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China Elevator Stories
Things My Chinese Mother-In-Law Told Me Not to Do During Pregnancy
My Chinese in-laws stay with me and my husband in Shenzhen for a few weeks during my first pregnancy.
24/07/2014
Ruth Silbermayr
Author
Every time I was squatting on the floor, my mother-in-law would say: “Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up! Get up!” I always replied that the baby wouldn’t just fall out if I squatted and that squatting doesn’t do any harm. But since she didn’t stop saying “get up” until I actually did get up, I would eventually stand so she’d stop. Case in point: Most public restrooms in China only have squat toilets.
Lifting heavy things
My mother-in-law would not let me lift anything that was even slightly heavy. Actually, it didn’t need to be heavy at all. While my own mother also told me not to lift heavy things during pregnancy, what counts as heavy in Austria seems to be slightly different from China. Not every Austrian seems to know that pregnant women shouldn’t lift heavy items either. When I looked for infant car seats in a shop in Austria, the seller told me I could lift one myself if I wanted to know how heavy it was. No, thanks. Lifting a car seat weighing 5-10 kg is definitely not healthy for a woman who’s 8 months pregnant!
Popping pimples
Although I rarely have large acne-like pimples, I enjoy squeezing the smaller ones I get from time to time. Once, upon seeing this, my mother-in-law told me to refrain from doing it. I think she would have told me this even if I weren’t pregnant.
Blowing my nose
Another time, after witnessing me having a cold, my mother-in-law told me not to blow my nose with too much force. I’m not sure if she was concerned my nose would get sore or if she was afraid the baby would pop out four months early if I blew my nose too hard. Rest assured: The baby survived the pregnancy!
Has anyone ever told you what to do or refrain from doing?