thank God its friday

This week ends (ha ha weekends) on very a positive note.  I feel thankful for my family and my new nephew.  Simon and I became an aunt and uncle again this morning.  In Korea the terms aunt and uncle are a little different because there are different ways to say them.  Depending on how you say aunt actually specifies which side of the family you referring to mothers or fathers.   If you are referring to the maternal side of the family you would say 이모 which is pronounced Ee-mo.  For the paternal side of the family you would say 고모 which is pronounced Go-mo.  The same also applies to uncle the maternal side being 삼촌 pronounced Sam-chon and paternal uncle would be 숙부 that is pronounced Suek-bu.  There are some other technical rules which really confused me about the uncle-in-laws name and I won’t attempt to confuse you.

 A little information about childbirth here in Korea

~typically you get an ultrasound every month of pregnancy your first one being when you initially find out your pregnant which can be as early at 4 to 5 weeks. 

~typically the man is not in the room for ultrasounds and typically not present for the birth.  Until the 1970’s men were not usually present during birth in America.  I think this is slowly changing here in Korea.  Foreign women usually can have their husband present as he can serve as a translator.

~some hospitals keep your baby in the nursery for the first 24 hours after birth so the mom can rest, it is part of the recovery process

~typically the mom should restrict her movement for the first 2 weeks after giving birth they actually have mommy hotels where moms with their newborns can stay.  Some people stay one to two months or more. The people that work there help you with the baby while you recover, and teach you how to care for the baby.

~usually the mother has seaweed soup for several meals a day for a month.  Seaweed is high in iron so it is probably to help your iron gets back to normal levels.

~usually you do not get a private room once you give birth, unless you request one which cost more money

~for the first month after birth if you choose not to stay at a mommy hotel, traditionally you stay with your mother or mother-in-law.  If you have a boy your mother-in-law may pamper you because it is someone to carry on the family name.

There are lots of other culture differences during pregnancy and childbirth.  I have spent a lot of time reading online about Korean births so basically this is information I have gathered from what I read.  I just wanted to a little bit of what I read with you.  I don’t think any of these things are wrong they are just different then the way that we know. 

   

Anyways back to the thing I am thankful for this Friday… and that being life!  The life that was born at 5:30 this morning and weighing 9 pounds and 2 oz and 22inches long.  Here is a picture of Philip Colton Hartman the newest addition to my brother’s family.  Have a great weekend everyone.