Motherhood ~ Ups & Downs: The Last Few Days of Confinement

This is probably the LAST confinement I will experience given I'm already have 3 kids and I'm almost 38. So I like to document the experiences I had for my 3 confinements.

First and foremost, I am very thankful to my mum for being the confinement lady for my 3 deliveries. Without her, I don't think I would have gone beyond 1 kid. Ha. 

Food.
My mum is a good cook, so naturally, the so called confinement food is GOOD! My mum knows exactly what I like and need *more soups*, and thus I enjoyed my mealtimes tremendously. My favorite is fish soup with stir fry pork kidney slices. I can even make requests for more soups or bee hoon and even dumplings on some days. And because I'm also rather picky on food, I'm so thankful I'm not subjected to the traditional confinement food (read: vinegar pig trotter) that other confinement ladies would insist. Phew! 

The only not so good about meal times is I tend to perspire a great deal during/after meals. It is like having gone through the sauna. They believe that this is the time when the body will expel all the "water" accumulated in the body during pregnancy. 

Bath Time.

When I had Jiejie, it was in October. The weather was cool. Not having to bath everyday was not too bad an option. After meals, I gave myself some time to freshen up with HOT water and rice wine so that I'm clean and doesn't smell. I think this is important as I'm breastfeeding, and do not want my baby to resent me. 

Fast forward to Meimei and baby A, both happened in May. The weather was HOT. I was bathing at least 4 times daily during my pregnancy and not able to bath was TERRIBLE. I perspire just sitting down. But my mum was adamant about NO BATH matter, so I just have to stick to that. To combat the heat, I resorted to constantly sponging myself whenever I feel sweaty.

However, not having to bath is still not as bad as not having to wash my hair. I constantly feel the need to scratch my hair and the feeling is horrid. So to save my sanity, I have to tie my hair up 24 hrs 7 days a week.

Fan Vs Air Con
The heat is THE biggest issue I need to tolerate during my confinement. I am so lucky to have air con at my mum place. When the heat is unbearable, I would hide inside the room with the air con turn on full blast. With the recent haze issue, I have all the more reasons to hide in this air con room. Ha!

"Trapped" at home
I don't really feel trapped at home this time. The inability to go out is okie to me. With advanced technology, I can still be connected to the outside world through various social media. In fact, I realised I spent a lot of money through online shopping. From the girls' kids crafts, nursing wear, my scrapping supplies to whitening products, I can get only anything under the sun with just a few click. Time to curb my insatiable shopping needs.

Downtime
I am actually very thankful for this period of time. Yes, it is tiring. Yes, I am constantly lack of sleep. But I am glad for this time to reflect, to think about what I want for the future. And the time to plan for the future. My work, the girls' studies, home learning. Hopefully, at the end of the confinement, I can have a better sense of what I want.

 Girls and the Hub
As I am staying over my mum place during my confinement, I do not get to go home. Although I am grateful for the peace of mind I get at night (the girls can be rather noisy at times), I do miss the before bedtime cuddling with the girls. It is a dilemma that I am facing, which I am not too sure how it will turn out.

So, these are just some of my experiences of my confinements.

Thoughts on Motherhood - On Breastfeeding

As I just started my 3rd time at Breastfeeding with Baby A, I thought I just shared some thoughts on breastfeeding. I am by no means any experts in this, but since I managed to tbf my two girls previously, I like to share some thoughts on this.

1. Don't give yourself additional stress!
I witnessed many mummies crying in despair (both my sisters included) as they worried they do not have enough milk for their babies. This is worsened by the constant crying of the babies.

When I started breastfeeding Jiejie, I did not tell myself I need to exclusively breastfeed Jiejie. I also comforted myself that babies do not need to really drink milk for the first 24 hrs, so that give me some reassurance if I am not able to "produce" enough milk. For the 1st 2 days at the hospital, I sleep/rest when I can, and get up to breastfeed my girl when the nurse brought the girls to me. Simply put, I just did what I can.

2. Block out the "noises".
I am really blessed to have my mum staying with me during my confinement. Although my mum was not too supportive towards TBF, she did not "encourage" me to supplement with formula. But I think it is important to learn to block all the "concerns" of the naysayers.

What worried me most was Jiejie constant crying for "milk". I had to tell myself I needed the time to freshen up, I needed to be away. I was lucky I had all the aunties and uncles around to carry and pacify my girl when I steal some time away.

3. Persevere through the first week
Everything seems to be fine during your stay at the hospital. However, things start to go haywire the moment you stepped into your house. Speaking from experience, the hardest time to carry on is during the 3rd day. This is the day when you just settled back at home, and just when you want to settle to sleep, the baby starts screaming every other hour. My best advice is to PERSEVERE. Once you get through this stage, things will be much smoother.

4. Latch on and/or Express as often as you can
I know this is not easy as I typed here. But I do find the benefits of latching on often. Latching on (even  so for comfort sucking) helps to stimulate milk production and is also great bonding between you and your baby.

Although expressing can be very rather troublesome, it is important to continue expressing if your baby doesn't latch on (even if it means getting out of bed in the middle of the night with half closed eyes). Expressing helps to stimulate milk production and it is important during the 1st month to "stabilise" milk output.

Of course, breastfeeding is not always a bed of roses. I had my fair share of down time with all my 3 munchies.

There are problems of cracked nipples (ouch!), super bad engorgements (Urrgh!!!), silence cries in the bathroom, unsightly leaks etc. And having to lug the ultra big breastpump with me everywhere I go for 12 months,  the constant lookout for a nursing rooms is nothing I looked forward to. But I have learnt to cope with it.

Getting a good (& dual) electric pump saves time (total blessings) and a chic and cool nursing covers add that special touch when you do need to breastfeed in public (I feel the "high" when other mummies comment on how cool my nursing covers is) and being not too paranoid on the "hygiene factors" on the places you express helps too. I have tried to express many times in shopping malls toilets as nursing rooms are not in existence yet. Of course, I tried to clean my hands as best as I could before I start expressing.

Of course, getting the support of your hubby is KEY! I am so glad my hubby supported my decision to breastfeed exclusively. He even bought me the expensive breastpump. During the early days of engorgement, he tried his best to massage all the sore spots to ease the pains. Communicate to your hubby constantly and get his support, and psych yourself and him, "You can DO it!"

Having said all these, breastfeeding is getting more popular here in Singapore. Nursing facilities are more commonly found in shopping malls compared to 5 years ago. And all these helps to make breastfeeding in public much easier.

All in all, I have enjoyed my breastfeeding journey. It is a special bond between you and baby that nobody can share. And I am way on my third round with baby A.

Just my 2 cents worth.