Seb was making fun of me, "a tortilla cheeseburger? You're really going to eat all that?" "It looks really good!" I said defensively. It was one of those pregnancy cravings. I don't normally eat cheeseburgers but I was starving and it was me who had chosen the new restaurant. It was Applebees, the American chain which had just opened 5 minutes from our house.
As I lay dying on the bathroom floor at 4am I thought how ironic. It was the first time I'd chosen an American restaurant in Mexico. It was my curse--Montezuma's joke. La Tourista had hit me when I would have least expected it and hard. I ran from the bed to the bathroom every hour for 12 hours. As I held the garbage can in my lap and sat on the toilet, shivering all the while I wondered what on earth we were doing here in Mexico. The next morning my body was wracked by pain and muscle spasms. I couldn't even walk.
Seb stayed home from work and called the doctor. The baby was eerily quiet and I was scared. The doctor arrived with the hotel manager as translator and listened to the sushi's heartbeat, "she's okay" he said "just tired like her mother." I laughed to myself because I can only imagine what it must have sounded like to her from inside. At one point I was on all fours leaning over the garbage can and I could feel her shifting. I prayed, "please God don't let me go in to labor now...I could never do it."
The doctor gave me a shot in the butt, something for immediate relief and a list of medications that would do any French doctor proud. He claimed everything was safe for the baby. I asked Seb to run by my OB's office just to be sure and he said this particular brand of antibiotics is okay for pregnant or breastfeeding women. I just hate taking anything during pregnancy but I feeling like the Dawn of the Dead, or one of the Thriller corpses dancing in Michael's video so I don't think I had the choice.
The doctor said it would take nearly three days to feel normal. It's been nearly 48 hours and I'm still feeling completely exhausted. I think tomorrow will be better. I see my OB tomorrow evening and we'll hopefully get a peek at the Sushi to see how she is. I also have to tell him about the anemia. He's going to label my file hypochondriac.
I'm not sure why this trimester has been cursed by so much illness.
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2 comments:
That was a really scary story, C. Take care of yourself and rest up. I hope everything is ok. L
The only issues I have ever had with food or drink in Mexico are specifically at the big American chains and fast food restaurants. I have eaten everywhere from Tijuana to Mexico City to Cancun, from the poshest restaurants to the simplest sidewalk taco stands, and I have been absolutely fine most of the time. But when I eat at an Applebee's or Chili's or Burger King, I almost always get sick. Ditto for any super fancy Mexican restaurants--I always get ill at them. Never in my life have I had a problem at any family-run cafe or loncheria or even the smallest hot dog stand. Ironic, isn't it?
This is definitely a hazard of living in Mexico, and I'm so sorry you had to experience it during your pregnancy.
You will find that these cases are few and far between however, and certainly diminish the longer you are there. Some of it IS bad food, and some of it is also adjusting to certain elements in the food that your system is not used to.
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