My Diamond Life

I'm now at the end of my 25th week of pregnancy (yay!!) and dead bored staying at home, apparently taking a rest from the stress and miserable life of the evil world out there...or so i thought, or planned. The past few months turned out to be quite stressful to me, due to the "Do's and Don'ts" that i simply must adhere to (or else), courtesy of my mum and my relatives. The miserable part of it all is that the "pantang larang", according to them, if not followed will have a horrifying effect on my baby. And it's really sad when it's your own family members whom u turn to for comfort, giving you 90% nightmare stories and saying bad things about your baby (that is still inside you for God's sake) leaving u helpless and spending sleepless nights praying that she will turn out to be as beautiful as u have always dreamed of - and this is my first one after the ectopic. Tho i dearly love them....Thanks a lot for the extra depression!!!

Some of the things that i "musn't do" that i find quite disturbing:
1) I musn't look at weird things or animals
2) I musn't watch horror movies - which sucks the most cos i'm a fan of horror movies and please, i am aware that it's all just a movie...hallo....?

And so, in search of my own comfort, apart from soothing words from my hubby who feels it's all absolute rubbish (thank u sweetie :D), i found a few articles on the web that proves i am not alone in thinking that during this wonderful period of being pregnant, i should concentrate more on healthy eating and thanking Allah for his wonderful gift to us, which at one point i thought was never gonna happen, instead of being paranoid all the time. Alhamdulillah :)

Some of the articles that i found quite interesting (in Malay) about the Malay's "pantang larang" or Do's and Don'ts / taboos during pregnancy:

1) http://lelabu.com/blog/2006/11/03/pantang-larang-semasa-mengandung/
I thought this link was quite informative on the "pantang larang" with some interesting comments.

2) http://www.bincang.net/forum/showthread.php?p=1683122
This one has a more extensive comment on the article above by lelabu with some educational point of view based on the Quran.

3) http://pislam.uum.edu.my/portal/?act=quest&do=show&topic=507
A very assuring answer by an ustaz on a question posted by a distressed husband on the taboos practiced by his wife during her pregnancy.

What i found most helpful:

1) http://lelabu.com/blog/2006/11/08/amalan-amalan-semasa-mengandung/
This article is a very soothing one on a religious approach and it tells you what are the surahs from the Al Quran that you should read while being pregnant.

And so....i find it very disturbing that during pregnancy that there are apparently so many things that you're not supposed to do when it should be a time of joy. Although some of it should be taken into consideration as they do have some health benefits to a pregnant woman, i believe some are just ridiculous and only cause more emotional damage. As what my dear husband says, i shud not let it get inside my head, as it is causing me more stress than anything, instead concentrate on keeping healthy and getting ready for the big day and have faith that everything is gonna be ok. And on my next visit to the doc, i am so bringing up this subject and absolutely anxious to hear her medical point of view on this.