Women Are Amazing!!

[gardenbird48]

A happy post this morning - I've just seen amazing Dr Emma posting about microchimerism - where foetal cells can cross the placental barrier and embed in the woman's brain (and in some experiments are being found to cluster to help repair organs like a damaged heart for example) - we are absolutely amazing beings!!!! I have always felt a physical connection with my children - if I see them hurt themselves or have to tend an injury, I get a 'nerve jolt' which is a bit painful - a little bit like touching an electric fence - does anyone else get that?

Apparently these cells are detectable even into old age and they wonder if having a dose of stem cells during pregnancy helps us live longer - oh the things they would discover if they studied us more.
We are not just uteruses on legs......

Goodness. Do you have a link to that?
I

@truthisarevolutionaryact

Goodness. Do you have a link to that? I

here we go :¬) she's a developmental biologist.

mobile.twitter.com/FondOfBeetles/status/1277602266040741888

I know exactly what you mean about the nerve jolt. I get a little shock in my chest when DD falls over or bumps into something.

Saving the link to read later.

I see them hurt themselves or have to tend an injury, I get a 'nerve jolt' which is a bit painful - a little bit like touching an electric fence - does anyone else get that?

Sorry to put a dampener on things, but if you do it has nothing to do with cells crossing the placental barrier.

She is responding to a post by somebody who thinks this is an example of sex being 'complicated'.

I love this

When I was looking for an aged care place for my dad, I visited a dementia ward. A very elderly woman with dementia was being visited by her daughter, her granddaughter and her granddaughter’s very new baby.

The daughter gave the baby to her great-grandmother to hold, and despite severe mental deterioration, that elderly woman automatically settled the baby confidently and comfortably into the crook of her arm.

She had forgotten almost everything about being herself, but she had not forgotten how to be a mother and comfort a baby.

Even the nursing supervisor was in tears. It was a very powerful reminder of the power of maternity.

Dr Emma Hilton is my favourite person to follow on twitter. She always has the most interesting conversations while taking someones ill-conceived (usually pseudo-science) notion and nicely refuting it with science.

I saw this yesterday and appreciated her even more!!!

@DancelikeEmmaGoldman

When I was looking for an aged care place for my dad, I visited a dementia ward. A very elderly woman with dementia was being visited by her daughter, her granddaughter and her granddaughter’s very new baby.

The daughter gave the baby to her great-grandmother to hold, and despite severe mental deterioration, that elderly woman automatically settled the baby confidently and comfortably into the crook of her arm.

She had forgotten almost everything about being herself, but she had not forgotten how to be a mother and comfort a baby.

Even the nursing supervisor was in tears. It was a very powerful reminder of the power of maternity.

I seem to have something in my eye.

@DancelikeEmmaGoldman

...no, I'm just cutting up an onion.

She’s written more here mobile.twitter.com/FondOfBeetles/status/1277608981603799040

So awesome it’s replacing the “eggs that may form your grandchild are fully formed while your daughter is still in your womb” thing as my favourite thing about how awesome women are

ok - it was just a thought I had that seemed to relate to the idea of the foetal cells being in my brain and that they seem to be quite versatile. Could you explain more please?

that question was asked of @merrymoused btw - I thought I'd done the quote thing

Wow that is pretty crazy... In a really cool way. I had never heard about this before. Evolution is so awesome.

ok - it was just a thought I had that seemed to relate to the idea of the foetal cells being in my brain and that they seem to be quite versatile. Could you explain more please?

Perhaps I misunderstood your post, but foetal cells in your brain will not give you a psychic connection to your children.

That isn't to say that the process of reproductions in all organisms is not amazing.

@merrymouse

ok - it was just a thought I had that seemed to relate to the idea of the foetal cells being in my brain and that they seem to be quite versatile. Could you explain more please?

Perhaps I misunderstood your post, but foetal cells in your brain will not give you a psychic connection to your children.

That isn't to say that the process of reproductions in all organisms is not amazing.

hi @merrymouse - I was referring to a physical connection (I don't really subscribe to ideas of psychic stuff). but on reflection I'm not sure that physical is the right word as it implies direct contact but I'm thinking more along the lines of the electrical impulses - like our heart muscle cells have electrical impulses. It is a bit of a coincidence though and as it is also said to be the case in twins, there could be something in it. I'll read up some more on it later - a fascinating subject

I always find it amazing that women are carrying their future grandchildren when they are pregnant with a girl. It's such an amazingly strong link and connection.

I love to think that the bit that became half of my son was in me when I was in his Grandmother and I've carried it with me my whole life.

@ShiveringCoyote

I always find it amazing that women are carrying their future grandchildren when they are pregnant with a girl. It's such an amazingly strong link and connection.

I love this!

Is that true about the grandmother thing? I am carrying my girl now so I could also be carrying potential grandchildren?? That's awesome

She's brilliant, Dr Em.

“eggs that may form your grandchild are fully formed while your daughter is still in your womb”

I loved that statement so much. Dh and Ddad didn't get it, but dm did, instantly. It's as if we were already cradling and protecting our dgc and dggc, as if they already loved before they even had full existence. We held the future within us.

Re the microchimerism, is this related to the recent discoveries that men are at greater risk of death if they receive a blood transfusion from a woman who has ever been pregnant, than if they receive a blood transfusion with a woman who has never been pregnant?

We held the future within us

Women always have

Yes, startrek90. When a girl is born, she already has all the eggs she will ever produce in her lifetime. So if you are pregnant with a girl, you are also carrying your potential grandchildren at the same time. Freaky but awesome.

It blew my mind when I first found out about it a few years ago. It was from a more grim angle though. There was a Dutch study I think where there was a short period of famine. When your body is severely deprived of food, it can change the way it responds to it i.e. a tendency to keep hold of calories and fat because it thinks there might be another famine in the future. Totally understandable physiological response.

However, if you are pregnant, this response to famine can also affect your unborn child. So even after birth if your child lives in an environment that is full of food, their body can be 'set' in ways that anticipate a famine and therefore they are at higher risk of things like high levels of cholesterol etc. Even with a healthy lifestyle they can still have a higher risk of these health conditions.

And it gets crazier... Because if you are pregnant with a girl, it affects her eggs too. So even your grandchildren will suffer from a higher risk of these health issues because of the way the body anticipates food deprivation.

I hope I've remembered the gist of the documentary. But that nugget of info has stayed with me since then.