FACT! baby fathers show symptoms too!

At my first trimester, I used to like eating fried fish a lot and now I don't have that anymore as my symptoms. The only early-pregnancy symptom I still have is craving on potato chips. My partner on the other hand usually did not like fried fish until I introduced him to it. I say 'did not' because now it's all that he thinks of when we pass by our usual restaurant.

This might surprise a lot of people but it is a fact, a weird one indeed, your baby father might be experiencing pregnancy symptoms too, some of which you might be familiar with because you also experienced them or you still do.This is called sympathetic pregnancy or Couvade syndrome; your partner might respond to your pregnancy in a manner that he will feel what you feel .

REALITY CHECK, who's pregnant here?

These are the most common symptoms of Couvade syndrome:

• nausea and heartburn-If you are pregnant you might have experienced this symptom, but what about your partner? He might be going through the same. At times he will have an irritable stomach, he might not like the foods you know of him most or he might feel like he wants to puke now and then. Remember you also felt the same way in your early stages of your pregnancy? There are also chances that you both experience this the same time.

• abdominal pain-There is no scientific explanation for this and any other symptom mentioned here, your partner might feel cramps around the lower parts of the stomach as you might have or at the same time you experience these pains.

• appetite changes- It is normal for your partner to experience this also, he might not like his usual favorite meals or he might have cravings right in the middle of the night.

• weight gain- There are chances that your partner might gain a few kg's from all the food you have been feeding him. Although he might not like some type of food that you like, he might have agreed on eating with you because it wouldn't be so nice of him if he hadn't.

• change in sleeping patterns- Your partner might be sleeping more than usual, he might even feel tired most of the time and this should make things easy for both of you as you might also like to take a nap as well.

• anxiety- Stressing about labor and the budget and 'everything pregnancy' might be normal for your partner, he might be concerned as much as you are and this can lead to seriousness, you both need to talk around to other expectant parents as well as parents who already have children to prepare yourselves.

"Now that I'm six months pregnant, my husband insists on sleeping like me. He says he wants to get the full pregnancy experience. It's not unusual to find him napping with my pillow between his knees and a heating pad on his back." --Stephanie, Lorain, OH