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Conference moira::parenting_v3

Title:Parenting
Notice:READ 1.27 BEFORE WRITING
Moderator:CSC32::DUBOIS
Created:Wed May 30 1990
Last Modified:Tue May 27 1997
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:1364
Total number of notes:23848

451.0. "Myths of Pregnancy - Parenting lite" by TARKIN::TRIOLO (Victoria Triolo) Wed Oct 24 1990 16:32

    
    	What are some of the myths (or old wives tales) of pregnancy?
    
    ie.  If you have lots of indigestion, your baby will have lots of hair.
    
    	 If you eat strawberries, your baby will have a strawberry shaped
    	  birthmark.
    
    
    
    Also,  If you carry high, is it supposed to be a girl or boy?
    
    Vicky
    (7 months and counting)
T.RTitleUserPersonal
Name
DateLines
451.1High/LowMSDOA::LUBIANIWed Oct 24 1990 16:481
    Carrying it high is suppose to be a girl and low is a boy.
451.2TCC::HEFFELThat was Zen; This is Tao.Wed Oct 24 1990 16:503
	Carrying "in front" is a boy.  Carrying "all the way around" is a girl.

Tracey 
451.3CNTROL::STOLICNYWed Oct 24 1990 16:513
    Morning sickness = girl,  No morning sickness = boy
    
    
451.4***SWAPO::WAGNERWed Oct 24 1990 17:121
    Fast heartbeat = girl, Slow heartbeat = boy
451.5I heard the opposite...DSSDEV::STEGNERWed Oct 24 1990 17:261
    Hmmm...  I heard it was "in front " = girl, "all around" = boy.
451.6Didn't make any difference to JoanneICS::NELSONKWed Oct 24 1990 18:224
    FWIW, my cousin Joanne carried both her kids the same way -- all
    out in front.  Baby #1 was a girl, Brittany; #2 was a boy, Timothy.
    
    
451.7EVERYONE IS DIFFERANTDEMING::QAR_TEMPThu Oct 25 1990 10:228
    
    
    I carried all around (boy) --- From what I've seen (girls) are on the
    high front.  Most of my relatives and friends that had boys also
    carried "just" like me.   
    
    (Quote)::       "EVERYONE IS DIFFERANT"
    
451.8Here's a few doosies!JUPITR::MAHONEYThu Oct 25 1990 11:4227
    How about the old ring trick. Take a peice of thread and put it through
    your wedding band or diamond. The pregnant woman lies flat on her back
    and someone holds the ring as still as possible over her belly, if the
    ring turns in a cirle it's supposed to be a boy, if it swwings back and
    forth it's a girl! Ha ha! It went in a circle for me and I had a girl.
    It also proved false for 3 other women i know. How's that for a myth?
    
    They say not too lift your arms high above your head when pregnant
    because the cord can wrap around the baaby's neck.(where do get this
    info anyway?)
    
    Here's a few more:
    
    If you try to get your baby to stand too soon, he will be bow-legged!
    
    If you pick up your baby every time he or she cries, you will spoil
    them. Dr. Brazelton says, you cannot spoil a baby untill they are at
    least 6 months old, spoiling happens by giving the child material
    things. All, children need love and cuddling, regardless if they are
    crying or not.
    
    You can conceive a girl if you drink a cup of black coffee before sex!
    (my OB gave me an article on how this is done, but I don't believe it)  
    
    
    I'm sure there are thousands more of myths like these, none of them
    proved true with the birth of my daughter.
451.9WMOIS::B_REINKEbread&rosesThu Oct 25 1990 13:026
    most of the previous ways to predict the sex of a child are correct
    50% of the time.
    
    :-)
    
    BJ
451.10exCOOKIE::CHENMadeline S. Chen, D&SG MarketingThu Oct 25 1990 13:2922
    
    I carried both my boys high, in front - all the myths missed.
    
    The ring trick predicted girls both times.
    
    My co-workers never allowed me to get things off the top shelf, because
    of the cord-around-the-neck stuff.  Actually, virtually all babies have
    the cord around their necks at some point during gestation.
    
    My doctor predicted a boy the first time, a girl the second, and said
    he was correct about 50% of the time.
    
    I never heard that coffee story before - I am a true addict of coffee,
    and I would be surprised if I did not have a cup just prior to
    conception.  (we always have a cup before bed at night - caffeine
    notwithstanding).  Again, both mine were boys.
    
    There is one myth that I get to add here (everyone else took up the
    rest of those I know) - that is, if you place your hand on your body in
    shock or surprise during pregnancy, then your baby will have a birth
    mark on that part of his/her body.   
    
451.11FallingHAMSTR::MARTIN_LThu Oct 25 1990 14:096
    
    "if you fall during your pregnancy, you will have a girl"
    
    I never fell...had a boy.
    
    
451.12RANGER::PEACOCKFreedom is not free!Thu Oct 25 1990 14:107
    
<<    Also,  If you carry high, is it supposed to be a girl or boy?

   Yes!  :-)  :-)
   
   - Tom
   
451.13a family sayingSVCRUS::CRANEThu Oct 25 1990 17:3616
    
      My sister has a real doozy of kid.  Always fussing and hanging
    and still dos'nt sleep the whole night.  Well,  at one of our family
    get togethers we traced the whole life of the kid back and figured
    out that the reason the kid is so ancy is because she used to get
    poked all the time while she was in the womb.
    
       Hence our family saying about unborn kids :
    
     "if you annoy the kid,  you'll have an annoying kid!" 
    
    I did'nt annoy my kid and she came out as and still is an 
    Angel(well close anyway).
    
    John C.
    
451.14Another methodMAJORS::MANDALINCIFri Oct 26 1990 06:2020
    My grandfather learned a "prediction trick" from a very old man when he
    was young. You try to catch the woman by surprise and say she has
    something on her hand. If she looks at her hand palm up, it will be a
    boy; if she looks at the top of her hand it will be a girl. 
    
    My grandfather hasn't been wrong in about 50 years amongst the family;
    until I came along. I knew he was waiting for the moment to catch me
    and when he suddenly yelled "what's that on your hand?", I just smiled.
    I then made the mistake of telling him my impulse at the time was to go
    top-up, BUT I never stuck my hands out. My grandmother was so excited
    to have a great-granddaughter after 2 great-grandsons she started
    buying girl's clothes. Well, my son never had to wear pink dresses
    and my grandfather will have to think of ways to get trickier to catch
    me with this pregnancy.
    
    Anyone else who has tried to us this method of prediction, is ALWAYS
    wrong. Maybe this old man selected my grandfather for some special
    reason.
    
    Andrea     
451.15Don't wash walls or scrub floorsDDIF::FRIDAYThis space available for eminent domainFri Oct 26 1990 10:515
    When you're pregnant don't scrub the floors or wash the walls because
    the circular motion of your arms will wrap the cord around the baby's
    neck.
    
    Yes, some people really do believe this!
451.16This could be to my advantage... ;-)CSC32::DUBOISThe early bird gets wormsFri Oct 26 1990 15:248
<    When you're pregnant don't scrub the floors or wash the walls because
<    the circular motion of your arms will wrap the cord around the baby's
<    neck.
    
Gee, if I ever get pregnant again, I think I'll spread this one around;
I hate doing housework!  ;-)

           Carol
451.17I'M NOT AN INVALIDPOCUS::MARONLONG ISLAND BORN &amp; BREDWed Oct 31 1990 12:187
    My doctor suggested no stretching or reaching up over my head because
    of the cord wrapping around the babies neck.  Hubby happened to be in
    the room when the doc said this and he right out told hubby his new job
    was housework!!!!  Mom told me not to vacuum because the pushing and
    pulling motion can cause the baby to turn (breech).
    
    Ellen
451.18JURAN::QAR_TEMPWed Oct 31 1990 12:399
    
    
    When I was pregnant, my whole pregnancy I vacuumed my house "every day"
    (still do).  I would climb on my bed to tuck the other side of the
    sheets in its place.  You name it, I didn it.  No cord tied.  No breech
    baby either.
    
    
    -Nadine
451.19Hot bath?WMOIS::E_FINKELSENConsistancy&#039;s good...Sometimes!Wed Oct 31 1990 13:164
What about a hot bath?  I read in a book that my dr gave me that you shouldn't
do hot baths or jaccuzzi's.  I love hot baths.  Why would that be a problem?

It sounded like a myth to me.
451.20Jacuzzi no mythNOVA::WASSERMANDeb Wasserman, DTN 264-1863Wed Oct 31 1990 13:403
    Re: .-1  I don't think this is a myth.  I think that sitting in a
    jacuzzi or hot-tub can raise your internal body temperature to a point
    that would be dangerous to a fetus.
451.21TCC::HEFFELVini, vidi, visaWed Oct 31 1990 13:569
	.20 is right.  This is definately NOT a myth.

	If I understand correctly, jacuzzis are the bigger problem because
1) they tend to be hotter 2) you tend to emerse more of yourself and 3) you 
tend to stay in longer.


Tracey
 
451.22NEURON::REEVESWed Oct 31 1990 14:156
    	I also have been told hot baths can sometimes lead to yeast infections.
    Which in my case, happens if I take too many of my much loved bubble
    baths.  
    
    FWIW
    M 
451.23WMOIS::E_FINKELSENConsistancy&#039;s good...Sometimes!Wed Oct 31 1990 14:375
So a 10 minute hot shower shouldn't be a problem?  If the wall paper doesn't
peel off, it's not hot enough for me.

I don't soak in the tub very often, but I do get tempted and I like my baths as
hot as my showers, so I thought I had better check this one out.
451.24MARX::FLEURYWed Oct 31 1990 15:566
    re .15, .16, .17

     Hmmm - Michelle didn't just have the cord wrapped around her neck - she
     was tied, bound, and gagged by the thing.  Do you think my two-week
     nesting frenzy caused her to get tangled ;-)
451.25Hot Showers?CSC32::DUBOISThe early bird gets wormsWed Oct 31 1990 16:238
<   <<< Note 451.23 by WMOIS::E_FINKELSEN "Consistancy's good...Sometimes!" >>>
<
< So a 10 minute hot shower shouldn't be a problem?  If the wall paper doesn't
< peel off, it's not hot enough for me.

Glad you asked.  You should probably check with your doctor.

        Carol
451.26Above 98 is dangerousMSDOA::LUBIANIWed Oct 31 1990 17:306
    I have a hot tub and am pregnant.  My doctor said I could get in as
    long as the water wasn't above 98 degrees.  Well, since I don't have a
    thermometer in it, I haven't been in it!!  I need to get me one because
    I sure miss it!!
    
    Virginia
451.27GENRAL::M_BANKSWed Oct 31 1990 18:0317
re  hot baths

The reason they're not good is because a HOT bath or jacuzzi eventually
raises the mother's internal temperature to 102 F or more, which in turn
raises the baby's temp.  The fetus can't handle this heat, and the result
is brain damage (I think).

The thing is they never knew how long it took to get to this point, so hot
baths/jacuzzis were banned altogether (by most docs).  Recently, the
newspaper ran a story that said a study on this subject found that the
least amount of time it takes for women to reach the high temps is 12
minutes (some women's bodies took up to 30 minutes to get that hot).  So,
the finding from the study was that, to play it safe, any pregnant woman
should spend NO MORE than 10 minutes in a hot bath or jacuzzi.


Marty
451.28Stop complaining ladiesMAMTS3::MWANNEMACHERlet us pray to HimMon Nov 05 1990 11:517
    Another myth about pregnancy is that childbirth is hard and painful. 
    Come on ladies, stop your whining it's a breeze.
    
    
    Peace,
    
    Mike
451.29MAMTS3::MWANNEMACHERlet us pray to HimMon Nov 05 1990 11:5314
     
    
    
    
                                 _     _
                      I GOTCHA   .     .
                                    L
                                 \_____/
    
    
    Peace,
    
    Mike
                                 
451.30Jaccuzzis increase Blood PressureNRADM::TRIPPLTue Nov 13 1990 12:1718
    RE....the Jacuzzi/hot tub inquiries, the technical term is
    "vasal-dialation"  translated means your arteries and veins dialate
    in the heat of hot water causing an increase in your blood pressure,
    and sending much too much blood to the baby.  The primary danger here
    is you becoming light-headed, and of course passing out or slipping,
    and there's always the danger of cerebral (brain) hemorage from the
    increase in blood pressure.  (blood vessles are "thinner" during
    pregnancy, something that frequently causes nosebleeds)
    
    Oh yes, the increase in body temp is a factor, but do realize the
    normal internal temp is usually around 99.8 anyway, it would take more
    than a few minutes in VERY Hot water to affect the baby.
    
    To the woman who won't use her hottub because she doesn't have a
    thermometer, how about using a plain old mercury thermometer, they go
    from 96 to 106?
    
    Lyn