Mexico makes people worry, and I'm like What, Me Worry?

We took The Belly to Mexico. Tulum, actually. It was lovely! Relaxing, hot and breezy. I hardly had any tequila (the midwives said I could -- with steak!) and did not sunburn my belly. Tanned, yes. Sunburned, no.

In preparation to leave, I chatted about the trip with my midwives and with friends and kinda with family. Turns out that people are kinda freaked out a pregnant people traveling. And that many folks equate Mexico with death/murder/rape/illness/the other/pooping/ etc.

Sure, there is a lot of hype right now about murders and beheadings kidnappings and narco issue, but that's mostly segregated to the border areas, and entirely contained by areas known to have previous narco issues. (The Mexican government is taking out/down the leaders of the drug cartels. There are power vacuums. Narco types are gunning each other down, claiming new territory and even crossing the border into the US to "kidnap" folks back to Mexico. Not a good time to pop over the border in AZ, NM or TX.

But Tulum, well, Tulum is in the Yucatan. South of Cancun. A lovely beachy sleepy area populated by ex-pats, hippies and mellow Mexicans/indigenous populations. I've never been to a safer, more mellow area of Mexico.

Still, there were worries (not mine!). Ross and I and Nicole and Sander stayed in Tulum last February. Sure, I got the shits for 24 hours, but I kinda licked the outside of a mango... so I was asking for it.

Midwives
suggested that I take grapefruit seed extract: I did. Tasted terrible. But if you put a leettle beer in your mouth and squeeze some drops into the beer, goes down with no problem. Three to five drops a few times a day = no pooping water for me. Ross was not so diligent with the GSE, and so, not so lucky.

Friends and friends in the medical world: fear of cheese!
Listeriosis, Mexico, pregnant people. I ate a ton of cheese, from the super market, at restaurants, and taco stands. No problems. I did not eat any "artisan" cheeses, nor did I consume anything from farms: pasteurized = OK.

Family:
Don't get kidnapped! OK!

Midwives
Dehydration from pooping water or just from cooking myself in the sun was to be avoided. But still, dehydration in the heat, at the beach, in a foreign country was likely. I took EmergenC for the electolytes. True, they recommended that I take something a bit more powerful, less sweet, but I couldn't find it. (I didn't try too hard, to be honest.)

Friendly neighborhood reminders (ie from Nicole)
Snacks! Getting hungry on the plane, on the buss, in the cabana sucks. Last year, not pregnant, a shot of tequila could make the hunger pains wither and die. This year: Belly Bars, Luna Bars, Tiger Milk Bars, Turkey Jerky. I even brought enough to share with Ross. And upon arriving in Tulum, we headed for the supermarket -- for beer and tequila and bottled water (OK, mostly for Ross.) But day 2, I returned to get tortillas, salsa, chips, avocados, fruit, etc. for storing in a bag tied to the rafters (all the harder for the iguanas to get to), and for snacking.

It was easy and cheap to eat safe and only drink bottled water. I did, however, drink coffee, eat salads, and consume drinks with ice. And still, no problems.

And listening to advise, even following it, was pretty darn easy/harmless as well. So, if you offered up any wisdom, THANKS.