Mom Brain

Today my sister Hahna and I decided to go to the mall for a little bit. I put on my Moby, wrapped up my baby, and off we went! We had a great time, the baby was relatively happy, and I had it going on. GO ME. Then, as we left and were pulling out of the parking lot, a tall man stopped next to my car and knocked on the roof. I rolled down the window and he handed me my bottle saying “This was on top of your car”. How embarrassing! And we were wondering while all the people walking by were looking at us strangely.

This was a good example of MOM BRAIN. Have you experienced it yet? I constantly find myself wondering what I’m doing, why I walked into the room, and whether or not I added detergent to the load of laundry. Or where I put my car keys. Or my phone. Or the baby. Just kidding.

I have always had a fantastic memory, and suddenly it seems as if my infant has sucked every brain cell from my being. I answer texts in my head, or sometimes out loud, but forget to actually write them! I know, some of this sounds like it could be EXCUSES, but some of it is for real!

What is the reason for this? While we have all blamed it on making a baby and having so much to remember, that is only half of the battle. I did some research on this subject, and I discovered an article about this “momnesia” and Dr. Altmann, a pediatrician and mother, explains her thoughts.

“Dr. Altmann, who believes the part of the brain that makes labor memories fade may also be responsible for memory lapses after birth, attributes the forgetfulness to hormones, sleep deprivation, and agrees that nursing can also have an impact. She readily admits that becoming a mother impacted her perspective. “Moms in my practice talked about the mommy brain. I didn’t realize the magnitude of it until I had children myself,” she explains.”

So it’s not just me! It is definitely something that becomes amusing through the years, from pregnant brain to mommy brain, and eventually to amnesia, right? Dr. Altmann also stated that “We never forget the child or forget to feed the child, even though I might forget to eat breakfast”. How true is this for you? It’s spot on for me.

We joke that our kids take a part of our brain and never return it, and with 5 kids in my family we had our jokes too. We always said that My mom’s “smartest” brain cells went to the first born and slowly diminished with each child. This was mean, and just a way to make fun of the little kids! But I did find one other interesting article while researching this subject, and it may surprise you...

“Motherhood may actually cause the brain to grow, not turn it into mush, as some have claimed. Exploratory research published by the American Psychological Association found that the brains of new mothers bulked up in areas linked to motivation and behavior, and that mothers who gushed the most about their babies showed the greatest growth in key parts of the mid-brain.” -American Psychological Association

How cool is that? The article goes on to explain the increases in estrogen, oxytocin, and prolactin and their effect on mom’s brain. But this was my favorite part:

“In particular, the mothers who most enthusiastically rated their babies as special, beautiful, ideal, perfect and so on were significantly more likely to develop bigger mid-brains than the less awestruck mothers in key areas linked to maternal motivation, rewards and the regulation of emotions.”- American Psychological Association

So we can get bigger brain! I knew we were always smarter :). If you’re interested in reading this article, it’s here:

http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2010/10/mommy-brain.aspx

So although you can continue to blame your mom brain for forgotten keys, missed appointments and phone calls, you are actually actively exercising your brain as you learn to multi task, problem-solve and are motivated to care for your child. And most importantly, praise your baby and showing how “awestruck” you are by them- it seems to benefit both parties!