20-24 septembrie 2009 - Biblioteca Metropolitana Bucuresti

464 Xhemile ABDIUSpecial care was given to the clothes of the new baby. When the womanwas in the sixth month or pregnancy, the preparation started. Monday,Wednesday and Thursday were the days when the work for the baby’sclothes was carried out. It was forbidden to work during the other daysbecause the “fate of the child would be ‘cut’ ”.Once, they also used the cradle which had a number of core equipmentsuch as shpërgajt (device used to tie the baby), layers (put in the lowerpart), pillow, mattress, cover of the cradle, woolen belt (around 6 meterslong and 10 centimeters width) used to tie the baby in the cradle, a longwoolen rope, a little shirt and a handkerchief. (Selimi, 2007: 61-56).A number of rituals and customs were used before and during thedelivery of the baby. One of them was that the pregnant woman walkedthree times around the pivot of the lawn as it was believed that such placeinvoked abundance.As soon as it was confirmed that the bride was pregnant, all doorsand locks of the house were opened. In addition, all the buttons of thebride’s clothes, even those she had brought as her dowry, were opened. Hernecklaces were taken off. (Selimi, 2007: 58).The child was initially held at his birth by the midwife who cut thenavel cord three fingers above the baby’s belly and then the child wasbathed and dressed. The woman was installed in a place filled with wheatstraw and covered with a red sheet, where she was to stay for three or sevendays. After recovering, she had to take the straw and throw it herself in afar place from the house. The straw was replaced by a mattress where shewas supposed to stay forty days.The first day when the child was delivered was filled with joy andcare. The same was for the coming 40 days since, as believed by people,those days were very important for both mother and child. Such days wereknown as djergnia (“burning”) or lodhnia (“tiredness”) and it was believedthat this period was dangerous for their life. Lights were kept on duringall these forty days. During this period, the mother could neither work inthe field, nor work with the cattle. She could not cook either because ofthe belief that the bread prepared by her hands could not be used. She wasnot supposed even to go out and meet people because it was said that thiscould cause interruption to her breast milk. She could return later to herfamily – “to complete the days”. The birth of the baby was notified bya person appointed for that purpose such as the mother-in-law, thesister-in-law or an older woman of the house. If a boy was born, the personwho gave the news was to be given a gift either in money or in material