Confinement

I'm sure every mother has her fair share of things to say about their confinement experiences. With the excitement of a new born baby, there is a truly lot to do now, and talk about later. Everybody I know, is always eager to share about their 'secret' know-hows for their confinement. Starting from my own Mom and MIL.

Being a (relatively, ahem) young mother when I had Son1, I was naturally clueless about what confinement was all about.

Myths and old grandmothers' tales aplenty.

* cannot wash hair (hello! excuse me!)
* cannot shower (gosh)
* cannot touch tap / cold water (errr...)
* sweat it out (aka no fan or air con)
* no cold drinks / plain water; drink only red dates tea or brown rice water...
* cannot sit or lie on floor, not even mattresses on floor
* cannot walk on floor barefooted; best to keep socks on 24/7
* shower only in those herbal bath and not running tap water
* rest in bed as much as you can (a luxury really especially when Son3 was born)

In this incredibly humid part of the world, any wonder why some of these new mothers are driven to depression with these to-dos? Or, rather, to-not-dos.

I kept to some of these practices but bend the others. I shunned from wind and fan and air con (rather religiously). It was true for me that I developed major headaches after sitting beside a rather breezy window. Wind in my head sorta feeling. It was a heavy-headedness feeling and no caffeine or rest could take the discomfort away. I had to drink this specially concocted herbal soup for a week before I started to feel better.

And to not wash hair?! Gosh! Kill me right away. No way I can do that! So I sought 'permission' to wash on alternate days and was told to blow them c r i s p y dry.

The most torturous confinement I had was during Son3's birth. Sorry Son, but you were born in the peaking summer heat. I swear I sweat it out real good. What's more, I had two older boys to care for. They were stickier than ever, as though they fear you will usurp their positions in the family.

But it is true that I do feel worse off after 3 births. Age has something to do with it I believe (though I'm not that old according to WHO's standard). I do feel that I tire more easily these days, and my body aches after a day of outing or even nothingness. I think my 3rd epidural wasn't well administered. It's been a year since Son3's birth and so often, I can still feel that dull pain at the spot on my back.

So much grievances it seem. Where was my comfort and joy?

In retrospect, I can see that I was very blessed. I had endless string of support, particularly from all the grandparents. All throughout my 3 deliveries. Especially so for the latest, I recalled MIL made my soup daily and FIL had to lug pots and pans all over town to deliver these specially brewed soup to me. Of course, Grandpa FIL killed many birds with that one stone. He get to see all his 3 grandsons with every visit!

My Mom and Dad helped out with the other two boys on top of their regular working hours, thus allowing me time and space to rest and bond with Baby3.

And thankfully, I enjoy confinement food. Special fondness for Ginger-Fried Rice, Black Vinegar Pig Trotters, Herbal Soups (all kinds), Ginger Sesame Oil Pig's Liver... Slurp. Love.

Many of these recipes were lifted from books, family, and friends.

With 'ailing' memory and depleting memory space, I told myself I had better blog these down quickly. So I shall endeavor to include these in my posts. Sadly though, I have no photos to show. I should have thought of this a year earlier right? Sighz...