Once upon a time...

Thursday, November 3, 2011

Petua mama dan bapa..

I learned from my awesome parents today, that there are some tips to follow (what we call as 'petua' in Malay) when one is pregnant with a child:-

1) Do not laugh when you see ugly/hilarious/unfortunate things on TV, just say 'SubhanAllah' and then change the channel.

2) Try to eat white or light-coloured foods, unless you want your child to be dark-skinned :-) which is normal for asians anyway.

3) Do not over-sleep... and don't be lazy. When you wake up in the morning, go shower and clean yourself. Then if you are still sleepy, you can take a nap after. The temptation of being lazy when you're pregnant is apparently very high.

4) Do not stand at the door. Either go through it without stopping or don't go through it at all. It was said that if you stand half-way, your child will be delivered 'half-way' as well, neither out or in, and will cause complications.

5) Do not scratch your belly, apparently it will start to itch because of the stretch and/or dry skin. Just put body moisturizer and leave it alone. It's when you scratch that will leave ugly skin marks.

6) Do not let your husband create a 'new road'. For instance, he goes hiking and then decides to close the usual track and create a new one. This is the worse scenario because it is believed that the wife will have to do a cesarean section, and not have a normal birth delivery.

7) Eat lots of bananas, because it is believed to increase the baby's hair volume (I like this one). I think I am blessed to have thick hair, thanks to my mama!!! Love u mama!

8) And post-birth, it is recommended for you to wear a 'barut' (see below) inside your clothes and use one small bottle of minyak kapak on your belly each day for 40 days... It is hoped that this will remove the big belly.

9) My parents also said that after giving birth, the mother will still have a huge appetite for food.. try to reduce fat, sugar and salt intake for 3 months... otherwise you will be FAT forever! and it will be much harder to lose weight... This petua is true because my mum followed the petua, had 4 kids and she's not fat at all!

10) Wear long socks (up to the knees) to avoid varicose veins from appearing..

As funny or silly these may sound to you, these were the tips passed on from mothers to their daughters in my country throughout the generations... Well, in my family anyway..! Thank you mum and dad for all the tips and petua... I find them helpful and interesting..

I'm sure some of you have your own tips and petua, please do not hesitate to leave a comment here if you do! Would love to share!