They say you shouldn't drink while pregnant, but I've developed a codependency with beer.

Ginger beer.

My mom was visiting last weekend, and during her trip, two things were brought to light. One: You are never too old to be mothered by your mother. My mom saw how sick I am with my all-day morning sickness and spent her vacation doing my dishes, going grocery shopping and watching my toddler while I took naps. Being mommied by your mommy when you, too, are a mommy is awesome. Two: Ginger beer is the only thing that makes me feel slightly human. Another gift from Mom.

Over her visit, my mom and I engaged in the world's lamest pub crawl. Dry countries, ones that don't even allow alcohol within their borders, have more exciting drink-and-dash sampler nights. We drove from store to store, looking for ginger beer, taste testing a variety of bottles and obsessing over the ingredients.

(To be read in an aggressive New York accent) Only pure cane sugar and 100 percent fresh ginger for my girl.

Thanks, Mom.

The most annoying thing about buying ginger beer is that the good stuff — and I mean the really good stuff — can be found only in liquor stores. I have never wanted to drink more than when I am pregnant. It's not that I need a drink, per se, or that I even really want a drink. It's that anytime someone tells me "no," I have to do that very thing ASAP. It's part of that whole being aversively motivated thing. You may remember this delightful disposition from your teen years. I, apparently, am still living through my adolescence. I wonder whether this means I could still run for student body president. I really think I could get the school cafeteria to start exclusively serving Pop-Tart ice-cream sandwiches and pizza tacos.

Being aversively motivated has worked great for me when sweet, kind souls have attempted to destroy my self-esteem and dreams by telling me I could never be a writer. Living in a perpetual Opposite Day didn't work out so hot when I was advised, "Don't light candles in your room. You'll burn the carpet." Nor did it work well when I was told, "Don't bring a blowup doll as your date to prom. People will think you're weird."

(Psst, remind me to tell you the tales of the carpet fire and the latex prom date. It's some pretty juicy stuff.)

My friends in college always made fun of me because if I was asked to write a five-page paper arguing why bathing in poison ivy is bad, I'd write a 20-page paper about why a soak in the toxic plant is rejuvenating — just because you can't tell me what to do! I would quadruple the workload solely to be defiant. I'm not very smart.

I'm also not a very big drinker. I will drink socially, but let's be honest. I have a toddler. When am I ever social? It's being told I'm not allowed to drink that makes me want to go all Ernest Hemingway. Having to go into a liquor store to buy my virgin tummy-beer feels decidedly obedient — a word I removed from my wedding vows and general vocabulary.

It is probably worth mentioning at this time that I do not intend to drink during this pregnancy, nor did I drink after I found out about my first pregnancy. There was that one time I was in my friend's wedding at eight months and I walked down the aisle sipping from a flask, but that was only because we had just been given the flasks as bridesmaid gifts, and if you've ever experienced Philadelphia in July, you'll understand why I needed the water inside.

Today I had my 16-week checkup, and despite the fact that I continue to vomit a couple of times a day, my doctor was very happy to see I had put on "one good pound" since getting pregnant. The scale actually showed I had put on three. I'm sure I have the ginger beer to thank for this small victory. It's just like what Mom tells you when you first go off to college: Drinking packs on the pounds, so stay away from frat parties. And bars. And frat boys. And underage drinking in your dorms. And really any place where there is booze. Or boys. Especially boys wearing hats with Greek letters.

Cheers.

Like Katiedid Langrock on Facebook, at http://www.facebook.com/katiedidhumor. Check out her column at http://didionsbible.com. To find out more about Katiedid Langrock and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.