Traditions/customs for pregnancy

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alice24

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…trying to find some useful activities while struggling with nausea.
Are there any traditional (christian) customs (handicrafts, for example) to do while being pregnant? I´m interested in different cultures. I heard it was an ancient custom in russia, for example, to weave a band of cloth for the newborn´s clothing.
Ideas appreciated 😉
 
Alice its the only time, when pregnant, that we can be productive while doing absolutely nothing. Enjoy it!

Prayer is a great activity when nausea is attacking , or knitting or crocheting or quilting for the baby.
 
My custom was American and it involved me marching myself down to my OBs office and asking for something to help with the Nausea so I could feel normal again.

Took my script to CVS and felt much better…😉

I was only nauseous for my first pregnancy…but it really messed with me and made going to work difficult. So, I’m only teasing you…sort of.

I’m sure you can google some things. My SIL is part Native American and had some things she did while pregnant. You could do some googling.
 
A couple friends of mine quilt or knit or crochet something for the new baby - a blanket, a hat, mittens. Blankets in particular are nice because they can be used for a long time. I still have a blanket my mother made for me, though I think she made it after I was born. Another idea could be cross stitching: it doesn’t require a lot of upfront learning and you can make some really stunning work with it.

If you are nauseous, please take the time to rest if you can. Watch TV, read a few books you’ve always wanted to read but never had the time to. You have the time if you don’t feel well enough to get around much. If you are so nauseous that you can’t eat or drink, then I definitely second the recommendation to see if you can get some medical relief. I had hyperemesis gravidarum with only one pregnancy and had a prescription, but with my other pregnancies I was still pretty ill. I had a lot of relief from over the counter medications in those cases, but still check with your doctor or midwife. Even if you haven’t had your first appointment yet you can still call and ask for recommendations.
 
I’m not that crunchy, but I really like ginger for nausea.

With one of my pregnancies, the local Thai restaurant’s ginger chicken stir fry was a life-saver.

(I also like panang curry for colds.)
 
With any luck, this will only go on for another couple of months.

So there’s no harm in just treating your symptoms and taking it easy. A lot of women find the second trimester a time of high energy and positive mood. (This may only work during a first pregnancy, though–when I had a toddler around while I was pregnant, I found that the high energy never appeared.)
 
alice24 said:
Sadly, It does the opposite for me - made it even worse 😉 I try to drink tea and eat small portions…
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Sad!

My last pregnancy, I had a lot of heartburn in addition to nausea in the first trimester. I was saddened to discover that the acidic Preggie Pops, which really do help with nausea, aggravated my heartburn. Again, sad!
 
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I second the idea of cross stitch. Typical baby options IME include baby quilts (pre-quilted, all you have to do is stitch the design), bibs, and birth records.

I love to cross stitch and have made some birth records and quilts for nieces and nephews.
 
“Knitting baby booties” is a custom in the UK and US.

There are studies that knitting reduces stress, anxiety, blood pressure.

https://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/01/25/the-health-benefits-of-knitting/

You live where some of the BEST yarn lives, maybe take up either crochet or knitting? It is not expensive, you can carry it in your bag so when you are waiting for an appointment or on a train there is something to do. Wrapping your child in a blanket or an item of clothes that you made with your own hands is a special sort of feeling.

I do both, but, prefer crochet most of the time.
 
I’m Bolivian. According to our tradition, pregnant women cannot/should not knit or crochet. They say it will tangle the umbilical cord.

I didn’t follow that. I crocheted constantly. It was about all I could handle some days. I made blankets, toys, clothes, hats, hair bows, anything you can think of. My babies were fine.

I think that the tradition of not knitting or crocheting really comes from encouraging us to rest. We are busy already. Our job is to grow a baby, and it’s hard work.

Make your own tradition if you feel called to do so. I prayed to my babies guardian angels. I guess it counts as a tradition.
 
Boy can I relate! My first two kiddos were gestated entirely uneventfully, but my current unborn baby is already kicking my butt! I’m in week 24 and I’m been struggling to keep it down the whole time! Nothing has worked. It isn’t coming from my stomach. It’s like a constant gag reflex that won’t go away! Anyway, my personal tradition is cross-stitching a Christmas stocking for the new baby. I don’t know if it constitutes a cultural tradition, although I think lots of moms make stockings for their kids and when you’re pregnant is as good a time to get started as any. It’s not like having a baby ever increased anyone’s spare time!
 
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For the record: the umbilical cord will not tangle because of anything you do or don’t do. Sometimes they do tangle but that is down to the baby moving.
 
Yes of course that is accurate. I was just trying to explain the tradition amount people in my birth country. It is just like other cultures that have old wives tales. I seem to remember hearing in the US an older woman telling me something similar about reaching for things over my head. In the part of Mexico my husband is from, there are SO MANY tales about what a pregnant mom should or shouldn’t do. There is no truth to it, but I think their true purpose is to encourage rest and acknowledge that pregnant women are performing the most important “job” of their lives. It is very hard work and we sometimes forget that.

Bolivia has a lot of traditional knitted and crocheted products. It is a job that provides a living for many people. You often see men knitting and crocheting beautiful clothing, bags, and other products to sell. It really is a job and I can kind of imagine in my own heart hearing a man taking that job over from his wife and asking her to just rest. Is that accurate? I don’t know. I was raised mostly here in the US. My mom was a well educated scientist so she never followed the tradition either. We both crocheted constantly for our babies and loved it.

I apologize for not clarifying that there is no actual truth to that tradition from Bolivia. I was actually trying to state that even if you have traditional things your culture does or says, it is perfectly fine to just make your own. And it’s good to rest.
 
13pollitos said:
I apologize for not clarifying that there is no actual truth to that tradition from Bolivia. I was actually trying to state that even if you have traditional things your culture does or says, it is perfectly fine to just make your own. And it’s good to rest.
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Please don´t apologize ! 😉 Of course I know this is folkloristic and not meant to be taken as a serious medicinic advice. It´s very interesting, as every culture has this - part of my family is from persia and they have also many rules against the “evil eye” for brides and pregnant women - all those difficult stages in a woman´s life. Interestingly, every religion there claims to be the origin of that customs, no matter if christian or muslim or zoroastrian…
Crocheting is a very god idea - I wanted to learn this for a long time (after I made some really basic oven cloths as a child) but I never understood those crocheting plans in magazines (lack of basic skills here). I can tailor on a rather professional level, but this includes fitting and keepiny my brain on while calculating measurement, and this is not really what I want to do right now 😂
Cross stitching is also a nice idea. I´ll look If I find some piece of cloth with countable weaving that is still not too stiff.
 
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Thank you, I didn´t knew the site. I´ll check it. My mum made really lovely shawls from mohair wool when I was little, but said she has absolutely no idea how she made them 20 years ago 😃

I discovered another “hobby” - searching desperately maternity dresses without “sweet” motifs, tight fitting (where does this “I need to desperately show my belly to the world” comes from?!) or price ranges above the limit. Tough mission 😃
 
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