Quilt, Part 2

I was able to deliver the quilt, earlier this week, to my friend's home. It was just before dinner and as Jared had just walked in the door before I left, I was able to leave the boys with him. Later I was thankful because it gave me the opportunity to visit for about a half hour with my friend. I thought you may enjoy reading about parts of our conversation. It will give you a feel for the differences between pregnancy/postpartum time here and the U.S.

*Soon after arriving at her home, I asked her how she was doing. Her only real complaint was that she was so hot all the time. It is mid July, the day I visited it was in the mid to high 80's and her top floor apartment was hot. She reminded me that because she is pregnant, she is not able to use an air conditioner or even have a lot of air blowing through. It would not be good for her health.

*We began talking about what she does each day. She is still working, for one more week, but only in the mornings. Her husband takes her to work in the morning, picks her up at lunch time and she is able to rest at home in the afternoon. Then in the evening they go to either her parents' or his parents' for dinner. She said she cannot cook right now.

*I noticed that she had a new high-chair sitting in the room. She said a friend had bought it for her but that she hadn't bought anything else yet for the baby. She doesn't know what she needs, only her mother and mother-in-law know so they will buy it all for her.

*When the baby does come, she will have to stay in bed for a month and follow a very strict plan regarding almost everything in life, diet, hygiene, etc. We talked about that for a bit. Because my friend cannot get out of bed to do anything for herself or her child, her mother will come live with them and they also will hire a full time helper. The helper is hired through an agency and is trained and knowledgeable in all things postpartum and newborn. The helper will do all the cooking, she knows how to best cook for the recovering mother, will instruct on how to care for the newborn, and also will do much of the cleaning.

*My friend also asked me question, after question about pregnancy and babies; was it okay to use a cell phone and computer?, did she look like she was the right size?, how did she know if her baby was okay?, etc. She also felt very nervous about caring for a small baby, not knowing at all what she was to do. I have 'lived' through 3 pregnancies and newborns and, as you can guess, they all looked very western in how I did things, therefore I did not feel I could give much advice when it came to her specific questions. She has so many people around her giving her help and advice, and my western opinion didn't need to be another one. Instead, I shared with her truths, God is the one forming your child, He knows everything about your little girl, He is in control of all things, etc.

In the end, I was also able to pray for her and her baby. I left thankful I was able to leave her with a special gift and spend time sharing what was most important to me. As a mother, I cannot even imagine what it would be like to live under the pressure that she, as a new mother in this culture, is facing.