Thursday, April 24, 2008

Bad mom

So I have been waiting to write this post for a long time. My entire pregnancy, in fact. When I was pregnant, I would read these online message boards filled with paranoid pregnant ladies ("Can I cause brain damage to my child if I rest my laptop on my stomach?!?") and they seemed to be avoiding everything.

So it seems I did a lot of taboo things during my pregnancy. But I figured it would probably be wisest to wait until the baby was born and I could say "See, and he turned out just fine!" Because if he hadn't turned out alright, I would just be keeping all this information to myself!

So, here are some of the bad things I did as a pregnant woman. (And he turned out just fine!)
  • I ate raw cookie dough. Lots of it. When Jorge made me stop licking the brownie bowl, I would sneak a few more finger-fulls as I walked the bowl to the sink.
  • I had sushi. But the fish was cooked! I don't know why this is a taboo in the first place!
  • Caffeine? Pshaw.
  • I electrocuted myself. This was an accident of course - a hazard of staying in crappy Malawian hotels. I foolishly tried to get the TV to work and got badly zapped by an exposed power cable. Yikes. Milo does not seem to be showing any signs of superpowers or shooting sparks from his fingers yet, though.
  • I drank wine. Not a lot of it, but hey, a glass here and there has never been scientifically, empirically linked to any adverse effects in children. And what are you going to do if you visit South African wine country?
  • I changed car tires. (Got some help, but still.)
  • I flew in the first, second, and third trimesters.
  • I rode the roller coasters at Disneyland. All of 'em.
  • Soaked in the hot tub (I turned the temperature down first, though!)
  • Took OTC drugs. I'm sorry, I do not suffer through colds and headaches quietly.
  • Oh, and yes, I rested my laptop on my stomach. ;-)

As evidence that no lasting harm was done, here are some more pictures of my perfect little boy:


3 comments:

LBLentini said...

Gwyn-

He's simply gorgeous... and I can't agree with you more. My biggest vice was deli meats and brie cheese with Luke and he turned out to be super bright and extremely well-coordinated. It's amazing how many don'ts there are for pregnant women in this country, but I get the feeling that all of the taboos aren't worldwide. Maybe someday we will know the 'real' story.
Libby

Anonymous said...

Challenging pregnancy paranoia several taboos, and one amazing baby, at a time. : ) -Dan

mandi said...

Oh Gwyneth he is so gorgeous. I love your list, I think we all have our list. although the whole roller coaster would definitley have freaked me out. I am with Libby I ate deli meat daily, I drank an occasional glass of wine, I took really hot baths, I forgot prenatals more than I care to remember and I am sure there are plenty more.