Pregnancy is often described as surreal, beautiful, and empowering. But let’s be honest — it also comes with midnight cravings, hormonal swings, and moments that can leave you terrified.
One such moment hit me hard — at 4:00 AM, with nothing but strange smelly burps, a dry throat, and a stomach that refused to stay still. What I thought was a bad food day turned into a spike in my CRP level during pregnancy, a visit to the emergency room, and a lesson I’ll never forget about inflammation and intuition during motherhood.
Inflammation is your body’s natural way of defending itself. When something irritates or harms you like an infection or injury your immune system sends out a full team of white blood cells, proteins, and healing signals ( just to make it more clear infection is a problem, inflammation is body’s response to the problem). CRP (C-reactive protein) is a marker, doctors check to see if there’s any inflammation inside the body. Normally, it’s a good thing.
But during pregnancy, your body becomes more reactive, and even a small trigger can result in a strong inflammatory response. That’s where CRP comes in — something our body naturally makes when it’s trying to fight off infection. Think of it like a smoke alarm — it goes off when something isn’t quite right inside. During pregnancy, a slightly higher CRP can be normal. But when my CRP hit 30, it was my body’s way of screaming, “Something’s not okay!”
My Story – From Craving to Crisis
During my first pregnancy, I did not crave food much. Even in my second pregnancy, it was the same till I reached the end of my second trimester. Once, I was around 28 weeks, the craving angels in me started showing up.
One fine day, I felt like having fish curry and I happened to ask my help to prepare it. As I was not the one to ask her for special dishes, she was so happy to prepare it for me. Unfortunately, she was not able to get the type of fish I have had before.
Since she did not want to cut me off, she got a fish variety that I have not tried before. She mentioned the same but I did not pay heed to it. The Fish curry and fry smelled very delicious and as she started cooking the aroma of masala and spices filled our rooms.
I am an eggetarian, so all the other non-vegetarian options don’t excite me much. But that wasn’t the same in this pregnancy, I started ravishing the fish curry and the fry. That moment, I felt life could not have been betterrrrrrrrrrrr 😀!
Later that day, my daughter and I happened to go to a birthday party. It was one of her best friend’s birthdays. The venue and celebration was good but the food was cold. I had noodles with gobi manchurian kind of a thing and a lot of sweetcorn. My friend warned me seeing the way the caterer was distributing the cake with his bare hands but again I simply ignored. My daughter and I never touched the cake.
We were back home by 8pm. The day went well, I went for a 15 minute walk. The sweetcorn I had was still on my chest so I skipped my dinner. I was tired after driving so I took a quick shower and went straight to bed.
Crisis started –
It was around 4:00 am in the morning when I woke up with unusual stinking indigestive burps. I got up from my bed with very weird sensations in my stomach. I was too tired to wake up but the burps and uncomfortability would not stop. So somehow, I got up from my bed and headed to the toilet. The urge to vomit was strong, yet I couldn’t bring anything up.
My throat felt dry. I had half a glass of water and there my ordeal started. After not vomiting for 6 long weeks and vomiting the moment I had water made me feel miserable. I was done with the first round and still I didn’t feel settled and was uncomfortable.
Then again I drank water as I was feeling an itch in the throat. I went for 1 more round of puking and it was the water I had just drank. I started feeling numb and again drank water as this time my throat went completely dry. As I threw up again, I was harshly reminded of past experiences and why I need to be mindful of what I eat.
I puked the entire fish curry and rice I had with so much desire. I stopped drinking water as I could barely stand after that. I called my husband, the whole time he was trying to figure out what was happening in half sleep.
I asked him to press my legs which I generally do to distract myself from the actual pain, the pressing helps me get distracted and analyse my body. I could sense my stomach getting churned again for no reason within seconds I was in the bathroom facing the sink. My stomach ache intensified and the time was 5:30 am.
I could not bear it any more. With no other option left, we took our sleeping daughter with us to Cloudnine hospital emergency.
Entering the ER…
By the time I went to the ER, I was completely worn out. Like every pregnant mom, the first thing I wanted to know was the safety of the baby inside my womb. After doing the NST, the doctor nodded saying all good.
Due to excessive vomiting, I had developed a cramp in my lower right abdomen and as I was lying I could make out the pain intensifying. They started IV at 6:30 am and it took a good 20 minutes for the pain to come down. They ran multiple blood & urine tests to check UTI & CRP level.
Diagnosis, CRP 30
While CRP level during pregnancy can slightly rise (up to ~15 mg/L), 30 was high. It meant my body was fighting a significant inflammatory reaction, likely caused by:
- A possible mild food infection
- The intense vomiting and dehydration
- And a sensitive immune system that was on high alert
I was started on antibiotics and monitored closely. Thankfully, my baby was safe — and that was the only thing that gave me some peace.
The Lesson I learnt ( even you should know too)
- Listen to your body. Indigestion, burping, discomfort — they might be trying to tell you something.
- Don’t ignore food hygiene. Even a harmless-looking party snack can trigger reactions in pregnancy.
- Inflammation is serious. If your body is inflamed, it needs help. CRP level is one way to measure how much.
- Pregnancy intensifies everything. What might be a minor bug for someone else can hit a pregnant body much harder.
My two cents!
Pregnancy isn’t just about growing a baby — it’s about listening, learning, and letting go of guilt when things don’t go as planned. That night reminded me that our bodies are powerful, but also vulnerable. And that taking quick action and trusting your instincts can make all the difference.
To all the expecting mamas out there: trust yourself. Crave, enjoy, but stay aware. Because sometimes, what seems like just another craving could turn into a story — one that teaches you strength, awareness, and the real meaning of resilience. Happy pregnancy !
