my confinement method

disclaimer : This post is written by me, who has absolutely no medical expertise whatsoever. My methods may work for me, but the result will differ according to your pregnancy and delivery. Please do not take my writings and ramblings here as some form of expert opinion. I am merely jotting down my experience for my future reference.

I was always 53-55 kg before pregnancy. With 165cm height, I think it was an ideal weight for me. During my pregnancy, the first trimester I gained almost 10kgs. Heh. Blame that on my desire to eat lots and lots of carbs and good food. Luckily, as I entered my second trimester, it was ramadhan. So, I had to cut back on eating rice and other things. Like most mommies out there, I had morning all-day sickness as well. I would vomit after eating breakfast or sahur but the funny thing is I will immediately search for food after a session of vomiting. (The worst thing to puke is spaghetti bolognese...oregano tasted sooo bitter and disgusting)

Anyway, in total I gained up to 20 kgs ++ during my pregnancy. I was 75kg ++ when I delivered and I went home from the hospital still looking like 9 months pregnant. I was worried. My tummy was hard as a rock. So, I was determined to follow traditional Malay confinement method (Pahang traditional method to be exact)

7 months pregnant II 3 months after delivery

Basically, my daily schedule during my confinement is as below:

6.00 am - 7.30 am : bertungku (I usually falls asleep during this :P) note to self : do it yourself - it'll help you burn all those unwanted and unsightly "chicken wing"

7.30 am - 7.45 am : breakfast (oats or few biscuits with horlicks/milo)

7.45 am - 8.00 am : bathe (my mom made a mixture of hot bathe water using various type of leaves "daun serom" and a mixture of "biji kani" for the va-jay-jay (per dr bailey grey's anatomy..heh)

8.00 am - 8.15 am : rub the "jamu" mixture on the stomach area and bengkung (I use the traditional bengkung Jawa - sooo hard to wear, it's a long cloth (7 metres long) but very comfortable and makes u feel secure if worn properly

8.15 am - 10.00 am : relax, watch TV, watch Sara being bathed, tend to Sara, massage (I only did this 3 times during my confinement), sleep - basically just relaxing and chilling out (thank God for my mom and MIL who took care of everything else)

12.00 pm - 12.30 pm : ate lunch (no food that could made you itch, lots of hot foods i.e black pepper. I usually eat a slice of spanish mackerel (tenggiri) grilled with bits of tumeric and salt seasoning plus lots of black pepper. After 2 weeks, my mom would made me "singgang" with lots of herbs and ginger and I drank "air sepang" for two weeks.

12.30 pm - 4.30 pm : chilling out, sleep a little, have a little snack, this is the time where I usually play with Sara alone and she amazes me everyday with each tiny movement that she makes :) I miss newborn Sara

4.30 pm - 6.00 pm : one more bertungku session. *yawn (My mom will bathe Sara during this time)

6.00 pm - 6.30 pm : bathe and bengkung. Usually hubby is already home, so he can help me wear the bengkung. It's very hard, I still haven't had the hang of it. My bengkung keeps riding up like a loose panties..haha

6.30 pm - 7.00 pm : have dinner, rice with fish (again!) and air sepang

7.00 pm onwards : relax, cuddling with Sara, watch TV. Sara wakes up every two hours, so eventhough I am not doing anything, waking up every two hours is certainly tiring. Everybody (my mom, my dad, my sisters, my hubby would be groggy and zombie-like in the morning).

notes to remember :
1) "biji kani" - must have item. helps to heal wounds faster. grind it on hard stone and rub it to the va-jay-jay
2) "daun serom" - mixture of lemongrass leaves, pandan leaves and a whole lot of other plants/leaves (just found a cool blog explaining all the details). I bathe with this for 10 days. After that, just hot water.
3) "jamu" mixture on stomach can also be replaced with limau nipis + kapur
4) I think 3 times of massage session is not adequate. Should do 7 times and then once a week until the end of the confinement period
5) all foods must be of "hot" nature. No cold food are allowed. Iced water is a no-no.
6) "air sepang" - dunno other name for this drink, but it is the boiled water of "kayu sepang" plus bits of saffron. The colour and taste is like hot tea, quite nice actually. It'll make ur body warm all over.
7) "bertungku" - always rub a little bit of cooking oil before putting the tungku stone on fire. For the first 1 week, I use river stone, but my hubby over burn it and it broke into 4 pieces. Heh. Then, I use the traditional northern tungku (see pic *credit to nanabizmom.blogspot.com - she even sells it) and it works wonders. I will compile another post explaining the details about bertungku because it has specific methods.
8) "bengkung" - I use the traditional Jawa bengkung, will also compile another post explaining step by step the method of doing it.

I am somewhat lucky because I do not feel the urge to eat anything during my confinement. Partly because I was soooo in pain during my confinement. I'm back to my pre pregnancy weight within two months after giving birth. In fact, now I am slimmer than before. Now, I only weigh about 50-53 kg. It helps that I don't really like to munch on chocolates, junkfoods, biscuits or anything of that sort. I only enjoy heavy food in particular hot rice. Haha.

I am also the luckiest person on the planet because my mom, my dad and my sis are around to help me and hubby. All of us sleep together in the living room and they wake up everytime Sara cries out. Family support is very important during confinement period. Thank God for them...