The other night I dreamt my uterus took a trip around my body and ended up protruding from my thigh! It protruded, jellyfish-like, in a perfectly round, squishy shape. I pushed it back up and into my belly, so it could continue to grow and nuture my baby. When I awoke I was very concerned if everything was still ok in there! Luckily, it was!
Dr. Gleisner reminded me that it used to be believed that the uterus would move around the body causing havoc and "hysteria"! So it's quite funny I actually visualized this in my dream. Here is a link (and small exerpt) from an entertaining article called "The Sad Story of the Hysterical Uterus"--it's very interesting and I recommend reading the rest here:
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:3oL99GNnIIgJ:www.abcarticledirectory.com/Article/The-Sad-Story-Of-The-Hysterical-Uterus/82642+uterus+traveling+hysteria&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
"An anatomical "reality" that persisted in Western medical lore since ancient Greece was that the female uterus becomes displeased and displaced, and wanders through the body, negatively influencing the brain (I kid you not!). "Hysteria" is derived from the Greek word for uterus. In a fit of fury the female uterus went travelling through the body, causing all manner of emotional disturbances – hence hysteria, hysterical – and hysterectomy.
The mental condition of hysteria afflicted legions of women of all ages throughout the patriarchal centuries, and was considered the most common disease after fever. In menopause, specifically, "the belief was that the failure to menstruate caused the uterus to travel around the body, eventually negatively influencing the brain".(Louis Banner In Full Flower)"
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