When I was pregnant with my first child, I had a fairly routine experience with morning sickness. I was sick for several weeks but was perking up by the time the second trimester rolled around. My second pregnancy, though? Oh man. I still get queasy thinking about it!
The list of public places where I threw up during my second pregnancy is long and embarrassing: my office, multiple parking lots, a restaurant, on the side of several roads, in the lobby at the doctor's office, in the doctor's office, and, well, the list could go on.
But I am not alone in the embarrassing-morning-sickness-barfs department. Oh no — I have company, and you will be cringing in sympathy as you read their stories. Click on for a collection of the most epic and awful true stories of morning sickness embarrassment!
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Double Trouble
"I think the worst was when I threw up so hard in a parking lot that I peed my pants at the same time. That was an awesome walk into work." — Sarah T., Huntsville, Alabama
Sad Times
"Puking at the funeral of a family friend. Puking and weeping is not a good combination." — Katie W., Oxford, Mississippi
Fast Food, Fast Puke
"I was on the way home from picking up lunch at a taco place. Had to puke, took food out of the bag, barfed in it. Got home and ate the tacos. It was funny, even then. Pregnancy puke was just normal by then. So I rolled with it." — Melissa J., Altoona, Iowa
More from CafeMom: 5 Morning Sickness Cures That Will Have You Feeling Like Your Old Self
Airport Woes
"The worst was barfing in the bathroom of an airport as the automatic toilet continually flushes in my face and I pee my pants with the force of heaving. My bag was already checked through so I had no clean pants for the next six hours." — Name withheld
Barf in the Fast Lane
"I got really good at throwing up into plastic baggies while driving, but once it happened when I was driving 70 miles an hour down the freeway. It got all over me and the car." — Anya B., Everett, Washington
Conference Call
"I was in the middle of a call at work once and just hung up on them and ran to the bathroom, which was thankfully close. I called them back and said, 'Must have been disconnected! Weird!''– Ashley C., Las Vegas, Nevada
More from CafeMom: Got Morning Sickness? Consider Yourself Lucky!
Clean Up in Aisle 2
"I still feel bad about tossing my cookies in the cookie aisle at the grocery store. But I walked by the seafood section and it was all over." — Tammy S., Davis, California
Hard at Work
"I was trying to hide the fact that I was pregnant from people at work, but I couldn't stop throwing up in my office. I thought I was being subtle about it, but then one day I showed up to work and found ginger ale, breath mints, and a scented candle on my desk. Busted." — Beth B., Saint Paul, Minnesota
More from CafeMom: Extreme Morning Sickness in Pregnancy: Why It Happens & How It's Treated
Not So Sexy
"I thought I was over the sickness and then I was getting frisky with my husband. I don't want to be graphic, but let's just say that we found out the hard way that pregnancy gives me a REALLY strong gag reflex. It was very, very bad." — Name withheld
Objection!
"I was as an attorney in child support court and got hit with morning sickness. In child support court, the attorney works through all the cases she can with individuals before the judge hears the hard ones. So the judge was not in the room yet and I was working with a non-custodial parent on their case and had to run out of the courtroom to the bathroom, but I made it to the toilet." — Rayne D., Boston, Massachusetts
Pain on the Train
"I once threw up on the floor in a (luckily deserted at 9 p.m.) DC Metro train. We told the driver, didn't know what else to do. I felt awful about just leaving it but I had to get off the train and into fresh air ASAP." — Arwen M., Ann Arbor, Michigan
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Public Puke
"I puked in a bush at the park, after asking a woman I'd just met to watch my toddler on the playground." — Sarah L., Salt Lake City, Utah
Big Announcement
"We took my sister and her husband out to lunch to tell them the big news that I was pregnant. I didn't get a chance to make the announcement because I threw up ALL OVER the table while everyone was eating lunch. I've never been more embarrassed." — Erin A., Edina, Minnesota
Coffee Shop Meltdown
"With my first, I was still working downtown and taking the bus to work. Turns out, the bus made me sick (still does). One day I got off two stops early because I was going to hurl and ran into a coffee shop. I hurriedly asked for the key to the bathroom and the barista snottily told me I would have to wait my turn in line and then buy something. I begged. She resisted. When she finally gave me the key, I ran to the bathroom but didn't make it and ended up hurling all over the bathroom door. I bought a mint tea and apologetically tipped $20 (which was huge money for me then). I haven't gone back to that coffee shop ever again." –Sarah T., Seattle, Washington
More from CafeMom: 13 Women on How They Knew They Were Pregnant — No Pee Stick Required
