The first sign of Stephanie's pregnancy was nausea, as it so often is — that particular debilitating queasiness that knocked her off her feet, sometimes all day, days at a time.
It kept Stephanie, who asked me not to use her real name for all the obvious reasons, from working. She runs her own business in Austin, Texas, braiding hair, a skill she learned as a teenager.
"Men, women, children," she told me with a Lone Star twang. "Yes, ma'am," she does them all and loves it, loves making her customers feel beautiful.
