Over the following weeks, the morning sickness arrived right on schedule—a dramatic, theatrical kind that had her hugging the toilet bowl every dawn. But the stuffy nose was a constant companion. It was there during the first ultrasound, when they saw the tiny heartbeat flicker like a proof of life. It was there when she cried happy tears over a jar of pickles. It was there at 3 a.m., when the baby kicked for the first time—a soft, unmistakable flutter that made her forget the congestion entirely.
By the seventh month, Maya had become a professional-level mouth-breather. She bought a wedge pillow to sleep upright. She carried a personal steamer in her work bag. Leo had learned to interpret her garbled, nasal announcements: “I need ice cream” sounded like “I need lice team,” but he always got it right. pregnancy symptoms stuffy nose
Maya sank onto the bed, a grin breaking through her exhausted, puffy face. “Apparently. It’s called pregnancy rhinitis. Your body increases blood flow to all the mucous membranes. Everything swells up. Even your nose.” Over the following weeks, the morning sickness arrived
“Are you… okay?”