Did you know Kristen Bell, Ryan Gosling, and Penelope Cruz all have lazy eyes, a condition known as strabismus?
Margot had eye surgery today to move the muscles of her eyes back, which—when it works—prevents the muscle from pulling her eyes towards center.
It was kind of surreal to be sitting in the surgery waiting room again, anticipating the ring of the Ease app for updates. I was pretty chill about the whole thing. After all, it’s not like they were removing two feet of her intestines or plugging a hole in her heart—it was outpatient for shuck’s sake!
She fell asleep before they came to get her for surgery. I was so relieved, thinking I wouldn’t have to send a screaming baby off with strangers, but I didn’t get off that easily. The bustle of the surgery team woke her, and she screamed mamá—with the desperation of a baby would never see her mother again—all the way down the hall. I cried and, in that moment, I felt worse than I did the day they removed two feet of her intestines.
But this story is not about how gut-wrenching it is to have your two-year-old carried off to eye surgery by a nurse you just met while she screams your name 1003 times before they finally send you an update to say she’s asleep.
This story is about how I’m not a regular mom.
I could not wait to get home and open my box from Thrive Market because it contained a $25 container of mushroom powder I needed to make Margot’s biome broth.
If you’re subscribed to The Plant Milk Project*, my newsletter for nerdy, plant-based foodies who want to raise adventurous little plant eaters, you know I’m obsessed with gut health. The microbiome is the collective trillions of microorganisms that live in our colon. These bacteria, fungi, archea, and even viruses help us digest our food. They regulate our immune systems, and they are—if well-nourished—our allies.
Antibiotics, while often life-saving, are anti-biome. They kill the good bacteria along with the bad, and it wreaks havoc on the gut. This can be catastrophic for infants and toddlers whose guts are still developing. Early-life antibiotic usage is linked to increased risk of autoimmune diseases and digestive health issues.
Vivienne and Margot had a lot of antibiotics during the first six months of their lives—like, A LOT. I’ve spent the last year and a half combating the effects of their complex medical history with a plant-based diet full of all the good stuff the body needs (read: fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains).
And then we got the news about the strabismus surgery.
Anesthesia alters the composition of the gut microbiome…
In mice.
BUT, that study was enough for Dr. Robynne Chutkan, Integrative gastroenterologist and author of The Microbiome Solution, to say, “Anesthesia may lead to dysbiosis (imbalanced gut bacteria) in patients following an operation. If you have an operation coming up or have recently undergone general anesthesia, eating a microbiome-friendly diet can have huge benefits on gut bacteria diversity and composition, as well as the healing process post surgery.”
Thus, the $25 mushroom powder and an afternoon holding my groggy little bean while biome broth simmered on the stove.
Sometimes I wonder if my sugar-free, dairy free, meat free, biome broth making life ventures into unhealthy territory, but then I look at our life full of mushroom risotto, chana masala, and biome-boosting root vegetable roasts, and I think I’m not a regular mom. I’m a gut mom.
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