In days of yore… there was 10th grade biology class.

Seems like so long ago to me, but I actually remember it quite well.  Mrs. Nixon teaching us about cells, about blood types, and circulatory systems, about reproduction.  I remember the lucky couple of people who were called upon to read aloud the bits and pieces of biological factoids about gametes.  I remember the hormone-charged group.  Cool class.

Fast forward several decades, and I’m having 10th grade epiphanies.  Seriously.  We all knew that little girls were born with all of their eggs, and that little boys had the prot0-sperm cells ready to go.  These are the primordial germ cells.

This means that when I was pregnant with my daughter, the cells that will be my future grandbabies (should she choose to reproduce) were forming within her during her first few months of life.  Those first few months of my pregnancy were more crucial than I had ever realized for the future of my family.

What does this mean for the future mom-to-be?  It means that a well-nourished, low stress mom who minimizes all exposure to toxins (think environmental, food-toxins, medications) is the best recipe for successful germ cell development.

This also means cultivating your own instinct here.  Trusting your body.

I’m pretty passionate about this.  Food is medicine for those who need to heal, but food is also essential for growth and development.  Pregnancy is no time to restrict calories (nor is non-pregnancy – but I digress).

I often wonder if morning sickness is the evolutionary mechanism to protect our growing babies from outside harm during this most delicate time in their development.  This is why it’s so crucial for mom to be well-nourished going in to pregnancy, to have nutrient stores in the event that she’s derailed by morning sickness.  Because that baby will grab resources from mom – if mom can’t keep food down.

Just thought I’d share some recent perspective – maybe this information will prompt some interest in gaining health.  Which of course, I can help with 😉