Someone I once knew who had seven children said “Isn’t it interesting how you can feel so different in between pregnancies? After one, you might feel not quite so good. After another, you feel great.”
I’ve had four kids now, and I think she is right. Every pregnancy can affect a woman differently, and the effects don’t always go away. Some of this is obvious wear and tear. But some of it just seems, well, wierd. Cravings, for instance, are often different with each pregnancy. And milk seemed to bother me between my third and fourth pregnancies, but stopped bothering me that last time I was pregnant. And it still doesn’t. (I’m really glad, because I’ve always loved milk.) Sometimes I felt like the metabolism or physiology of my baby was affecting my own metabolism.
This article, about the cholesterol levels of pregnant women being affected by their babies would seem to support some of my feelings. The effects aren’t permanent in this instance.
I wonder if there are other things that baby’s genetics do to mom?
One response to “Metabolic Relationships Between the Mother and Fetus”
Hello! Your blog is so interesting. I’ve enjoyed reading it. I just noticed that you posted a comment on my blog and I wanted to stop by and apologize for not responding sooner.
Differences in pregnancies are really strange. I know with my first I felt great, my second not so much, my third I was absolutely miserable. Labor and delivery were a relief compared to the last 2 months of pregnancy.
Another oddity. My body (loose skin) is refusing to snap back. It’s been almost two years and I didn’t have this kind of “looseness” with the other two. It’s really frustrating!