Pregnancy with a Science Twist

The twist is I enrolled in a clinical study.

The study examines nerve control and pelvic floor strength before and after a woman's first pregnancy. Since my background is in hormones and nerves, it seemed like a logical choice after having left the lab. If I can't do research, at least others can do research on me.

The pretests involved an MRI of my pelvic region -- they could see me ovulating at the time, which apparently looks like bruising on one side. Bizarre. Then, I had the main appointment, which consisted of some measurements, an ultrasound and then nerve stimulations & recordings. It was scary, painful at times, but ultimately pretty cool. The doctor allowed me to see all of the waveforms and what everything looks like on the inside. My inner researcher definitely came out in the appointment though. When they were doing some of the nerve conductance tests, I told them they could run it again if they needed since you never know which data will be publication/grant worthy. After all the pretests were complete, I had two years to get pregnant. It took us less than a month.

My next appointments are 6 weeks and 6 months after the baby is born. I'm excited to read the results of the study when they come out. That paper will definitely be on our fridge. Although, it's a long way off since they're enrolling 200 women and they're only 40 in right now. But every bit counts. Plus, it's pretty cool to see research from a different side of things.