After eating what Auntie Su had cooked for her for a few weeks for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, Li Qin Yao wanted to cry. She was a foodie who always had her chance to eat good food but now, she had to eat bland food. Of course, Li Qin Yao would be sad. However, Auntie Su then explained that it would help her with her morning sickness.
Now that she had known that she was pregnant, Li Qin Yao began to show more symptoms of her pregnancy such as morning sickness. She would wake up early morning and would run to the toilet after a nausea attack.
Then, Zhang Yu Han would follow her to hold her hair and patted her on her back until she had stopped retching. Seeing her pale face and her misty eyes, Zhang Yu Han was distressed.
It was a happy thing that his wife was pregnant, but he really did not like this morning sickness that came along with this pregnancy.
Thankfully, her morning sickness ended after two weeks. However, the couple soon found that this morning sickness had suddenly transferred to Zhang Yu Han.
That morning, they were having breakfast together as usual. Auntie Su was in the kitchen to prepare food Li Qin Yao's lunch and the couple picked up their utensil to eat. It was then that Zhang Yu Han stood up abruptly and ran towards the bathroom direction. Seconds later, the retching sounds began.
Li Qin Yao who was feeling nauseous after inhaling the smell of hot milk beside her, suddenly found that her nausea had disappeared. She then went after her husband to check on him. Seeing him in front of the toilet bowl and still retching, Li Qin Yao then patted his back to help him feel more at ease.
Once his nausea stopped, Zhang Yu Han began to feel more at ease and stood up.
"Are you alright?" Li Qin Yao asked with worry. Seeing the way he was constantly going back and forth to the toilet to vomit made her distressed.
Zhang Yu Han nodded. He rinsed his mouth and Li Qin Yao tiptoed to help him wipe his mouth with a clean towel. His stomach felt a bit uncomfortable and his face paled slightly. However, he smiled at his wife to ease her worry and led her back to the dining area.
"Zhang Yu Han, should we go to the hospital to get you a check-up? Is it a stomach bug? Virus?" Li Qin Yao said. Her expression was full of worry. "This isn't the first day that something like this happened."
"I'm fine," Zhang Yu Han tried to ȧssure her. "Stop worrying too much."
However, his words only made the frown on her face deepened. "If something happens to you I would worry to the point that I cannot do anything else other than worry. We'll go to the hospital, alright?"
Zhang Yu Han looked at his wife with a helpless gaze. In the end, he had to give in and agree to her suggestion. "Alright. I will schedule an appointment and see a doctor in the afternoon."
Auntie Su, who was walking over to the dining area to serve their food had heard the couple's conversation. A small smile curled on her lips as she watched the couple good relationship.
"Mr. Zhang, Mrs. Zhang," Auntie Su called out politely. "I'm sorry. I overheard your conversation and something came to my mind." She turned to look at Zhang Yu Han and said, "Mr. Zhang, could it be that you are experiencing morning sickness?"
For a second, the couple stared back at Auntie Su with a dazed look on their face.
Li Qin Yao chuckled at the elder woman's words. "Auntie Su, I'm the one who is pregnant. How did my husband end up with morning sickness?"
"There is something that we called sympathetic pregnancy where it was the father who would experience morning sickness instead of the mother," Auntie Su said. "Seeing that the two had a good relationship, I thought that perhaps, Mr. Zhang, you couldn't bear it when you watch your wife experienced her morning sickness, and thus, it was shifted to you instead."
The couple looked at each other in disbelief. Li Qin Yao then reached for her phone to start searching for this phenomenon while Zhang Yu Han grabbed his phone to call Qi Zheng to check with him.
After a few minutes, Li Qin Yao went into the study to find her husband. When she walked in, Zhang Yu Han was still on the phone as he massaged the space between his eyebrow. She then sat down on the winged chair as she waited for his conversation to end.
When Zhang Yu Han ended the phone call a while later, the couple looked at each other with a smile on their face. After their quick research, they did find out that there was such thing as what Auntie Su had said.
"What did Qi Zheng said?" Li Qin Yao asked.
"Well, he did confirm that there was such thing called Couvade Syndrome," Zhang Yu Han then told her what Qi Zheng had said to him regarding this matter.
Li Qin Yao laughed as she heard how her morning sickness had transferred to her husband. She stood up and walked over to him. Then, she tiptoed to clasp her arms around his neck before she kissed him on his jaw. "Hubby, it has been hard on you."
Zhang Yu Han sighed helplessly. "Well, Auntie Su might be right. I could not bear to watch how you would experience nausea whenever you woke up or smell certain food. It was better that these symptoms are transferred to me. At least I wouldn't worry too much at watching you experience morning sickness. It was hard enough for you to bear our child."
Hearing his words, Li Qin Yao tiptoed again to peck him on the lips. Then, she laid her head on his ċhėst and hug him tighter. "Zhang Yu Han, you are so good to me."
Zhang Yu Han chuckled. He patted her on her hair and kissed on top of her head. As he recalled his conversation with Qi Zheng, Zhang Yu Han began to feel an upcoming headache.
Qi Zheng had told him that these symptoms might disappear by the end of her first trimester. But what worried Zhang Yu Han was that he might also have to experience this for the whole pregnancy. Just at the thought of facing the symptoms for months would drive him crazy.
He then started to wonder how most women had to face this during their pregnancy and thought that perhaps it would be best for them to only have only one child.