On the flip side, there are also a lot of pregnancy-recommended foods and meals in the Chinese diet, some of which are quite delicious. I learned about this when one of my friends became pregnant about two months after me and started introducing me to some of the foods she is eating.

One thing in traditional Chinese culture is the idea of “hot” and “cold” foods. Since pregnancy is considered a “hot” condition, the mother is encouraged to eat “cold” foods to balance her body out. Balance is really important in traditional Chinese culture.

Even modern Chinese moms who don’t believe in the old ways often get gifts of food tailored to their condition given by their own mothers and grandmothers who want to ensure that the baby will be getting those traditional requirements met. One result of this attention on specific foods is the development of special pregnancy recipes, which include things that are supposed to help the baby grow and help the mother’s complexion, emotions and energy (something we moms-to-be can definitely appreciate, no matter what culture!)

One of my Chinese friends shared one example with me- a cold pregnancy soup traditionally given throughout pregnancy to balance those warm forces generated by the fetus. I thought it was quite good, and worth sharing with fellow western moms-to-be. Most of the ingredients are a little exotic, but can be easily found at Asian grocery stores or health food stores in the U.S. or U.K.

Cold Lotus Seed and Snow Fungus Pregnancy Soup

1 cup dried white fungus (also known as snow fungus)

2 Tablespoons Chinese wolfberries (also called goji berries)

1/2 cup dried lotus seeds

4 cups of water

1/2 cup rock sugar

Instructions:

Pre-wash all of the fungus, lotus seeds and wolfberries to get rid of dust from harvesting.

Soak the dried lotus seeds for 1 hour.

Soak the dried snow fungus for 15-20 minutes until it softens. Trim any parts that stay too hard. Cut the fungus into manageable pieces if it is too big.

Bring the water to a boil in a pot. Add the snow fungus and lotus seeds to the water and simmer 30 minutes.

Add the wolfberries and sugar and cook for two more minutes.

Put the soup in the fridge overnight to chill it. (Remember, this is a cold soup!)

Enjoy a bowl of cool soup the next day (or later that evening for impatient folks like me!)

But some things about mommies-to-be are cultural, as I’m rapidly learning. And sometimes those differences can make me feel even more strangely out-of-place than normal. (And being a reddish-haired, freckled, pale-skinned American in Beijing puts me squarely in the “a little out-of-place” category even when I’m not pregnant!)

One of the things that continues to startle me is the way that pregnant women here take it easy. I’m so used to the American culture of working and remaining active pretty much right up until birth. But in China, moms-to-be often take off work for much of the first and third trimesters.  Some go work during their second trimester, but many just stop working during the entire pregnancy. Doctors regularly tell their patients to stay at home for the first 12 weeks. My Chinese friends were shocked that I was climbing the Great Wall with my parents at around week 11. (It was their first visit! You can’t miss the Great Wall on your first visit!) Admittedly, I did plead fatigue on some of the harder portions, but the mere fact I was out there seemed to be shocking to many.

As I get much more visibly pregnant, I’m sometimes greeted with awe and confusion. I’ve been asked why I’m out and not resting at home. Amusingly enough, my standard answer “I’m American. We like to stay active” seems to satisfy almost any curiosity.

Some of my closer Chinese friends have confided in me that they admire my activity levels during pregnancy. One told me recently “I really want to be like you when I have a baby. I want to go to restaurants and walk around town and do stuff with my friends!”

I’m also a curiosity in other ways. The expatriate population in Beiijing is fairly small. I frequently encounter people who have never seen a pregnant foreigner before. (For that matter, I still occasionally encounter people who have never before seen a foreigner, period.) Everyone is extremely friendly, but they do have a lot of questions. Do I plan on working after I have the baby is one. Will I have an ayi is another. (An ayi is like a nanny/ housekeeper/ Chinese granny- it literally means “an auntie” and many people hire an ayi if they don’t have close family nearby. In Chinese culture, the grandparents often come live with the family of a new baby for a while and help the new parents.)

I’m still working out the answers to some of those questions, but there is one Chinese tradition I will definitely NOT be taking part in. A close Chinese friend told me that Chinese mothers traditionally do not bathe or shower or do any work for the first month after the baby is born. They are expected to stay in bed and recover from the birth. No thanks, I say! I’m heading to the showers as soon as I possibly can after I give birth!

If anyone asks me about it, I’ll just tell them I’m American and that’s how we do things in the West.