Hello From Utero
On green-free holidays & a pot-adjacent pregnancy.
Wednesday, June 3, 2026
Time to read: About 5 minutes. Contains 1,218 words.
Hello, dear readers!
If you follow me on Instagram, you have some insight into what I’ve been up to the past few months. Cat’s out of the bag—I’m germinating a lil seedling of my own.
I found out the day after Christmas. It was planned, but still such an uncertain surprise, and nothing was taken for granted in those early months. I did my best to just focus on the day-to-day; I was feeling motivated, as you might recall, to restore a regular weekly rhythm to this newsletter (lol). Then, First Trimester Fatigue kicked in. It took everything to get enough rest and pay them bills. So much Googling in between. And a lot of, “ChatGPT, what happens if I eat a 5 mg gummy at 10 weeks?” (More on that later).
As I write this now, I’m 27 weeks in and sober as a 19th-century Russian novel—far more sober than I expected, tbh. I approached this bodily evolution fully prepared to incorporate botanical support for nausea and pain management, fueled by 10+ years of skepticism towards cannabis stigma. I’ve interviewed women like Shonitria Anthony, a.k.a. Blunt Blowin’ Mama, about her positive experiences consuming while pregnancy, read Chelsea Leyland’s writings about managing epilepsy and endometriosis symptoms with low dose cannabis while pregnant, and heard countless anecdotes from other women who continued to consume after inception. But the more I learned about what exactly was happening in my uterus, week-to-week, the more I reconsidered my initial assumptions.
I’ll dive deeper into that experience in a newsletter for all you wonderfully patient paid subscribers shortly. My experience learning as much as I could demonstrated just how impactful deeper plant education can be—and resonated deeply when reading those New York Mag think pieces about “cannabis addiction.”
Today, I just want to catch up. I want to process my first weed-free 420 in 17 years, and highlight some of the finest flower-friendly Mother’s Day editorial content I’ve seen. I want to share how I am maintaining my relationship with this plant that means so much to me, and shout out some brands that have remained in non-combustible rotation.
Progress and Pot Nostalgia: Belated 4/20 Highlights
Although I didn’t make my usual rounds to my favorite dispensaries, and nothing got rolled when the clock struck 4 pm, I did appreciate seeing more interesting IRL experiences and digital editorials mark our annual jubilee.
Grow It From Home gardening workshops in San Francisco and a group hike through Brooklyn Bridge Park with Everyday Mountaineering and Dangle Supply give me hope for ongoing festivities as cannabis becomes more normalized. I also love seeing stoner-friendly boutiques like Mister Green host special celebrations that get folks together and keep the dream of brick-and-mortar retail alive.
In the media, some of the best 4/20 content I saw came from the most unexpected places. Blue Apron, the meal delivery service, posted a video of transforming multiple veggies into smokable utensils. Cool mom blog Spread The Jelly published a profile of TikTok “gardening” darling, Natalie Benson, offering a refreshing look at navigating canna-entrepreneurship while adapting consumption habits during pregnancy.
Mother’s Day Is For Stoners
Obviously, my lens for culture right now is…pointed. So, from my current vantage point between childless weed consumer and a mother raising a child, Mother’s Day content from cannabis brands, unsurprisingly, really hit for me this year.
Garden Party, Asheville, North Carolina’s weed-friendly boutique, threw a Mother’s Day party instead of a 4/20 fete this year, featuring floral arrangements, watercolor portraits, a ceramic sale, wine pours and mini j’s. I loved this repositioning of weed from a gift for your mom to a gateway to a cute, shared experience.
The enduring stigma of moms + weed was referenced poignantly by Miss Grass’ collection of anonymous cannabis confessions—highlighting the minefield cannabis-consuming moms must navigate while offering a safe space to talk about their relationships to the plant.
Miss Grass also featured an interview with the founders of Mother Tongue, a fantastic independent magazine that “interrogates (and celebrates) what it means to be a mom in the modern world” that tapped yours truly for an edible story in their inaugural issue. While reading the conversation about creativity, cannabis, and coping, I felt my cannabis-deprived melancholy lift a few degrees. I’d been so focused on missing weed in my day-to-day during this pregnancy, but I’ll get to develop an entirely new relationship with this plant as I enter new phases of matrescence. This conversation also reminded me that instead of lamenting the creative projects I haven’t gotten around to, becoming a mom doesn’t mean the end of my pursuits. The best projects may just lie ahead.
Mother’s Day is a perfect example of how a cannabis lens reveals heartier, more meaningful storytelling. It could be just another Hallmark holiday to mark with promos and sales, or it can provide an opportunity to explore unexpected facets of this experience.
A New Toolkit
While I’m not currently consuming, cannabis is still (indirectly) in my rotation. Here are a few products I haven’t let run out.
Rose x Marie Veronique Body Barrier Emulsion
As my belly grows, so too does my determination to avoid stretch marks. I read about Bio Oil, cocoa butter, shea butter, and how, ultimately, it usually comes down to genetics. My mom definitely retained some battle marks from my sister and I, so I had realistic expectations. But I’ve been using this “oil/cream hybrid” nearly every other day, and so far, no marks! I’m on the precipice of the third trimester, though, so I’ll check in as baby grows. It’s packed with ceramides and rich with full-spectrum extract from Rose Farm flower—and you can smell it—but not activated, so there’s no intoxication.
Twas a cruel twist of fate to embark on this pregnancy journey just as I was coming into my spritz era. Fortunately for me, the zealous PR team hired by Little Saints sent me an unsolicited box of their recent NA Aperol-riff. It’s pretty good, fam! The once weed-adjacent drink brand is now fully “functional,” swapping CBD and terps for reishi, damiana, and lion’s mane. It’s no Select Spritz but it scratches the happy hour itch until I’m cheers-ing postpartum.
TONIC Body Butter with CBD & CBG
Long time readers will recognize the circular tin—the sandalwood, neroli, and cardamom scent just never gets old for me. This rich, thiccccc topical is the ultimate foot rub accoutrement. There’s enough slip to support massage strokes and a nice dose of moisture for cracked heels. My shifting center of gravity wreaks havoc on my arches—this is an essential when the day is done.
Don’t worry—it’s not going to be purely stoner mom content from here. I’ve got quite a bit brewing in fact, from weed’s impact on the state of film to the latest in hemp textile progress. Plus, updates on where the hell we’re at with a federal hemp ban, rescheduling medical cannabis, and the unexpected winning edible trends in 2026. Stay tuned.
Spiritually stoned with you,
Lauren Yoshiko