Tags

, , , ,

Here in Guatemala I hear a LOT of different ideas about pregnancy. Some things are laughable and innocent, while others are more difficult to swallow. Often when people talk to me and give me advice, I am at a loss of what to say because I don’t want to offend…but neither will I choose to follow it. Most of the time I just thank them and try to remember what they say…NOT to follow their advice…but instead to share it with you and get a laugh or two out of it. 😉

Here are a few strange ideas I have heard recently:

  • You HAVE to eat a special hen soup once baby is born, because it helps your milk to come in.
  • Before your milk supply comes in, it is necessary to give baby a bottle.
  • You must wrap a special bind around baby’s stomach when born. This is to protect the umbilical cord stump and to ensure that baby’s belly button will  be an innie instead of an outie. 🙂
  • If you don’t use a girdle or bind on your own stomach after giving birth, the empty space in your stomach will fill with air, and you will stay chubby.
  • It is important not to talk for 24 hours after giving birth, because if you do, that empty space in your stomach will fill with air, and you will remain chubby.
  • Babies at birth are actually very small, but when the touch the air, they inflate to the normal baby size.
  • If you dislike someone during your pregnancy, your baby will look like that person when they are born.
  • If you crave something during pregnancy, and do not eat it,  your baby will be born looking like that thing. (Example: You didn’t eat a tortilla when you craved it, and so your baby is born with a tortilla looking face.)
  • Sometimes if you crave something and don’t eat it, you will abort your baby.
  • If you have a c-section, you cannot eat fatty foods afterwards, because the fat will come out of your wound, and the skin won’t stick together.
  • If you don’t respect the 40 days of rest after giving birth, you will have back pain when you are old.
  • It is very important to take care of your milk when you are breastfeeding.
  • This means you must always have your lungs covered. Here people picture their lungs in their back…so this means always wearing a sweater or covering…even if it is hot out!
  • This also means you cannot drink anything cold while lactating…you wouldn’t want your milk to go cold now!
  • Once baby is born you have to be very careful who holds him/her and also who is near to him/her. If a drunk person, a girl in her menstration, a pregnant lady, and I am sure many more people too, hold, look at or are near to your baby they could become colicky. This can be cured by waving herbs around your baby’s body or passing an egg over them.

I am sure there are many more weird thoughts and beliefs that I haven’t heard…and probably a bunch more that I will hear in the near future. While you wait for my next post on Guatemalan mind-set on pregnancy, make sure you don’t drink cold liquids if you are breastfeeding…and take care of the babies you look at or are near too! Don’t want to cause colick! Haha…I hope you were able to enjoy my post and laugh a bit.