Since it is just about 2 months more before baby Kaylen is full-term and I can deliver anytime, I think it is time I need to face it. - CONFINEMENT
I don't even think that giving birth is the worst part of pregnancy, I think confinement is. In Singapore, many old folks still pass down the beliefs of 做月子 and always tell young mothers that it is VERY important to make sure that we do a good confinement in order to avoid all the rheumatism and aching in future when I get older.
I CONFIRM CONFINEMENT DOES NOT LOOK LIKE THIS:
(How can a mother still look so happy after cooping at home for the entire month without bathing, without having aircon to sleep in, armpit hair leh? Sure cannot shave cause never bathe. CAN U IMAGINE?!)
Oh anyway yes the confinement nanny we hired from is under PEM. I'll get to that later on.
I know that I'm born a Chinese, and no matter what, I should do confinement and should adhere to rules within confinement. But, I will only follow what is scientifically right, and not what older folks THINK we should follow because they THINK it will be good for us.
Just incase any of you still have zero idea or knowledge about confinement rules, let me tell you what I know and what I've heard:
1) No showering. (FOR ONE WHOLE MONTH)
LIKE ARE YOU KIDDING ME. You expect me to take care of the baby for one entire month without bathing? And even with the herbs it's still gonna be gross and smelly. Just imagine how moldy your body is gonna get from such a hot and humid weather in Singapore?! If I'm my son and I know my mother is not going to bathe everyday I would rather she don't touch me lor so dirty. I don't think any Western doctors will approve of this since it is super unhygienic?
I'd probably look like that lor:
Your vulnerable baby is going to be exposed to all the germs and viruses you carry around from not showering and what if he falls sick? Not to mention breastfeeding?! He's gonna feed on your breast the whole day and you gonna let him feed on your filthy breasts?! NO!!
Even my mother-in-law told me she couldn't take it and showered almost every single day. (Had to do it discreetly before she gets caught haha) So yes, I definitely will shower everyday. When I told my mom about this she went like:
不可以！以后你的身体很多问题你才知道！等一下风湿啊！骨头痛你才知道！
(Cannot!!! You must not shower okay, next time your body will have alot of problems, you will get rheumatism and your bones will hurt when you get older.)
At the back of my head I was like:
"Ok can, that one wait until I grow old, then you come and lecture me."
This confinement rules were probably passed down from China and they have such rules also PROBABLY because of their winter and climate changes. BUT SINGAPORE LEH SO HOT?! Look at caucasian mothers or the Japanese? They don't practice such confinement rules and they still live up to old age. So what? You telling me now that it is different? We are human they are not? IT IS THE SAME!!
Okay in short, this is everything: (I found this online cause I'm lazy to point them out one by one)
• no showering
• no fruits & vegetables
• cannot drink room temperature/cold water
• must wear slipper everywhere in the house
• when wiping body, must use the ginger herb boiled water
• cannot touch any water that has not been fully boiled
• don’t eat or drink standing up
• bedrest as much as possible
• always close your legs when sitting or standing
• wear socks and long pants
• absolutely no drinking of plain water. Only the special tea is allowed.
• don’t let fan or wind blow at you
• cannot carry heavy things or bend over
• no airconditioning
• cannot go out of the house
To me, the idea of Confinement is really to have a very good one month of rest after carrying the baby for 9 months in your womb, and eat the nutritious food and tonics that your body needs so you can 补 back all the blood or nutrients you lost.
How are we going to recuperate well if we are not even allowed to shower, and even have to force ourselves to wear long sleeves and long pants in such a hot weather? How are we going to recover if we are not happy?
But of course, I believe in eating all the tonics and ginger wine chicken etc, and I doubt they taste horrible right? And maybe things like wearing bedroom slippers I can still abide, and no direct wind should be blown towards my body that's okay, but the part where I can't touch any water that has not been fully boiled really cannot la! It would be a real chore for the maid or anyone to help me boil all the water that I need to wash hands or bathe with! Such a waste of electricity and effort. Plus I don't see a difference in touching boiled or tap water lol! Still water no? How is 'wind' removed from the water after boiling?
AND, replacing water with red date tea?
How can I not drink water for the entire month? No fruits and vegetables? How to get the fibre I need? Do I have to suffer from constipation for the entire month?
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
All these aside, we hired the nanny at about $1600 for the entire month, but this only include her taking care of the baby, doing laundry for me and the baby and shopping for groceries. The ingredients she need to cook for me, we still have to pay for them. Tonics are purchased separately, but we bought it from PEM @ $390, that includes daily tonics that are needed to cook with other ingredients. All these tonics will aid recovery in different areas, and it is all stated clearly in the book!
Besides, MIL hired this malay lady that will be in charge of doing the postnatal massage for me in order to help me get back in shape, and it is a total of 8 sessions, one after another. (They say it is more effective to do it straight for 8 days and not to split it.)
So yeah, that is pretty much of confinement for me. Please don't get me wrong, I still believe in Confinement, probably not the traditional type but the modern way of doing Confinement. I will still stay home and rest, try not to get out of the house for the month, and do what I can to prevent 'wind' from getting into my body- Like not letting the wind blow directly at my face, wearing bedroom slipper or eating too '凉' stuffs. Those that are important, I will still follow so not to worry.
I have a feeling I will get a huge response from the older folks but, you can leave a comment and tell me how you feel about this whole confinement thing, and whether you will follow all the traditional rules if you are the one going through the confinement. I'd be interested to know how modern and young mummies feel about this! - Drop me a comment below ! JUST BE NICE OKAY? :D
I don't even think that giving birth is the worst part of pregnancy, I think confinement is. In Singapore, many old folks still pass down the beliefs of 做月子 and always tell young mothers that it is VERY important to make sure that we do a good confinement in order to avoid all the rheumatism and aching in future when I get older.
I CONFIRM CONFINEMENT DOES NOT LOOK LIKE THIS:
(How can a mother still look so happy after cooping at home for the entire month without bathing, without having aircon to sleep in, armpit hair leh? Sure cannot shave cause never bathe. CAN U IMAGINE?!)
Oh anyway yes the confinement nanny we hired from is under PEM. I'll get to that later on.
I know that I'm born a Chinese, and no matter what, I should do confinement and should adhere to rules within confinement. But, I will only follow what is scientifically right, and not what older folks THINK we should follow because they THINK it will be good for us.
Just incase any of you still have zero idea or knowledge about confinement rules, let me tell you what I know and what I've heard:
1) No showering. (FOR ONE WHOLE MONTH)
LIKE ARE YOU KIDDING ME. You expect me to take care of the baby for one entire month without bathing? And even with the herbs it's still gonna be gross and smelly. Just imagine how moldy your body is gonna get from such a hot and humid weather in Singapore?! If I'm my son and I know my mother is not going to bathe everyday I would rather she don't touch me lor so dirty. I don't think any Western doctors will approve of this since it is super unhygienic?
I'd probably look like that lor:
Your vulnerable baby is going to be exposed to all the germs and viruses you carry around from not showering and what if he falls sick? Not to mention breastfeeding?! He's gonna feed on your breast the whole day and you gonna let him feed on your filthy breasts?! NO!!
Even my mother-in-law told me she couldn't take it and showered almost every single day. (Had to do it discreetly before she gets caught haha) So yes, I definitely will shower everyday. When I told my mom about this she went like:
不可以！以后你的身体很多问题你才知道！等一下风湿啊！骨头痛你才知道！
(Cannot!!! You must not shower okay, next time your body will have alot of problems, you will get rheumatism and your bones will hurt when you get older.)
At the back of my head I was like:
"Ok can, that one wait until I grow old, then you come and lecture me."
This confinement rules were probably passed down from China and they have such rules also PROBABLY because of their winter and climate changes. BUT SINGAPORE LEH SO HOT?! Look at caucasian mothers or the Japanese? They don't practice such confinement rules and they still live up to old age. So what? You telling me now that it is different? We are human they are not? IT IS THE SAME!!
Okay in short, this is everything: (I found this online cause I'm lazy to point them out one by one)
• no showering
• no fruits & vegetables
• cannot drink room temperature/cold water
• must wear slipper everywhere in the house
• when wiping body, must use the ginger herb boiled water
• cannot touch any water that has not been fully boiled
• don’t eat or drink standing up
• bedrest as much as possible
• always close your legs when sitting or standing
• wear socks and long pants
• absolutely no drinking of plain water. Only the special tea is allowed.
• don’t let fan or wind blow at you
• cannot carry heavy things or bend over
• no airconditioning
• cannot go out of the house
To me, the idea of Confinement is really to have a very good one month of rest after carrying the baby for 9 months in your womb, and eat the nutritious food and tonics that your body needs so you can 补 back all the blood or nutrients you lost.
How are we going to recuperate well if we are not even allowed to shower, and even have to force ourselves to wear long sleeves and long pants in such a hot weather? How are we going to recover if we are not happy?
But of course, I believe in eating all the tonics and ginger wine chicken etc, and I doubt they taste horrible right? And maybe things like wearing bedroom slippers I can still abide, and no direct wind should be blown towards my body that's okay, but the part where I can't touch any water that has not been fully boiled really cannot la! It would be a real chore for the maid or anyone to help me boil all the water that I need to wash hands or bathe with! Such a waste of electricity and effort. Plus I don't see a difference in touching boiled or tap water lol! Still water no? How is 'wind' removed from the water after boiling?
AND, replacing water with red date tea?
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
All these aside, we hired the nanny at about $1600 for the entire month, but this only include her taking care of the baby, doing laundry for me and the baby and shopping for groceries. The ingredients she need to cook for me, we still have to pay for them. Tonics are purchased separately, but we bought it from PEM @ $390, that includes daily tonics that are needed to cook with other ingredients. All these tonics will aid recovery in different areas, and it is all stated clearly in the book!
Besides, MIL hired this malay lady that will be in charge of doing the postnatal massage for me in order to help me get back in shape, and it is a total of 8 sessions, one after another. (They say it is more effective to do it straight for 8 days and not to split it.)
So yeah, that is pretty much of confinement for me. Please don't get me wrong, I still believe in Confinement, probably not the traditional type but the modern way of doing Confinement. I will still stay home and rest, try not to get out of the house for the month, and do what I can to prevent 'wind' from getting into my body- Like not letting the wind blow directly at my face, wearing bedroom slipper or eating too '凉' stuffs. Those that are important, I will still follow so not to worry.
I have a feeling I will get a huge response from the older folks but, you can leave a comment and tell me how you feel about this whole confinement thing, and whether you will follow all the traditional rules if you are the one going through the confinement. I'd be interested to know how modern and young mummies feel about this! - Drop me a comment below ! JUST BE NICE OKAY? :D
No comments:
Post a Comment