David was only four months old when one of Daddy's sisters got married and we all went to the wedding. It was cold and the ride to church was especially so since the area where Grandpa Swarey's lived did not have storm fronts in their buggies.
Mom tried to keep David from getting too cold but the wind kept blowing into the buggy and by the time we got to the place where the wedding services were held we were all thoroughly chilled.
After church started David was very cranky and Mom and I went into one of the bedrooms where she tried to get him to be happy again, but nothing seemed to work and he kept crying lustily. Finally an older woman came to see if she could help. With twelve grown children she had lots of experience with children already. She asked Mom what seems to be the matter and she tried to explain how his little belly seems to be very tight. The lady reached for David and felt him and calmly stated that he is "An Gewachsen" Mom agreed that he had all the symptoms of the dreaded ailment that occasionally afflicts Amish babies between the ages of 6 weeks and 8 months usually after a long buggy ride.
The lady said that there is something she could do to help him. I watched in horror as she took a firm hold at his ankles and held him upside down and gave him three hard shakes. Now instead of only crying he started howling and kept on until he was totally worn out and fell into a fitful sleep. From that point on he was a very fussy baby. And no wonder because the treatment he had received gave him a hiatal hernia at that young age.
I grew up with a fear that babies can get the ailment of An Gewachsen. It wasn't till after I had several of my own that I realized that it is only an old wives tale.
The Amish definition of An Gewachsen... a condition in which a young child's intestines grows to the liver after an especially bumpy ride.
In reality it is nothing more than a bad case of gas/ indigestion from swallowing too much air.
Nice to find your blog. I look forward to visiting. Your writing is very nicely down and interesting.
ReplyDeleteDF
Your writing is very nicely done. Good gracious, apparently I cannot write very well.
ReplyDeletePoor David! My grandmother was great for old wives tales, most of the time they did more harm than good!
ReplyDeleteSunny :)
Goodness! I think I would have come unglued if someone did that to my baby!
ReplyDeleteyour poor brother! i would have been very upset if someone did that to my baby, i would have been grumpy for a very long time also!
ReplyDeleteWow!
ReplyDeleteWow! You have got some pretty amazing stories! I have never heard of such a thing! An Gewachsen sounds terrifying...but not so much as the treatment! Goodness!
ReplyDeleteNice to find you in Blogland!
I'm glad you explained the meaning at the end, because I was trying to guess what the problem was all the way through!
ReplyDeleteEvery community has a few old wives tales, I think. It's interesting to hear that Amish communities have them, too.
A good story, well told.
Interesting about the "braucha" (pow wow doctor). I was very interested so I googled it...quite of history of the origins of brausha.
ReplyDeleteToday I learned something new.
Thank you.
Aw! Your poor brother! All I could think about when you said that that lady turned him upside down and shook him was shaken baby syndrome. That is scary!
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Angela
I had totally forgotten there was such a thing as Gewachsen. Probably never thought of it for the last thirty years. Nor did I ever know what it actually is until I read your blog.
ReplyDeletewow that brings back memories. that was a big thing in our community too. funny how all three of my babies never got it. ha
ReplyDeleteHoly cow. What a memory. Oh my.
ReplyDeleteMy goodness what was she thinking doing that to him? Crazy old lady. I'm glad that you said what it was in the end, and I learned something new about what a hiatal hernia is. And I'm also going to look up the pow wow doctor stuff like another reader mentioned.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny how the same old wives tales pop up in different communities.
ReplyDeleteHere in the Appalachian mountains, they call it being "liver-grown", same treatment and description, and if they could have found a braucha, I bet the treatment would have been the same - either a salve on the chest or passing the baby 3 times around a table leg while reciting the appropriate verse.
Thanks for stopping by my humble blog. I have enjoyed reading a few of your posts and hope to stop in again in the future. God Bless.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know whether to laugh or cry at this post! Wow.
ReplyDeleteOh my word. To see your baby shaken to the point of given him a hernia must have been a horror to your mom. Poor David.
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting story, though, about the wives tale that ruled so many with fear. Wow.
Thank you for stopping by my blog. I appreciated you taking time to let me know you were there!
ReplyDeleteIt's funny how we respond to events when we are little. My mother would pour spoiled milk down the drain. If anyone asked me if I was spoiled, I would whole heartedly deny it, for fear of being poured down the drain.