Super taster, super feeler, super duper

I am a super taster. Biologically speaking, I have more taste buds on my tongue per square inch than most people. Practically speaking, I taste foods more intensely than others, or so I am given to understand. An article I read once say that it's a neon-taste world for us super-tasters, and I suppose it must be true, though I can't say for sure, since I don't know what it's like to be a normal taster.

Some parts of ourselves, such as our five senses and our emotional states, establish themselves and then don't change much. What annoys you or makes you happy one day typically annoys you or makes you happy the next day. Once you've established a norm for yourself for how you react to situations, you frequently keep to that norm.

But not, as I am learning, when you're pregnant. Under normal circumstances (that is, when I'm not pregnant), I would not consider myself an overly emotional person. I feel emotions, frequently strongly, but the rational part of me is still almost always in control.

Pregnancy land, however, is a super feeling world. I no longer get a little happy; I dance around the room while singing. I don't get a little upset; I swear and stomp. Rarely am I a little annoyed; my facial expression and body language scream that I have no patience for fools.

I feel emotions much more intensely than before, but the situation is even more extreme because my rational mind is no longer in control. I can't hold myself back from dancing and swearing and withdrawing physically. Not only that, but my verbal inhibitions are significantly lower than before. I freely speak my mind, voicing complaints that I would otherwise stifle and expressing opinions that I might otherwise phrase much more carefully.

I feel like I'm getting to know a whole new me, a me that I never thought I would be, but one that has offered an intriguing perspective. As it turns out, speaking your mind does not result in catastrophe. In fact, contronting a difficult situation and saying how you feel about it is unexpectedly cathartic. Confrontation gives you the opportunity to acknowledge a problem, and if the situation goes well, you feel better afterwards and can begin anew.

I have about 12 weeks left of my pregnancy, so everyone around me can expect to interact with an increasingly honest, moody, and temperamental individual for the duration. I am on the verge of losing my previously very cute innie belly button; as soon as it pops out into an outie, all bets are off, and I make no guarantees that I will exhibit any rational behavior from here on out.