found that was safe during pregnancy and promised to provide relief was red raspberry leaf. Red Raspberry Leaf is found in a lot of pregnancy support teas because it is the most widely known herbal nutrient for uterine health, what you will find out if you dig a little deeper is that it does in fact help nausea. I would drink a glass whenever feeling a little off, and it worked wonders.

After doing all of my research I also wanted to ask my doctor what he recommends to prevent nausea and vomiting. To my surprise he recommended drinking Lemonade. He said that a lot of nausea can be caused due to dehydration, and something in the lemonade can in fact settle the stomach.

The fact that a sour beverage would cure morning-sickness made sense when my research on the subject turned up a product called preggie pops that also helped nausea. Preggie pops and preggie pop drops helped my nausea with their blend of essential oils and slightly sour taste.

When I finally did become pregnant I was scared, but I was prepared. I had emetophobia, but I had properly researched everything safe effective morning sickness cures and was ready to safely and securely concur my morning sickness without any fear of harming my unborn child. I am proud to say that by using the tricks I learned through my research I survived a healthy and happy pregnancy, something I thought would be impossible for someone with emetophobia a few years back.

 

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Going to a Bar When You are an Emetophobe

Having a Fear of Vomit in the Most Common Place People Throw Up

One of the hardest parts of having emetophobia is having a social life. When you have emetophobia you constantly live in fear that someone, anyone around you will vomit. So when someone with emetophobia walks into a bar a simple equation pops into their head: People + alcohol = vomit.

I hate being in bars because I know someone will drink too much. I know that I don't have control over whether or not that person will find their way out the door, or find their way to me when they start to feel ill. Not to mention all of the people that you came with, you can not possibly control how much they drink, and chances are you are the designated driver, so you have to drive in the car all the while fearing one of them will ask you to pull over.

Why is the emetophobe always the designated driver, because of what the actual decision to drink means. Deciding to drink puts you in a position where you can drink to much. Too much alcohol means that you might just get sick. I just don't drink at all, and if I do I only have one drink. I have not been drunk in years because I live in fear that I will get sick. I have been drunk before, really drunk. I am talking the kind of drunk that sends you to the hospital to get your stomach pumped drunk. Obviously, I survived it, but I learned my lesson, when the drunkenness fades and the sickness doesn't it is one big panic attack.

So what happens when an emetophobe, or an emet as I like to refer to myself as, walks into a bar. Chances are the emet has so much pent up anxiety over whether or not someone, anyone in this bar will get sick that they don't have fun. They are thinking about how much everyone around them is drinking. They can't take the edge off with alcohol, because they don't want to get sick themselves, and as I said before chances are they are the designated driver anyway. I personally count the seconds till I go home. I babysit my friends to the point that they are so annoyed that they might just burst. My husband is so sick of hearing, "do you really need another drink," or, "are you drunk?" that he just wants to scream.

In conclusion emetophobia and bars just don't mix.

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Driving in Cars with Emetophobia: Vomit Phobia and Car Driving Phobia, One in the Same?

I hate driving in cars. I can drive in a car by myself with absolutely no problem, but when I am in a car, with other people, I go into panic mode. The longer the trip, the worse the panic attack. You might ask yourself what I am even panicking about. The girl has emetophobia, not car riding phobia.

I decided to do a little research about what it is like to be afraid to ride in cars. I wanted to know, if that was my only phobia, what would the symptoms be. I looked it up on a website devoted to curing phobias. I in no way endorse this site, but it does have the best definition of various phobias I could find on-line. That being said I quote the following from the Change That's Right Now website, "Known by a number of names - Amathophobia and Fear of Riding in Cars being the most common - the problem often significantly impacts the quality of life. It can cause panic attacks and keep people apart from loved ones and business associates. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, rapid breathing, irregular heartbeat, sweating, nausea, and overall feelings of dread, although everyone experiences car ride phobia in their own way and may have different symptoms."

Riding in cars does in fact cause me to have panic attacks, I experience shortness of breath, sweating, even the nausea they describe. The big difference between myself and someone who experiences these symptoms simply because they are riding in a car is the reasoning behind the phobia. The whole car ride I am thinking to myself, is that person sitting next to me going to throw up. Why? Well we all know that emetophobia is the fear of vomiting, but I think it gets worse in an enclosed space. Worse yet, being in a car, a moving vehicle, means that if the person next to you does in fact get sick, you can not get out. You are stuck in the car with your worst fear.

I have often wondered what I would do if someone actually did get sick next to me while I was driving. Most people would laugh it off, find it a funny story, but honestly, it could cause me to stop breathing, to get into an accident, or even pull off the side of the road and refuse to get back in the car. Saying it out loud, or rather typing it out this sounds ridiculous, but this phobia is so strong, so powerful, that this is how I feel. I know it's ridiculous, I know that I sound slightly off my rocker, and don't think for a minute that I wouldn't love to stop feeling this way. I would love to be someone who can go on a car ride, and enjoy it, but I am not.

There are a lot of strange comforts that I find in my fear, but this is not one of them. Driving in cars is an inevitable part of life. My family deserves to go on vacation without their mommy having crazy "what if" thoughts. I should be able to go to a bar with my husband and not drive home panicking that he will be sick, because, and this is a whole different topic, chances are I have cut him off well before he would even be drunk enough to get sick. I know I need get help.

Fortunately, I do ride in cars, my fear has not overtaken my life to the point where I am stuck in my house. As much as I hate this fear, at least it does not, and never will completely control me, and that in and of itself is a victory to be proud of.

 

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Your lifestyle, your furniture plan

Your lifestyle should determine your furniture. Your  Jupiterimages/Polka Dot/Getty Images

home must have a good furniture plan so that it will look more organized whether you've got a big or small family. This is easily achieved by having a master plan. Work on your master plan. Follow it thoroughly by buying furniture pieces that fits your plan, one by one over time. Whether you opt to buy brand new furniture or second hand in consignment or surplus stores, or upholstered furniture, your home will look prettier with furniture that is a mix of various period and styles, so you don't need to really aspire for a picture perfect showroom look. For example, furniture pieces like sofas and beds can be modern or contemporary and can be mixed with artwork and side tables from your grandmother's attic or your grandfather's basement.

Where to start? Make a list of key pieces you need for your home. For example, list down a sofa, master bedroom bed that's either queen or king-size, children's beds and a main dining table. Since these are key pieces, decide on a budget for these major furniture pieces and go for durability. Allot a bigger chunk of your budget on them, since they need to last over several years.

Now, how do you find what fits your taste? You can browse through home design books, furniture catalogs, magazines to get ideas or you can actually make your own sketches from the designs you liked. Visit showrooms to see furniture close up. Become familiar with various types of woods and finishes. Select the color, finish and size of each piece needed to fit the home precisely. Use a sketch pad to lay out your chosen furniture floor plan for each of the room in the house.

Step by step is how it's done best. If your home has about four to five rooms, you can build each room around a single piece of furniture or grouping. Purchase a large table and chairs that will serve as the focal point of your dining room. You can then add seating areas or study areas off to the other side. You can create a family room around two leather sofas facing each other, for example then cut out or sketch artwork and accessories around these key pieces of furniture to add a touch of coziness. With these goals in mind, you can keep your eyes open for these desired accessories over the next few months.

 

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G PLAN FURNITURE? IT’S GOT TO BE RETRO!

The 50's and 60's furniture are now referred to as the retro era where people took to modern furniture were a bit flashy. Today however, retro and modern definitely go well especially when choosing furniture for the home. Magazines, home interior catalogs feature Retro or plan furniture and still looks fantastic in a modern home. You can choose genuine furniture pieces from the 50s and 60s or any modern designs which was inspired by the past era. You either can buy original retro furniture pieces or choose modern pieces that has a retro look. A combination of a few original pieces with some modern basics here and there would still look great.

During the 50s, contemporary furniture, as was the favorite term used then in this era, can be found in many homes. While bold patterns were used for wallpapers and fabrics, elegant, modern sofa and dining table and chairs with lighter wooden splayed legs or slender legs were the demand. Since the range of furniture items manufactured were limited, customers pick a small set then mix and match it with their own furniture at home. Or, they could collect G Plan furniture piece by piece till they have a complete set to create a coordinated look throughout the entire house

A decade later, the 60's produced a variety of diverse furniture styles ranging from country cottage pine to blow-up chairs, and is easily recognized because of its long, low, teak sideboards and coffee tables. This range is known as the G Plan, a classic retro furniture look introduced by furniture company E.Gomme in 1952 and became popular later on. The preference for teak continued till the 70's although the new look was pine and furniture produced looked stocky.  

For those who just love to G Plan or retro furniture, you can, without looking too flambouyant or gaudy. Mixing and matching G Plan furniture in your home is meant to be fun, just like art deco. You can even go ahead and buy modern versions of the original 60's Plan furniture as a way to appreciate the style of the era.

 

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ABC’s of GARDEN SHED DESIGNS

Attention, homeowners! Yes, you! You know by now that there's no such thing as enough storage space even if you have a basement and a garage. What your man of the house really needs is a garden shed-- one large enough to house an arsenal of outdoor power tools as well having an organized space for everything from rakes and shovels to fertilizer and fuel.

 This is where blueprints and designs come in handy. You probably know where to look for them – the internet, magazines, catalogs, brochures, and so on.  So how could it challenging to look for a garden shed design when that there are tons of information lurking around. Exactly. But those hordes and pages of garden shed designs you scanned may just be overwhelming. If that's your feeling, then it's time to take a deep breath and pause. This no-frill article may be the one to solve your confusion and help you make your choice easier.

A. Get a detailed materials list. This will be your step-by-step instruction guide in building the garden shed especially if you're not an experienced woodworker as to where you can obtain or buy your materials and how quick the delivery time will be since you wouldn't want your work to be delayed just because the materials or some components are not available. 

B.  Get a good resource material like a comprehensive Do-It-Yourself book or guide on garden shed designs or at the library where there good sources of high, quality garden designs you can choose from. This will greatly help you in making your own design if you already have some woodworking knowledge. Online sites can also offer thousands of digital guides you can choose from and download. Some are even complete and fully illustrated that you can even start building your shed literally, from scratch!

C. Choose what you want to do. There are actually two choices when it comes to building a wooden garden shed: one, you can either buy a kit then follow the manufacturer's choice of materials and layout or two, you can design a structure to suit your own particular needs and tastes.  If you choose the latter, this approach could cost you more and it may take longer to work on, but then it's the best way to get what you really want.

 

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Woodworking free plans

It's absolutely great to see how woodworking free plans help people make their house more furnished and pleasing to stay at. From the thinnest type of plywood to the very detailed carvings, these plans will give you tons of suggestions and information on how to create wood working stuff.

 

If we're going to talk about ambience, I can always suggest that putting furniture's made out of wood especially in living room or dining area will create a much tranquil atmosphere where you can relax nicely. There are a lot of things you can do with wood working stuff, like some of the basics such as tables, chairs, cabinet, or even some cool and funny stuff like a wooden rocking horse, a doll house for your kids, a pool table and some other things for recreational activities.

 

There is one time when I went to mall to shop for an outdoor table for our backyard and I was bit shocked with the price. Although I am capable of buying it, I'm still having second thoughts if I were to buy that table. But then I realize when I look at it, gee I can make this thing by myself so why wouldn't I try. This is the first time I search over the net about how to make such wooden table and luckily I came over to various sites that tackle woodworking free plans.

 

I was so amazed to find this guidelines trough net for absolutely free of charges. It's always easy to make a job if you have a stable and reliable plan at first and that is what they are giving you. You will no longer experience confusions on what kind of materials to buy because they're going to give you the exact things you needed to materialize your plan. And they will also provide you information on what sizes and measurements of each wood you will use. These step by step guidelines will truly makes your work more challenging and yet enjoyable.

 

Woodworking free plans over the net are truly advisable to be read for those people who are just getting started on the craft and of course if you would like to enjoy making stuff by yourself rather than spending too much money on handicrafts being sold in malls. As for me, I see my work I do as a project and whenever I finished one, I always treat that as an accomplishment that you will really enjoy especially when you actually see the finish product.

 

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