Wow thank you so much for this episode! I’ve been looking for resources for autistic pregnancy in my quest of “do I have children” and have found nothing. Thank you so much ✨💕
I related so much to this episode, PCOS experience and all. I'm really curious whether anyone has heard a connection between incompetent cervix and Autism. It is another experience I had and per google, the cervix is 90% connective tissue. So much trauma.
My Starbucks moment was the smell of Manhattan. My husband couldn’t smell it, but all day every day on our trip I was overwhelmed by the combo smell of garbage/hot dogs/manhole steam.
I have not even listened yet and I need to say thank you for just MAKING this episode. I started to self-realize in between kiddos 1 and 2, with formal diagnosis just after my second was born, so my pregnancy and postpartum experience is all wrapped up in my autism journey. I found a lot of the support I needed, especially for the second one, but it can be very lonely. Teeing this up for a time I can listen in private and devote the processing space it deserves!
Thanks Angela for sharing your story. Autistic experiences are v valuable to the community. Hearing about pregnancy thru that lens is unsurprising with the challenges msny of have in health care systems. I'm one of those non-parents who certainly feels that divide often. It's like a parallel universe.
The smells! I all of a sudden couldn’t stand the smell of meat and went vegetarian for my entire pregnancy. After birth it was back to normal but everyone else freaked out that I wasn’t eating well enough during. I then ate Taco Bell everyday afterwards for maybe a year. 😂
Loooved this episode so much!! Thank you for talking about pregnancy and autism. This was so relatable, and I laughed out loud often!! I tried so hard to find info about being autistic and pregnant prior to giving birth but I really couldn't find anything. I was diagnosed autistic in January 2023 and had a baby in November 2023, so I was super lucky that I had focused hard on my autism research and self-reflection right before getting pregnant. I was lucky to know enough about my sensory needs to build a birth "plan" that took every option and every need into account. The first paragraph of the birth plan said: "Mom is autistic! What does this mean in action?" and then had a bullet point list of what that means for me. One requirement was to turn off the sound of all the machines that beeped because recurring beeps are my biggest issue. I had a doula, a super supportive partner who honestly knows about my needs better than I do, and a wonderful medical team made up of women who genuinely listened. I went to a bunch of birth classes that talked about how labor was supposed to go, and when mine was different (I basically skipped early labor), I told the nurse, "This is not active labor because I was just checked and I'm only at one cm dilated!" But literally everyone in the room was like, "Yes, this is active labor." Reminds me of your story about not thinking you were pregnant because you had decided in your mind that it wouldn't happen. That happens to me a lot! All in all, giving birth was an amazing and empowering experience for my physically sensory-seeking self. (I should also mention that pregnancy, birth, babies, and parenting are my special interests.) I can't wait for your episode on parenting!
This is why more people identifying their autism before they get pregnant is so critical. I love how empowering your story is and I wonder/wish about how different mine would have been if I knew I was Autistic. Thanks for taking the time to comment. It means a lot!
Wow thank you so much for this episode! I’ve been looking for resources for autistic pregnancy in my quest of “do I have children” and have found nothing. Thank you so much ✨💕
I related so much to this episode, PCOS experience and all. I'm really curious whether anyone has heard a connection between incompetent cervix and Autism. It is another experience I had and per google, the cervix is 90% connective tissue. So much trauma.
My Starbucks moment was the smell of Manhattan. My husband couldn’t smell it, but all day every day on our trip I was overwhelmed by the combo smell of garbage/hot dogs/manhole steam.
We haven’t been back to NYC since (19 years)!
I found my way back to Starbucks in much less time but I do get it.
I have not even listened yet and I need to say thank you for just MAKING this episode. I started to self-realize in between kiddos 1 and 2, with formal diagnosis just after my second was born, so my pregnancy and postpartum experience is all wrapped up in my autism journey. I found a lot of the support I needed, especially for the second one, but it can be very lonely. Teeing this up for a time I can listen in private and devote the processing space it deserves!
Thanks Angela for sharing your story. Autistic experiences are v valuable to the community. Hearing about pregnancy thru that lens is unsurprising with the challenges msny of have in health care systems. I'm one of those non-parents who certainly feels that divide often. It's like a parallel universe.
The smells! I all of a sudden couldn’t stand the smell of meat and went vegetarian for my entire pregnancy. After birth it was back to normal but everyone else freaked out that I wasn’t eating well enough during. I then ate Taco Bell everyday afterwards for maybe a year. 😂
Follow your nose! ;)
Loooved this episode so much!! Thank you for talking about pregnancy and autism. This was so relatable, and I laughed out loud often!! I tried so hard to find info about being autistic and pregnant prior to giving birth but I really couldn't find anything. I was diagnosed autistic in January 2023 and had a baby in November 2023, so I was super lucky that I had focused hard on my autism research and self-reflection right before getting pregnant. I was lucky to know enough about my sensory needs to build a birth "plan" that took every option and every need into account. The first paragraph of the birth plan said: "Mom is autistic! What does this mean in action?" and then had a bullet point list of what that means for me. One requirement was to turn off the sound of all the machines that beeped because recurring beeps are my biggest issue. I had a doula, a super supportive partner who honestly knows about my needs better than I do, and a wonderful medical team made up of women who genuinely listened. I went to a bunch of birth classes that talked about how labor was supposed to go, and when mine was different (I basically skipped early labor), I told the nurse, "This is not active labor because I was just checked and I'm only at one cm dilated!" But literally everyone in the room was like, "Yes, this is active labor." Reminds me of your story about not thinking you were pregnant because you had decided in your mind that it wouldn't happen. That happens to me a lot! All in all, giving birth was an amazing and empowering experience for my physically sensory-seeking self. (I should also mention that pregnancy, birth, babies, and parenting are my special interests.) I can't wait for your episode on parenting!
This is why more people identifying their autism before they get pregnant is so critical. I love how empowering your story is and I wonder/wish about how different mine would have been if I knew I was Autistic. Thanks for taking the time to comment. It means a lot!