The Tudors had the right idea...sort of

I just finished reading "The Other Boleyn Girl." It's about Mary Boleyn, sister of Anne Boleyn (the famous 2nd wife of King Henry VIII who was beheaded to make way for the 3rd wife). There are lots of pregnancies in the book, and it describes how in the month before a woman of the court was to give birth, she would go into relative seclusion in a dark room. Now, I am sure that in the days before tv this was terribly boring (though these women were surrounded by ladies in waiting...which would be essential to this type of thing!). Still, not such a bad idea. This thought came to me this morning as I literally climbed a bank of ice and snow to get from my car to the sidewalk and then skidded across icy sidewalks to get to my office. The Tudor women certainly would not have been doing such things so close to the birth of their children, I thought! Of course, I am not about to give birth to the heir to the throne of England, and there are many, many aspects of the Tudor court that I am just not cool with (pressure to produce a male child & beheading being chief amongst them). Still, some days I think it would be awfully nice to lay in my room while people bring me food, play music for me, and take care of my child...

But then again, Jeff says that I would probably go nuts. And he's probably right :)