The other night, when Hank got in bed, with my back towards him, I started sniffing and said, “Did you have a beer?”
“A beer? No…”
I turned around to look at him. He thought for a minute and said, “Yeah, at work… like, 6 hours ago.”
He’d long since changed clothes, had a couple cigarettes (outside, and he’s been cutting back dramatically), brushed his teeth, etc.
“Well, I smell it,” I said.
“That’s creepy. I wish I had a power like that.”
Not that I cared if he had a beer, mind you. My question was because I smelled it, but hadn’t seen him drink one.
I also have to return the new Korres Body Milk I just got, along with the body scrub, because the (fig) scent makes me retch. Hank needs to changes his body wash because the Kiehl’s musk scent gives me a monstrous headache. And last night when he came at me to kiss me goodnight, I dove under the covers, telling him I couldn’t stand the smoke smell.
“But I brushed my teeth!”
I waved my hand around him, “The smell is all over you.”
Weeks ago, I was doing research online to find out if I really need to give up sushi and what fish is safe to eat (sushi or otherwise.) I then read something that said to trust your sense of smell – if something smells off or bad, avoid it. THEN I read that this heightened sense of smell is some kind of evolutionary defense mechanism, so that women can smell their food and avoid eating anything dangerous (spoiled, rotten, laden with bacteria, etc.) Crazy, huh?
This morning I read an article about male post-partum depression. More evolutionary weirdness – it said that when their partner is pregnant, their testosterone levels go down and their estrogen goes up. A suggested reason? To keep them from running away and leaving home after the baby is born.
Then, along with all the really, really wonderful supportive comments and emails I’ve gotten about everyone’s different experiences and how it’s ok to not love being pregnant and that having a baby might not just wash all your blues away – immediately or ever – I read this. There’s a reason misery loves company – cause sometimes it makes you feel less miserable.