parenthood journey: confinement (delayed post)

**another delayed post. hahaha
**despite the taboo topics, i really hope me jotting down my experience here help others. plus, ramai kawan2 new mom and mom-to-be. nak jugak pahala amal jariah kan. so please, read with open heart, and mind. peace yall

so, due to unfortunate event, anak i jadi warga selangor instead (kembali ke root her maternal grandma, jowo banjar. haha) and kena pantang kat KL. luckily, my MIL offered to take care of us (me and baby) during confinement. the first 3 day, i kat KL then 3 weeks in Lanchang (my FIL working there) before re-unite and living life as a small family. i do not know la if i nih exxegerate or mengada or what, kalau sakit memang lembik selembik-lembiknya (padan la midwife tuh terus offer epidural. haha). orang texted pun tak respond. sorry guys korang tak sempat lawat iman (even till this day kan. Iman is soo busy one).

Day 1
Baby asyik tidur je, so feeding is quite a challenge. Sister is worry baby kena jaundice & hypoglucose. sekali da sedar, hamek ko. suara dia paling juara. i literally knows it is my baby crying in the nursery. suara kuat sangat kalah baby boy. alhamdulillah, Iman fed and yak2

5 hours aged baby

Day 2
Baby da start habit "mengempeng", 9pm-3am. duk nangis, rupanya nak mengempeng. with no experience, we both have poor lactation, and my nipple cracked quite severe. one more thing about my baby, she will gets cranky bila panas, so kitorang lower the temperature even the sister kata the ideal temperature for new born is 29C (Baby peluh2 basah 1 kepala, and nangis kuat2 in 29C. -_-"). Baby also da pee, hiccup and sneeze.

3 day aged baby. permitted balik. yay!

Day 4 (24 September 2013)
The stump fell-off. yay!

Day 7

"Selmat umur 7 hari Nik Noor Iman Binti Nik Mohd Fareez, semoga hidup anakku diterangi cahaya keimanan n menerangi org lain. Abi doakan yg terbaik,ya humaira, berjaya di dunia n berjaya di akhirat, insyaAllah."

btw, we are calling our baby Humaira, as she is pinkish waktu awal2 lahir

the jaundice is soo obvious aite?

11 days aged Iman. auw, kecik nye time nih. sekarang (i.e. Iman is 5mo) baju meant for 6-12 month ni da muat2 je ngan Iman -_-"

16 days aged Iman. cukur cukur cukur. sampai sekarang (i.e. Iman is 5mo) tak tumbuh2 lagi rambut

Baby's care
the first few weeks memang my MIL do most of the Iman care. diapers change, bathing, etc, except direct feeding la kan. Iman is kind of fussy. insist (read: loud crying) diaper change everytime after doing "a business". wants clean diaper before poo2 (literally poo2 right after change the diaper. yeah, your parents kaya Iman (amin). sila sila sila). maybe it's the diapers yang tak best (cuba every single diaper sample given by an-nur). so, the routine is, feeding, pee2/poo2, diaper change, tidur kejap, lapar, feeding and it goes by a cycle. but i learnt, new born memang kerap pee2/poo2. it is better that way pun kan (when become mom/dad, anak tak pee2/poo2 adalah merisaukan). one more think about Iman, she is loud when releasing her gas & teran poo2. auw, soo comel. haha

alhamdulillah, Iman sleep thru the night since awal lagi. the latest tidur is 1am (but mommy kuat tidur one, 9pm da selamat da). the first month, Iman will colic in the late evening, for 2-3 hours, between 4pm - 12am). Iman will cry out loud (da la memang juara menangis ini budak) despite everything we did. i just think, this is how she expressing herself in this totally new world. remember, whenever your baby giving you hard time, it is him/her who had hard time. da la cakap (nangis) orang tak faham kan. and, amalkan doa/nasihat anak while feeding/lull your baby to sleep/soothe his/her crying (alfa/beta wave). surprisingly, baby this young sangat mendengar nasihat, better than orang "tua bangka".

jaundice. Iman jaundice agak lama. ~2weeks i think. alhamdulillah, susu kambing medium penyembuh jaundice. i dont wanna go deep into this, sebab everybody seems to have personal opinion on exclusive breastfeeding, and Iman jaundice brings malice memory to me.

after three weeks in Lanchang, it is time for the small family re-unite. yeah, with no experience, alhamdulillah we made it :)





Mommy's care
IMHO, confinement is a re-energize and recovery period, as you abes energy & luka during labor time. am not against "traditional" confinement, ada jugak benda betul nya. then again, it's your call :)

the early part, to be honest, it is stressful. am tired and in pain. and has a baby yang need full attention with crying the only communication medium (which i dont understand). to make it worst, due to poor lactation, my cracked nipple (please, i intended for knowledgable sharing to other mom-to-be or new mom out there) become worst (it is adviced to stopped feeding from that particular breast to avoid infection). and rashes around my nipple (i told you kulit i "mahal". btw, i went with home remedy, baking soda (?) with water). and Iman is jaundice doesnt help either. berapa kali i called (yeah, being distant with your husband pun doesnt help jugak, being cengeng me) ben nangis2 stress. rasa macam bad mother tak faham anak sendiri, rasa stress tak boleh tidur aman, rasa stress sebab stress kat anak kacau tidur, rasa stress asik makan (eh?). haha. dont feel bad sharing your frustration with someone, it is better that way than you keep it to yourself, which lead to post-natal blues. thats why, i re-highlight, confinement is a crucial period. get help from someone "health", in order to get yourself "health"

post-natal supplement: other than prescribed med (revicon (multivitamin) and lactulose (ubat lembut poo2-you know, it is scary doing "business" after that kan), i amek pati gamat plus oral (by gamatemas). jamu yilek. 1. tak lalu nak telan, 2. Iman is jaundice. haha

post-natal "spa": i started the post-natal massage ~1week after, with Mak Wak, local Lanchang. even sampai sekarang pun still massage ngan Mak Wak whenever in Lanchang. Mak Wak kata, badan i sekarang lagi banyak angin dari beranak dulu. hahaha. i also done tungku and "herbal bath". first time tungku i got high fever. my MIL cakap, demam urat, my colleague cakap bentan. apa2 pun, alhamdulillah nothing serious. bekung and sapu2 kat perut, my MIL yang push. harap i memang culas la kan. haha. alhamdulillah, less than a month perut da firm balik despite my malas.

confinement food: ahahaha, the reason why people hate confinement. truth to be told, i makan sedap (chicken, salmon, snapper (my favourite.nyummy), sirloin, etc) & cukup-er (6kali sehari: breakfast, brunch, lunch, hi-tea, dinner, supper) during pantang. sampai i wish bila nak abes pantang, asik makan je. penat tau. hahaha. but i dont go overboard la kan. i know which food will give me allergic, so i stay away from that food. tamau la scratching down there kann. owh, black pepper is like my table salt, which result bad body odour. i kenot tahan one, mintak mandi twice a day. haha i drink alot, sebab scientifically and medically (haha, google sebenarnya) we shoud drink alot while breastfeeding.

darah nifas: another taboo topic. the darah nifas keep changing over confinement period made me panic, thus i googled (and terbaca bukan2 and start speculating. haha). i find this site helpful for me to get to know the "type" of darah nifas

i guess thats all. confinement is not so bad, except the socks all the time, geisha walking-style, bad body odour, makan all the time, bekung, no ice-cold water, have to drink milk, and all. haha

-gratitude from the deepest of my heart for all care to my ben, family-in-law, family (i called whenever ada inquiries) and all-