Lying-in

This afternoon, while L's mom cooked up a storm in the kitchen, I was working on a review of Elizabeth L'Estrange's Holy Motherhood, which contains an overview of a number of practices related to birth in the 15th century. At one point, L'Estrange describes the lying-in, a period of up to two months in which new mothers simply recovered, in their bed chamber, from the experience of birth, and during which they were often visited by friends and family members. And here's a passage from page 80: "Another way in which the lying-in ceremony provided care for the newly-delivered mother was the special attention given to the provision of food and drink... Poultry was often purchased during childbearing since it was considered easy for the mother to digest."

Well. Over the past week we've been the fortunate beneficiaries of a beautiful perpetuation of that tradition. Beyond the handsome chicken salad that Linda just finished preparing (and the several other meals that she's made during her visit), we received, on Monday, a whole roast chicken, as part of a wonderful spread that included a luscious shrimp salad and the season's first cherries. But there's more, and it's not all chicken-themed. On the afternoon of Cleo's birthday, a friend brought us smoothies at the hospital; on our first day home, another friend brought a tray of homemade enchiladas, with an exquisite cilantro sour cream. And one evening our neighbor wandered over with an armful of pitas and a bowl of tabouleh. We could have opened a small restaurant.

So we're well fed, but even more powerful is the sense that we're well cared for by friends and family. L'Estrange's study focuses on the aristocratic families of Anjou and Brittany, and her larger point about lying-in is that while it could function as an opportunity for familial display (through the use of silks, for instance, or multiple beds), it also carried real potential benefits for mothers. Amen to that: over the past week, we've been every bit as comfortable as a medieval duchess, and L's slowly feeling more comfortable taking short walks, and leaving the house. So thanks to all who have made this past week as easy, and as wonderful, as it's been.