::footprints of ie|en

Of Pregnancy "Pantangs"

A few days ago, I read an article, a Mothers' Day special, in which a mother-to-be said she had cravings for rojak. She had rojak everyday until a colleague told her that her baby will turned out just as black as the sauce. There goes the rojak.

That brought to mind some of the things I was told not to do. Some are downright hillarious. Some have logic to it. Others are downright ridiculous. You be the judge.

First, my very own mom told me never to take papaya. Or my lil' one will end up with skin just like the papaya. And I was happily downing papayas everyday as I had constipation problems. If only she knew.

Next, she told me that I should start looking at pictures of handsome men and beautiful women so that my baby will be good looking. I managed not to roll my eyes. My youngest bro, however, went: "What happens if her baby's a boy and she keeps looking at pictures of beautiful women? Won't the boy end up like a pondan?" I had to walk away to stop myself from laughing out loud.

A friend related that when she was pregnant, her mother-in-law told her and the hubby not to be intimate during this time. Or the baby will have patches of white all over its head. From what? Take a guess.

From dear hubby's side of family, my hubby was told not to go fishing or hunting. Else the baby will look like a fish or the animal that was hunted. He was also told to hit a nail on our door and not let that nail fall off, coz if it does, it means I will have a miscarriage. The nail should only be taken out after I gave birth.

A lot of times I feel like lying on my side instead of my back. And the mister will not have it that way. He kept saying that I will suffocate the baby and that it won't be able to breathe. I thought it was another one of his self-created theories. Then I found out that someone told him the chances of getting a baby boy is higher if the woman lies on her back all the time. Ha?? What??

Recently, some friends told us that if a pregnant woman had a bad case of morning sickness, then she's carrying a boy and if she craves for sourish food, then it's a girl. I had a "great" time with morning sickness, throwing up 24/7 whatever that went in. And I loved those small and really sour mempelams. What does that make my lil' one then?

posted by ie|en @ 3:03 PM