Dear Mom,
Like a parasite, I implanted in your uterus and immediately started demanding resources. Your body had to begin adapting quickly, in order to keep up with my rapid cell division. When you discovered what I was up to (and you had to pee on a stick to do this), you felt nothing but excitement and gratitude. Imagine! Even though I was making you feel nauseous, causing you to vomit with little warning, and zapping your energy, you didn't mind.
As I grew, so did my demands. Before I came around, your uterus had a volume of 10 mL. Over the course of my fetal development, it expanded to hold nearly 5 L. That's a 500x increase!! In order to make space for me, your organs had to shift dramatically. That's right, you moved your organs for me! Your abdominal organs, diaphragm, rib cage -- and even your heart--- were pushed upwards by your bulging uterus. Did you complain? Maybe a little. Mostly you felt overjoyed by my growth and comforted by my bladder-crushing weight and rib-busting kicks and punches.
Your heart rate had to increase to supply me with enough blood. In fact, the amount of blood pumped by your heart during a single minute increased by 30%-50%. Your kidneys lengthened by about 1 cm to accommodate extra fluid. You required about 20% more oxygen, yet all that organ shifting left you with a 5% decrease in lung capacity. This means you likely suffered from shortness of breath. Much of your glucose intake was used as energy for me or my placenta, requiring you to increase your caloric intake. However, due to hormonal changes, your digestion wasn't quite as efficient. It took 15%-30% longer for contents to move through your intestines (read: constipation). Not to mention, you probably had some nasty heartburn. This sounds like a recipe for feeling rather blah and a great excuse to lay around binge-watching TV. But, no, you didn't let all this discomfort slow you down. Instead, you bustled about preparing for my arrival.
Then came my birthday, triggered by excruciating uterine contractions that probably constitute the greatest pain you've ever endured. You were in labor for hours, but unlike running a marathon, no snacks were allowed! Those nurses would only give you clear fluids and ice chips due to the risk of aspiration and the inability of your digestive system to function well during labor. You were willing to let a surgeon cut through all your abdominal muscles and into your uterus to pull me out, if need be. You risked having an episiotomy (an incision to enlarge the vaginal opening). You endured all this pain so your cervix could transform from a length of 2 cm with an opening of less than half an inch, to a circular opening with a diameter of 10 cm (nearly 4 inches). Through a feat that can be described as nothing short of pushing the human body to its ultimate limits, you delivered me into this world to take my first breath. And if that weren't enough, you also had to deliver my placenta!
The anatomical and physiological sacrifices you made for my fetal development and birth make you a bad-ass superhero. But they only represent a tiny fraction of the love and sacrifice you've shown every day since.
Thanks, Mom. And Happy Mother's Day!
Love,
Your first-born F1 XX
Reference:
Beckmann, CRB, Ling, FW, Herbert, W, Laube, DW, ,Smith, RP, Casanova, R, Chuang, A, Goepfert, AR, Hueppchen, NA, Weiss, PM. 2013. Obstetrics and gynecology. 7th ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.
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