Pregnancy gets weirder as we get rounder. What really goes on under wraps during those nine-plus months? From a hidden bias involving swelling bosoms to fetal cells in maternal brain, scientists have found a mother lode of surprising phenomena. Here are seven discoveries nobody really expects when she's expecting.
Pregnancy gets weirder as we get rounder. What really goes on under wraps during those nine-plus months?
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Cool stuff. I will never stop being amazed at pregnancy - it's a wonderful thing.
First, regarding the pheromones. How's this for a possible explanation: Back in the early days of humanity (when we were still getting to that recognizable stage of "human"), the female body evolved a response to ensure that the father of her child would stick around instead of pursuing other females.
Second, it would be nice if people would understand that all of these discoveries are based on the WHOLE of human females. Just as you wouldn't whine and moan and say "well, that didn't apply to my father/mother/sister/brother/grandparents" when someone says the "average human is 5' 6-1/2" tall" because you'd have the intelligence to realize the statement is not intended to refer to ALL humans. You'd understand there are people much shorter, and people much taller, and you'd let it slide without a thought. But someone produces a series of findings that about pregnant women IN GENERAL, suddenly you all act like the findings are supposed to be applied to EVERY woman.
My doctor said a woman's attitude about having a baby had more to do with ease of delivery than anything else. In my very large family, childbirth wasn't feared--it was celebrated.
The gender of a child is determined by the father. Women get to contribute only X chromosomes. Men get a choice, so to speak, of an X or a Y. XX = a girl. XY = a boy.
So. Where's YOUR hard evidence? Do you have pictures showing how your breasts grew when you were carrying a boy? (Hell, do you have evidence that you were ever actually pregnant, whether a boy or a girl?) And what evidence do you have to support that "very large family?" All we have are your words. (And medical science will dispute your absurd notion that "men get a choice" even "so to speak." There's also the fact that there's XXY and XYY children--and a few other variations. A man contributes EITHER an X chromosome or a Y chromosome but he can't CHOOSE which one makes that "love connection." And, medical research has shown that a woman has as much choice in the matter as the man. Certain foods have been linked to increase the likelihood of a girl or a boy--but only when the WOMAN eats the food. There's no such link to the male diet.)
If a woman's body isn't an ideal environment, (for diet reasons or otherwise), the Y will die first and have less chance to fertilize the egg. The X live longer so they have a better chance if intercourse happens some days earlier than ovulation does. The Y will have died, so the ratio of sperm will favor the X by the time the egg gets there.
But also, if the sperm are not kept at the right temperatures while still inside the man, for whatever reason, and they start to die, the Y go first.
So, the man technically decides the gender of the child because he has X and Y sperm, but BOTH he and the woman must provide ideal environments for the Y sperm to have the best chance of fertilizing the egg and making sons.
By my time (decades ago), doctors were encouraging sexual activity up to delivery but not for six weeks after. (Jeff Foxworthy has a comedy bit about being cautioned NOT to have intercourse once contractions begin.)
I pity this woman's daughter, growing up in a home where sex was feared and avoided.
ANY skinny woman is likely to have birthing issues, as her body has no fat stores to rely on. Nature knows what it's doing with pregnancy weight gain and WHERE you gain the weight during a pregnancy.
I can assure you that she was not sexy, unless by sexy you mean the "oh god, please no, make it stop, make it stop" kind of sexy.
Some men found that extremely erotic. I am sure watching a pregnant stripper is somewhat the same for a certain group of men and women, too.
Ten billion by 2050. TEN BILLION. And a very inequitable distribution of resources, exacerbated by lack of infrastructure or sustainable renewables.
Sweet dreams, humanity.
It is a severe stretch to say from the data presented that "If You Dream About Your Baby's Gender, You're Likelier To Be Right." Trying to sell a book, folks.