A Lucky Day to Deliver

I've been thinking about the delivery a lot lately because many people have asked if I'd have a C-section. What I'm saying is, they didn't ask, "Have you decided how you're going to deliver?" They said, "You're gonna have a C-section, right?!" as if it was expected of me. I found out that people who know about my surgeries ask that question because they think it's "natural" that I have a C-section since there is a zipper down my belly already. People who don't know about my surgeries ask that question because apparently C-sections are preferred for religious reasons in Taiwan.

Taoism is the most popular religion in Taiwan (Buddhism the second). The "ba gua", eight diagrams used in Taoist cosmology, is used in every aspect of a Toaist's life, from birth to furniture arrangement to choosing a burial site. In recent years, ba-gua has also become popular in North America as more people started to take an interest in Eastern philosophy. The most well-known concepts of the ba-gua are the Ying (feminine) and the Yang (masculine). In addition, more interior designers and landscape designers in the west have adopted Feng-Shui (literally means the wind and water), a Taoist concept derived from the ba-gua that determines the location and placement of objects based on their interrelations with the natural environment.

Taoist cosmology, in essence, is all about interrelations with the natural environment. Therefore, it is also the foundation of the Chinese Farmer's Calendar. On the calendar, every day is marked with a list of things one should and should not do. The things on the "to do/not to do" list are mostly major changes in one's life. Examples include starting a new job, getting married, giving birth, relocation, grand opening, breaking ground, travel, and having a funeral. However, it also includes things that might have been significant in the past but seem almost silly in modern days, such as getting a haircut and moving your bed. Similar to western horoscope, the Chinese Farmers' Calendar is used by some as the guide for activity planning in their every day life.

Taoists believe that all the luck and fortune in a person's life is determined by the time and the day s/he is born; therefore, it is crucial for parents to choose a good time and day to give birth. That is why many parents in Taiwan schedule C-sections with their obstetricians after consulting the Chinese Farmers' Calendar. Even though the younger generations in Taiwan don't necessarily believe in Taoism, they're not going to protest against it when the mothers-in-law insist on choosing a lucky day to get the baby out since many young women are terrified of the pain during labor anyway. For these people, it's a win-win situation: the mothers-in-law can sleep better at night, and the daughters-in-law don't have to experience labor.

Way before we even started thinking about getting pregnant, I asked Dr. Liu about the possible effects of my previous surgeries on pregnancy and delivery. No, the scars down my belly will not burst open as my belly gets bigger (some people have asked me about it). In fact, since they've been stretched, they've been flattened. No, I won't have to have a C-section because only the abdomenal wall was cut open during the surgeries. My uterus is still intact, and she can still safely contract during labor. No, I'm not a Taoist, and I don't believe in predetermined faith. To be frank, I enjoy the fact that it's Peanut who signals my body to go into labor when he's ready to meet the world. He makes his own decisions from the time he's born, and we've gotta respect that. That's just the way it is.