Ah, the joys of pregnancy: The food cravings. The stomach upsets. The fainting while live at the anchor desk on CNN.
Maybe it was all those hot lights, but anchor Poppy Harlow passed out briefly while on the air Monday morning. She was discussing the war on terror when suddenly she wasn't, or at least not making much sense, as her voice faltered and words failed her.
At the time viewers could hear her but couldn't see her because the screen was filled with a CNN graphic on the results of a recent network poll showing that a majority of Americans are dissatisfied with the progress of the war on terror.
As Harlow's voice slurred and petered out, there was a split second of silence with only the faint sounds of control-room voices. Suddenly, CNN cut to media reporter, Brian Stelter, from the closing moments of his regular Sunday media show, Reliable Sources.
Soon, #PoppyHarlow began popping up on Twitter with speculation about what had happened.
Almost immediately, Harlow, 33, reappeared on air to reassure viewers (and Twitter) that she was OK.
"For all of you on Twitter who are asking if I'm OK, thank you so much," she said. "I got a little hot and I passed out for a moment. I am fine and we're going to take a quick break."
Later, after visiting the hospital to check on the condition of her baby girl (due in the spring), she tweeted her status.
Of course, in the 24/7 all-news-all-the-time era, it was inevitable that some reporters and anchors would end up swooning live on TV.
Two years ago this month, Salt Lake City reporter Brooke Graham, reporting on cross-country skiing conditions for KUTV, suddenly collapsed backward in the snow while interviewing skiers. But within seconds she sat up as the people with her rushed to help. And she kept on talking.
From the ground, she told viewers she had slipped and fallen. Later, she explained she was feeling under the weather that day, and suffered from altitude sickness.
