Why Didn't Anybody Tell Me? Super Sensitive Sniffer

November 13, 2007

One sure fire way to know that you are pregnant is when your sense of smell kicks into high gear. Things that didn't bother you before may now cause you to gag.

I used to smell things five minutes before people I was with would. For the good things in life like flowers and food, it was a treat. But when your mate comes to bed after a few beers, you'll start building a pillow wall between the two of you just to stay sober.

Unfortunately, it lasts for the duration of pregnancy and into mommyhood. Then, you'll be back to your old self and wish you had that sensitive sniffer back to eek out that last bit of baby's freshly shampooed hair.

Source

22 Comments

Lenay 2 years

Unfortunately, I experienced this one first hand. When I was pregnant with my first I had just been hired by a woman in her 90's to be her night shift housekeeper/ companion so that she could move back into her house after a three month stay in a nursing home. The first thing she ordered me to do was to clean out the three month old leftovers still in her fridge. Everything was black and furry, but she insisted that I hand wash all of the Tupperware it was contained in. I literally ran bawling from the house and my husband had to chase me down.

goofynewf 5 years

When I was pregnant, there were some smells I was very sensitive to and I would feel nauseau when I smelled them. Now, almost 3 years after my boys were born, I can't deal with some smells. (ketchup, vinger, tuna.)

rgrl 5 years

Definitely had this. I could smell hubby's empty glass of wine from across the room and he never believed it bothered me that much. I'll have to show him this post.

bushra 5 years

i couldn't believe how sensitive my sense of smell became, i could smell toast in an office kitchen on the other side of my building, and someone smoking outside our house, while i was inside with the windows shut!

EssH 5 years

This was happened to me with all 3 kids, there's a couple perfumes and Victoria secret body sprays/lotions that make me queasy if I smell it now.

mamaseacat 5 years

My sister-in-law had this really bad with her first pregnancy. She couldn't stand the smell of my brother and would make him shower twice before going to bed. (My brother isn't a stinky man.) When I was pregnant, we didn't use our kitchen for months. I didn't like the smell of food cooking. So some restaurants were off limits as well - especially if I can smell onions.

GirlC 5 years

I'm a bit afraid of taking anything because I'm still having to pee 3x a night...

macgirl 5 years

GirlC I started to get the insomnia and my doctor let me take unisom at night. I only had to take it a few times and got myself back on track!!

GirlC 5 years

I never really got this. I wish someone had told me about the insomnia though.

macgirl 5 years

I've had this both times. It did go away after my first pregnancy. This time around the smell of strawberries gagged me as they just smelled rotten. Also if my hubby drinks beer I can't be near him. It seems to ooze out of his pores. I beg him to drink something stronger ;-)

mother 5 years

Oh yes, this is so true! My twins are 11 months old, and I'm still the super-sensitive smeller! It all started when my hubby went out for drinks and indian food during my pregnancy, came home and had me gagging so much I had to kick his butt to the couch! To this day, if he comes home smelling like that, he knows he's not sleeping in the bed that night!

Saturn9 5 years

Never had the bionic pregnancy nose. As always, YPregnancyMV.

lindsey6096 5 years

When I was pregnant with my son I could not cook meat because the smell would make me sick. And the smell of wine and beer made me want to vomit. I tihnk that's why I went into the hyper-nesting phase. One night I went to Target, spent over $100 on cleaning supplies and stayed up all night scrubbing every crevice in my house. I'm sure all those cleaning fumes were great... So glad I'm not crazy anymore.

schnappycat 5 years

I normally have a terrible sense of smell, so I was shocked when this actually happened to me in early pregnancy. I didn't have much morning sickness, per se, but there were a few weeks where every smell made me gag. I couldn't go near the fridge for days. It was very surprising given that normally I can't smell much. Maybe it just made me closer to normal. Heh.

fragiletearz 5 years

I never got this either time I was pregnant.

Lala77 5 years

I've heard about this , but I wasn't sure if to believe it or not. Well now I know it's true :D

telewyo 5 years

I find this terribly frightening because I've always had a super sensitive nose. A few weeks ago I was leaving work and smelled super strong gas outside, I mentioned it to co-workers going to their cars and they said they didn't smell anything. On my way home I had to detour because there was a broken gas line...4 miles away from work. The next day it was in the paper and everyone made fun of my super nose. If it gets worse when I get pregnant I won't be able to leave the house!

veronicaraye 5 years

that would suck!

Greggie 5 years

I'd recommend refraining from guarantees that the problems will go away. Otherwise "Why didn't anybody tell me" turns into "They told me, but why didn't they tell me it was FOREVER??" ;)

Greggie 5 years

"Then, you'll be back to your old self and wish you had that sensitive sniffer back to eek out that last bit of baby's freshly shampooed hair." Much like the incontinence promise, I beg to differ. I've always had a supersonic sense of smell. With each pregnancy, it's gotten worse and no, it never goes back.