Goodnight Mom

In my second post , I wrote about how exhausted and nauseous I was during the first trimester.  There was a good reason for that: I was creating a whole 👏 new 👏 organ 👏. That’s right, I grew an organ. The placenta. I started learning more about this marvelous miracle organ when I read the first book I bought after finding out I was pregnant. I recommend it to anyone thinking about pregnancy: Like a Mother: A Feminist Journey Through the Science and Culture of Pregnancy by Angela Garbes. This book covers so many aspects of pregnancy, birth, and post birth. Garbes addresses cultural expectations on mothers-to-be/new moms and the science behind some of the “rules” around pregnancy. (No time for reading? Listen to her 30-minute interview with Terry Gross on NPR ) We often focus so much on the miracle of creating a human child during pregnancy that the placenta doesn’t get the accolade it deserves. This organ has a huge impact on fetal health, future health of the child throughout