Family cold

It is no secret that toddlers stink at keep their germs to themselves.  Ally has had a couple colds this winter, and of course, I have caught all of them too.  The three of us are just now getting over one.  Ally had the runny nose first and sure enough, Ben and I had runny noses a couple days later.  I will not lie, the mucus output in our house was quite plentiful.  Ally's and Ben's upper respiratory tracts have now cleared up, but mine is not quite there yet.  I don't know if these sorts of infections hit you harder when you're pregnant, but I sure am looking forward to being able to smell and hear normally again.

Actually, I did find one positive aspect of having a cold.  In my Physiology class last week, I was teaching my students about the parts of the brain, and I brought in a cadaver brain for show and tell.  Of course, the thing had been preserved in formaldehyde, or whatever similar chemical they use these days, and so it had a pretty strong preservative smell.  I am not a fan of that smell, and in my pregnant state, my gag reflex is a lot more sensitive than usual.  But because I had a completely stuffed up nose, I couldn't smell a thing! 

And in case you are wondering, yes, it is a little weird to hold a former person's brain in your hands.  And yep, it is pretty squishy.