What do Nik Naks, liquorice, lemon water and mint ice cream have in common?

At 30 weeks pregnant, baby was doing very well and while I was struggling to get over bronchitis, generally I have always been fit and healthy.

So when a small cough on Wednesday morning brought me to my knees in excruciating pain, I can tell you I did not see it coming.

Of course if you ask anyone in the newsroom they will tell you that I am no advert for pregnancy.

On average most women experience ‘morning sickness’ (a ridiculously deceptive name for something you can experience all day and all night) for the first 12 weeks (if at all, gosh I envy those women).

With Daniël it was 17 weeks, but his baby brother has been keen to outdo him from the onset and kept me green at the gills 24/7 for a grand total of 20 weeks (that’s five months, people!). Pregnancy is not for sissies.

I discovered Nik Naks, liquorice, lemon water and mint ice cream were the only things that gave me some relief.

So the first sign to my team that something was not right was that my uber healthy salad loving, rooibos tea drinking self suddenly morphed into a chips and ice cream monster.

I am now on first name basis with almost everyone at the service station shop next to the office. I could not look at a cup of tea without feeling ‘naar’ (this was extremely upsetting for a teapot such as myself).

On a side note, I also took it quite personally that mid-pregnancy, Beacon decided to discontinue liquorice ropes and their marshmallow mice with liquorice tails.

Liquorice All-Sorts are great but the ‘sorts’ part left me feeling out-of-sorts… Very disappointing, Beacon.

I proceeded to catch every flu and bug within a 100 kilometre radius, all of which have to be suffered without any real medication.

Last week while I was in so much pain I almost blacked out a few times.

Basically all I was allowed was two Panado every eight hours (yes it was via a drip but that is in essence all it was).

Perhaps I should start visiting local schools with my story? Surely teen pregnancy rates would drop if they had an inkling of how hard it could be?

So there I am in Dr Mthethwa’s office, going cold and clammy as you do when you are about to lose consciousness, leaning on my unflappable rock of a husband, and in two ticks I find myself booked in for x-rays, blood tests and the works.

Praise God it turned out that I had only injured the ligaments and muscles between my ribs (and not popped a kidney as I was imagining).

It could have been worse, my physio knew a woman who cracked a rib by coughing while pregnant.

A quick Google search showed me that I was not alone. This has happened to so many others before me.

But despite how miserable I may have been not being able to adjust my pillows, let alone get out of bed on my own, the experience reminded me to be grateful for my good health.

I cannot image what it must be like to live with this type of chronic pain.

We can so easily take our health for granted, but it can quite be taken from under you like a rug.

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“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift… that’s why they call it the present” – Master Oogway (Kung Foo Panda)