Okay girls, I'm so sick of people telling me what I can't do while pregnant. You can't sunny side up eggs. Forget about shoveling snow. Don't eat tuna or soft cheeses. Lie on your left side or you'll kill your baby! Don't work out - we don't want that heart rate too high! Whatever you do, don't paint your house. Don't let your animals lie on your stomach. You must read to your baby and listen to Mozart. You must love being pregnant at all times. The list goes on.
Here's my question - what pregnancy "rule" do you hate the most and do you actually follow all these stupid guidelines? I know I don't and so far my pregnancy is moving along just splendidly.
2007-02-27 02:38:36 · 32 answers · asked by poohb2878 6 in Pregnancy & Parenting ➔ Pregnancy
My favorite DON'T DO THIS WHILE PREGNANT RULE is: don't reach over your head or else you will strangle your unborn child with the umbilical cord. My in-laws are old fashioned and believe all this weird stuff. So I purposely make it a point to reach over my head while they're in my presence. I did so with my son, and he came out healthier than I could have hoped for. All that stuff you mentioned, I have to agree. I can't eat eggs unless they're sunny side up. I raked, walked, weeded out my garden, washed cars, picked up brick from a house my husband built (one at a time, mind you, and it took forever), and cleaned houses until I was 7-months pregnant. I love my tuna salad sandwiches, but in moderation. I lie on either side, not just the left. The blood flows better if you're on your left side, but I have this hip-sciatica thing that plagues my left side, so I have to switch to either one all through the night. My doctor says it's just fine as long as I don't sleep flat on my back. Painting is all right, HOWEVER, the fumes from it aren't that good for you, so make sure the room you're painting is ventilated well and you're wearing a mask. I helped my husband paint a house he was selling, and we made sure all the windows were open, and I was masked. My son came out fine. What's wrong with animals lying on your stomach? As long as you don't have some HUGE monster dog lying on it, I would say it's all right. I don't read to the baby or listen to Mozart. If I did, I'd fall asleep, and that wouldn't be good seeing as how I need to care for my nearly 2-year-old son. And I don't know anyone that loved being pregnant all the time. In fact, this pregnancy has been the most miserable time of my life. I've had more troubles with this one than with my son (morning sickness, heartburn, gestational diabetes). And I know why...it's a girl! Lol...I do follow all the rules that matter, though. I'd hate to know that just because I wanted to be stubborn, I harmed my child.
2007-02-27 03:26:13 · answer #1 · answered by herefordsun 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think the rule that every other pregnant women has a right to tell you what you are doing wrong has got to go. I don't follow most of the rules. I do go to the doctor like I am supposed to but I also eat lunch meat and I shovel snow (it gets deep!) I eat my eggs the way I want them and my hubby is a painter so lol.. I do not read to my baby or listen to Mozart. And I HATE being pregnant most of the time. I am 27 weeks along with #4 and my pregnancy is going fine (except for MY normal problems). Thank you for giving me a chance to vent!! I feel better. lol
2007-02-27 02:47:37 · answer #2 · answered by Mrs. Always Right 5 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Well, some of the guidelines regarding what you eat, and about lying on your side are medically proven. Lying on your side is more about your health than your baby's anyway. Tuna has high levels of mercury, dangerous for both you and the baby. Salmonella is the concern for eggs served 'sunny side up', also a health concern, whether one is pregnant or not. The paint thing was an issue when there was lead in paint, I believe. As far as the listening to Mozart, reading, 'loving' being pregnant, these are psychological concepts. Those are debatable even within the realm of psychology, so pick what you believe as far as that goes.
Pregnancy 'rules': some are based in medicine, and some are 'old wives tales', as they say. I guess it's up to the individual to research them.
2007-02-27 02:48:03 · answer #3 · answered by kdfirekat 5 · 2⤊ 2⤋
I hate most of the rules as well. Most of them are pretty stupid and only apply to people who do really stupid things (like most soft cheese are perfectly fine...but if they're sitting out or tampered with, then you have a problem). I let my kitty sit on my stomach all the time. She loved it. She must have known I was pregnant. I don't purposely go out looking for sushi, tuna or soft cheeses, but if a salad say has feta cheese on it, I'll eat some of it. My first baby was perfectly healthy and I'm pregant with #2. I also drank coffee (about 2 cups a day) almost every day and would splurge and drink a diet coke about once or twice a week. I'm also a splenda fool. Used to be sweet n' low but am trying to "be good." They say Splenda is better than any other artificial sweetener.
Good luck! My friend was pregnant with me last year and she was a rule freak. She drove me CRAZY!!!! Everything was by the book and she literally used Purell every 15 minutes. I wanted to punch her.
2007-02-27 02:45:47 · answer #4 · answered by beckdoobster 2 · 1⤊ 2⤋
You're taking all the fun away from the "GOOD mothers DON'T" crowd!
It seems those who follow these 'rules' most carefully are the ones who've done the least research about it. You still can't tell them a thing, though.
'In a study of *400,000* women, there were NO problems with alcohol consumption under 8.5 units a week...'
'No! No amount is safe!!'
And so you get people here panicking because they ate something marinated in wine, and all manner of 'helpful' responses saying 'It's okay -- just don't do it again!'
This is a bit off-topic, but my biggest frustration these days comes from all the pro-life garbage about the horrid things that happen after an abortion. What mystifies me there is how women who've had D&Cs or chemical abortions _because they miscarried_ are magically immune to these horrible after-effects...
And we're somehow missing a huge number of women who've dismissed _every_ rule. There were things in the news recently about previously unknown benefits of pre-natal vitamins, and the per cent of women who don't take them was shockingly high. That blew me away; I'm fully sympatico with not not eating things, but how hard is it to take a pill? (I did not get the impression that these were women who'd ended up horribly constipated or nauseated and were taking a chewable kiddie vitamin instead, either.)
2007-02-27 03:46:24 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 1⤋
I figure for 9 months out of my life i can lead a good, honest and clean life. I'll do anything to assure the safe and healthy delivery of my baby. It's nine months i can probably look back and say "hey, i was really good those months - LOL"
I know the lying on your side is a proven fact - if you lie on your back for too long, blood flow to the vena cava gets cut off or blocked which is harmful to both mom and baby.
Cat litter - i don't know about that one - the toxo is mainly found in cat poop of outdoor cats. My cat is the suburban housecat - i dont think she's surive 10 hours on her own outside - no warm, heated mattress pad and heated blanket in a king size bed to sleep on, no food bowl that is full 24/7, no cookies, no catnip ... etc - so, i'm thinking the cat litter in our house is safe - LOL
Wine / Beer - OK in moderation - the baby will get some of the alcohol from your blood passing thru the cord BUT my dr told me after so many weeks the baby is fully developed and it's not a concern
Fish - eh - the mercury scares me plus i don't eat fish anyway.
I say as with everything in life - all things in moderation and your fine! :)
2007-02-27 03:02:27 · answer #6 · answered by Just Me 2 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Do you know why there are all these 'rules'? Because life happens and when something out of control happens, the first reaction of people is to SUE SOMEONE.
OMG...I ate a contaminated sandwich with bacteria and had a miscarriage, sue the deli meat manufacturers! Oh no, my baby has a birth defect, sue all the doctors at the delivery! Autism! Why didn't anyone tell me that mercury was in my tuna and causes brain damage?! No one told me that excessive paint fumes cause birth defects...sue the paint production company.
Most of the time, crap happens...the turkey was out an hour to long, there was one drink too many and now FAS, the one cat you cleaned up after had toxoplasmosis. And what happens then is that parents are angry and sad and try to sue someone. All these rules came around to keep people off of someone's back. Doctors and drug makers and food manufacturers would be happy to let people make their own choices, but then when something happens, no one can live with the consequences. So if you don't want to live by the 'rules' GREAT...I don't either. But don't ruin it for the rest of us by complaining when something goes wrong. Okay?
2007-02-27 04:18:08 · answer #7 · answered by ? 6 · 0⤊ 3⤋
I HATE all pregnancy rules especially knowing that 25-50 years ago, women were encouraged to continue smoking, and to drink (to relax them) during pregnancy. My parents turned out fine!!
I obey the rules because Im scared that if I dont, something will happen, and I will blame myself.
Worst Rules
1. Sleeping on Left side
2. Not taking a hot bath
3. No sushi
4. No deli meat!?!
5. No loud places
6. No caffiene
7. No sitting "Indian Style"
And many more!
2007-02-27 02:45:49 · answer #8 · answered by Soon2BMommy 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I don't know where you got your list of pregnancy rules, but most of them are nothing but wives tales. The other ones,like how hard you should exercise, what kind of activities and what you should or shouldn't eat are common sense or things you should ask the Dr. about. Depends on your body and how active you were before becoming pg. Walking is excellent, and a good diet...watch the weight gain. Eating for two doesn't mean double the food and it's harder to take off after the baby comes than it was to put it on during pregnancy. Of course you should be moderate with the activities in the first three months,but tuna and soft cheese? Laying on your left side? animals laying on your stomach?! Someone is SPOOFING YOU!!!
2007-02-27 03:04:04 · answer #9 · answered by DixeVil 5 · 0⤊ 3⤋
I have to say i hate every Rule there is with my first all i wanted were filet-o-fish (from Mc Donalds), Tuna(Fresh not from the can), Sushie, Basicallly any fish you could find i wanted to eat it. So i did every day of my pregancy i also had a cup of coffee every day, i got in the spa twice a week, Nothing happened now my little one is three and she is in an academy for intellectually integelant children she is so damn smart.I think having all these rules is a bunch of crap. yeah the blood flows better if you sleep on your left side but you are not gioing th hurt your baby if you sleep on your right, i slept on my stomach until i was six months along and then if i tried i looked like a teeter todder and it wasnt too comfortable my doctor is always telling me your body knows what it needs listen to it, if you want sushie for a week eat it you are probably missing something in your system that your body needs from it. thank you for letting me vent i needed it
i know this isnt a rule but i hate when you are showing and strange people come up to and thuch your belly in tthe store. Oh my god that drives me nuts!!!!! i dont know why it bugs me so bad but they dont ask and then they touch me i get so upset. thank you i feel better now.
2007-02-27 03:32:29 · answer #10 · answered by Sexy Mama 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋