My mother's menopausal uterus is in a bunch.

Honestly.

She wants another grandchild so much.  Which is so weird because I've spent the majority of my life fearing the reaction from my mom upon finding out that I was pregnant that being given the green light to go ahead and have sex and you know what else is downright disconcerting. 

The prodding started about 2 months after Desmond was born.  My mother, who stayed with us for 2 weeks after Desmond's birth, really bonded with him.  While I was recovering, she was the one who walked with him, played with him, changed his diaper, etc.  So, she ended up forming a pretty decent bond with him and ended up calling him her baby whenever she referred to him.  As in,

"How's my baby doing today?  Is my baby eating well?  Did you bathe my baby?"

Then, that is invariably followed by, "You know that baby is going to need a little brother or sister, right?  It's not right to let baby grow up alone."

Me: "I know, mom.  I know.  But we're not even thinking about having another baby yet."

Mom: "The longer you wait the harder it will be.  Having a baby soon after your first will make it easy on you."

Me: "But mom, we don't WANT another baby."

Mom: "You will."

Me: "No I won't."

Mom: "Well, then Desmond is going to grow up lonely because you're going to be busy and Billy's going to be busy and all he's going to have is his abuelita."

That was the sound of my heart being wrenched by my very own mother.

Me: "Ok, mom.  We'll think about it."

Mom: "Do it soon, OK?"

Jeez.  And this happens about once a week! 

So, mom, this article is for you:

Closely Spaced Pregnancies Associated with Increased Autism Risk

January 10, 2011

2

by Melanie at Parenting.com

© Gettyimages

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Less than a week after the lead researcher of the debunked 1998 study tying autism to vaccination has been accused of fraud comes a study published online today in Pediatrics suggesting that a second baby conceived within a year of the birth of a first child may face a three-fold higher risk of autism.
 Second-borns conceived between 12 and 23 months after a first child’s birth had twice the risk of autism compared to babies conceived 3 or more years following an older sibling’s birth.

Researchers at Columbia University studied birth records from 662,730 second-born children from California, who were born between 1992 and 2002 and who didn’t have an older sibling with autism. According to data provided by California’s Department of Developmental Services, 3,137 second-borns in this group had received a diagnosis of autism by age 6. Because the birth records included information about parental education level, birth weight, and age, researchers were able to account for a number of factors in their calculations, but they still found a link between shorter intervals between births and a higher risk of autism.

Although researchers were not able to state definitively that delaying a second pregnancy would lower the risk of autism, the findings may indicate a change in the uterine environment in the years immediately following pregnancy, such as a deficiency in certain nutrients. Closely spaced pregnancies have also been linked to brain diseases like schizophrenia as well as a higher risk of prematurity.
Moms, would this latest study lead you to space your pregnancies further apart?

So, momma, let's drop it for at least 2 more years, ok?  :)

Love you!