From Popcorn to Babies

Joining Joyce at From This Side of the Pond for another week of Wednesday Hodgepodge.

1.  It's National Popcorn Day - my favorite!  Are you a fan?  Sweet or salty?  A good or great movie you've seen recently (at home or in a theater,  either one)?I

Oh yes, I am a huge popcorn fan.  Sweet, salty, caramelized, cheesy, lots of butter, it doesn't matter.  Just not burned.

Cassidy, Granddaughter #2 and I went to see "West Side Story" on Sunday afternoon.  The original has been my favorite musical since it came out in 1961, and this new version did not disappoint.  Masterfully done!  And that they brought Rita Moreno back to play in this version is a stroke of genius.  (She was in the original and was the first Latin actor to win an Oscar for her role as Anita)

I do believe there is more Latin spoken in this one than the original.  But that was no problem for my world-traveling-Barcelona-educated partner.  And she loved the movie too.  Note:  There was no popcorn involved unfortunately.

2.  What's something you didn't realize was going to take so much of your time as an adult?

I think maintaining relationships.

3.  Your favorite yellow something?

I looked around my house and closet to find something yellow.  The only things I found were a couple yellow sweaters; therefore, probably my favorite yellow something would be a banana.

4.  Why do you write?

I often write because I have no other avenue of expression.  I write because I enjoy words, and how they can paint a picture without an image.  I most like composition and that I can express whatever it is I am feeling through writing.  I recently felt led to write a prayer for my family.  Although a copy was sent to each member of our family, it was my conversation with God on paper.

5.  Share a favorite memory associated with snow.

Our son and his family had just moved to Northern Indiana and this was our first Christmas up there.  It was such a gorgeous snow and these Louisiana girls got to wear their new snow suits and I got to play outside.  I still love snow.

6.  Insert your own random thought here.

IT'S A BOY!

Yes, we are going to have another great-grandson in 2022.  After having only one boy out of seven grandchildren, we are now having two great boy babies within three months of each other.  Both daddies have done their part in carrying on the family name.  Well done, Brad and Jackson!

Baby Landon Vincent is now 28 weeks along and Mom is doing beautifully.

The following is so amazing and only a God thing:

Heart Prints

“When pregnant, the cells of the baby migrate into the mothers bloodstream and then circle back into the baby, it’s called “fetal-maternal microchimerism”.⁠

For 41 weeks, the cells circulate and merge backwards and forwards, and after the baby is born, many of these cells stay in the mother’s body, leaving a permanent imprint in the mothers tissues, bones, brain, and skin, and often stay there for decades. Every single child a mother has afterwards will leave a similar imprint on her body, too.

Even if a pregnancy doesn't go to full term or if you have an abortion, these cells still migrate into your bloodstream.

Research has shown that if a mother's heart is injured, fetal cells will rush to the site of the injury and change into different types of cells that specialize in mending the heart.

The baby helps repair the mother, while the mother builds the baby.

How cool is that?

This is often why certain illnesses vanish while pregnant.

It’s incredible how mothers bodies protect the baby at all costs, and the baby protects & rebuilds the mother back - so that the baby can develop safely and survive.

Think about crazy cravings for a moment. What was the mother deficient in that the baby made them crave?

Studies have also shown cells from a fetus in a mothers brain 18 years after she gave birth. How amazing is that?”

If you’re a mom you know how you can intuitively feel your child even when they are not there….Well, now there is scientific proof that moms carry them for years and years even after they have given birth to them.

I find this to be so very beautiful.