Baby Bumps

I am a Reddit.com reader.  That is to say that I am what is known as a lurker.  I get lost in Reddit on a daily basis, but I don't have an account on there, so I don't post or vote.  I just read.   It helps to keep me somewhat abreast of the rest of the world.  Some of it I pay no attention to--like the gaming sub-topics.  Many of the posts in other sub-topics (known as "subs") are profane, which I don't care for, but I am a dinosaur to the rest of the world because I am OLD.  (That's simply another blog post!)

Yesterday, I happened onto a sub called Baby Bumps.  It's frequented by pregnant women.  (I am now happily out of that league!)  One pregnant contributor to the sub posted about the forbidden foods that she was missing and asked other contributors if they had fantasies about what they wanted to do or ingest after they deliver.  Oh my!  The dozens and dozens of responses caused me to understand that things sure have changed since 40 years ago when I was a pregnant mom!

In reading that sub, I put together a list of things that are now forbidden for our human baby factories; to wit:
*No smoking.
*No alcohol.
*No really hot baths/showers.
*No hot tubs.
*No raw bean sprouts.
*No raw vegetables that are not very carefully washed.
*No unpasteurized cheeses.
*No deli meats.
*No high-mercury fish, like tuna.
*No sushi or any other uncooked meats.
*No rare or anywhere near rare steaks.
*No raw oysters.
*No eggs with runny yolks.
*No exposure to cat litter boxes or other animal feces.
*And...of course...no medicines, including those to relieve migraine headaches, nausea, or any other condition that is not being monitored by the doctor.
*And those who suffer from Gestational Diabetes are doubly screwed because they also have to limit sugars/carbohydrates.

Wow.  Just wow.
Most of the contributors missed beers and wines and cheeses and sushi.  They have already put in their list of desires for the day after they have delivered.  Some can't wait to take scalding hot baths.  Others just want a whole bottle of whatever desired wine or beer that they don't want to/won't share.  And, oh my, the cheeses that they miss!

I am struck by how things have changed in a mere four decades since I was preggers.  In those days, the main focus was not to drink to excess or smoke to excess...and, of course, the medicine thing.  My then-husband tattled on me to the OB/GYN at one appointment because I was still smoking...but the doc told me/us that as long as I was keeping it under a pack a day, all was well.  (That thinking has changed 100%.)  I also drank wine a little, but it was self-limiting because my unborn child took up so much space in my belly that I could scarcely breathe, much less eat/drink, without major heartburn.

If I were to make this a political, sexist rant, I would ask how many men, were they the incubators of the human race, would survive nine months of these restrictions without caving in.  As it is, I'll keep things civil and just be thankful that I'm not a breeder in these days.

It's now amazing to me that human reproduction has survived at all through the centuries before modern medicine!