Your Brain on Choline During Pregnancy
Lost so many brain cells, you're afraid you'll leave the baby on the bus? Choline to the rescue!
Can't remember where you left the car keys — or where you left the car? Showing up on Tuesday afternoon for a Monday morning meeting? Have your desk blanketed in Post-its reminding you to be home for that crib delivery — but managed to miss it anyway? Pregnancy forgetfulness has a way of sneaking up on you without any warning (or maybe you got a warning but you forgot). Here's a slightly unsettling, yet illuminating explanation why you've been having senior moments ever since you started gestating junior.
For sure, hormones play a part (the same ones that kick in when you're premenstrual — except they kick in at much higher levels, leaving you in a much thicker fog). But it also turns out — just as you suspected last time you spaced out when you were supposed to turn off the oven and ended up with burnt chicken instead of baked chicken — that your brain has actually been shrinking during pregnancy. Researchers have noted that the brain cell volume of pregnant women actually decreases during the third trimester of pregnancy, only to plump up a few months after delivery. So you're not imagining your brain drain at 38 weeks pregnant (and you have a valid medical excuse for why you forgot to pay the electric bill until the lights started flickering).
Article extracted from whattoexpect.com
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