That is the typical Malay confinement period where you are bound to stay at home only, eat only limited types of food and can only do certain things.
My mother took about 10days leave to help me during this time.
Since i refused to be separated from husband for this confinement period, we decided to just stay home in Kuala Lipis.
(Normally you have to stay with your mother or mom in law during this period)
And we are happy.
My husband had his 1week paternity leave and he did tremendous job helping me taking care of myself and baby.
Everyday was about feeding our baby, burp him, bath him, change nappies, swaddle him, and of course, adore his tiny hands and feet, his cute little face. Everything about him is adorable.
Countless poo poo. (It changed from dark greenish meconium to brown yellowish in days)
But, for caesarian mothers, this first week, even getting up from bed was a struggle.
Let alone sneezing or coughing.
I was lucky my allergic rhinitis didnt strike me during this time.
But, i was able to comfortably sit. Too comfortable till my mother was like.." Eh tak macam org beranak ni!"
Nurses came for visits at home. Checking my wound and baby.
Alhamdulillah, my incision site was good. Healed in a week. Dry and giving me no trouble.
It was a small smiley shape cut, and it was very neat.
Nice work surgeons! (Thanks to my dear boss and colleques!)
love at first sight..welcome to the world sayang~~
For the first 2weeks, my breakfast was bread and milo, my lunch n dinner were rice with grilled fish and vegetables, alternate with grilled chicken. And milk.and fruits.
No seafood, no ice water. Nothing else.
I refused pati ikan haruan whatsoever, not only because of the taste, but the smell also.
I had no supplements, milk shakes etc etc.
As long as you eat carb,protein,veges n fruits, take enough water, i dont see why you need to take those thing.
(There are so many supplements in market now that people believe are safe for them, but i rather take real food than bunch of pills!)
After the 3rd week, as i gained the strength to ambulate better, feeding my baby better, doing all the baby care with hubby, i forgot i was in confinement. (Yes, my mother already went back to work, and i was home with my lil sis,Amira and hubby also started working)
The temptation was irresistable, i ate a burger on day28 i guess.
And after day30, no more socks!
And during my confinement, i didnt have any herbal bath, herbal paste, pilis, any bengkung, mengurut or bertungku.
My confinement as my husband said, was truly simple. Let the body heals itself.
Encik Lebah was not into the herbal thingy, bertungku, mengurut or etc. as he saw some problematic caesarian wound came to casualty after doing those session.
And he kept reminding me about that. Haha.
actually ni la first ever time pakai kain batik hehe!
daddy cuddle time with baby~~
Alhamdulillah, my 6weeks postpartum was great.
I was back to my normal pre-pregnancy weight (despite the mcdonalds, subway etc. alhamdulillah!) and able to fit in my pre-pregnancy clothes.
But, i couldnt wear my hipster jeans due to the caesarian scar.
It was uncomfortable, i guess maybe due to the friction between the scar and the zip area.
So im still wearing my 9-months maternity jeans that are super comfy on that belly area.
(Haha this can actually encourage you to eat more, bad bad bad!)
Anyway now the pantang is over, i may have gained few extra kilos back haha!
Our love chuckles in his sleep..about a week old~~
We began to understand our baby better, his cues, and his sleep time became more predictable. Changing nappies became like second nature.
He wakes up regularly about 3-4times during the night for feeding and back to sleep easily.
He was 5kg at first month checkup, got his 2nd HepB vaccine.
We survived car trips with him back to Kelantan and Sabak Bernam.
He cries very little. (I hope in next few months also!)
He enjoys time with his parents and our families.
I have to say, being with your husband during confinement was important. At least to me.
I feel like it created strong bond between us and baby.
As he was there all the time, watching you adjusting to this new life, accepting new responsibilities, spending time caring for our baby together..i could see my husband turns into a cute, caring lil father to our son, insyaAllah..and everyday, he will be back from work on time, and go straight to both of us, at home. Giving us cuddle time.
I feel loved. We feel loved.
Thank you sayang.
officially living with two boys now!
We had our kenduri aqiqah in Sabak Bernam on 28th December.
Alhamdulillah, baby Ammar Haikal met so many people especially our relatives..
After showered with gifts by friends n families, baby Ammar Haikal didoakan insyaAllah menjadi anak yang soleh, amin..
We were very busy during this time.
We were offered a transfer to Putrajaya.
From Hospital Kuala Lipis to Ministry of Health?!
It was, i would say, interesting.
And we accepted that.
And people was like, why why why?
First of all, there is more to medicine than just being in the hospital.
The exact reaction in Malaysia will be like, why ministry of health? Why non-clinical?
And i am not surprised with that. That was the exact reaction i was expecting.
In Malaysia, if you are a doctor, you are expected to be in clinical fields. Only.
Actually,there is more to medicine beyond hospitals.
After all, where was the phrase "prevention better than cure" came from.
And doing medicine is not just doing oncalls, precall-postcall-oncall blues, become grumpy person over time, yelling almost at all time, and mad about other people, complaining this and that, having attitudes like i-am-the-most-genius-doctor ever, seeing countless patients going when was the last time i saw my parents, or my aunts,or my uncles, or my own child?
I hate that. It makes me unhappy.
It takes everything, even your family, to sacrifice to succeed doing clinical medicine in Malaysia.
Only the strong ones survive.
Only the ones with great support, the ones who prepare to sacrifice everything including time with families. Only the ones who have strong hearts to leave their children with grandparents, to have to study hard when your kids linger around you wanting to play.
Only that kind of people can survive hospitals.
Well, to me, we all have a choice.
Doctors can be lawyers, lecturers, politicians, or bussinessman.
Doctors can go into education, ethics, law of medicine, public health, management, secreteriat, and many more!
Doctors can get opportunity to do research, publish journals, further studies overseas for public health etc etc. only the exposure about this was little.
Not every doctors meant to be surgeons, physicians, psychiatrists, anaesthetist etc etc.
There are doctors who are good in public health, preventive medicine, health management and ethical law.
And they are still medical doctors.
Only with more time with family, more like normal people, the ones who can sleep thru the night without phone calls, can take care of themselves more than others.
It depends on you.
Some people define happiness with their status, their wealth, sense of being important, being able to directly involve in saving lives..which satisfy them. Good on them. We need them.
When some people just plain happy spending more time with family..(you know late 20s to mid 30s is the peak time of your life, when you are still young and bold!)...being able to wake up everyday with loved ones, raising your kids together, building your life together..insyaAllah..
Im not saying doing clinical medicine means you cant do that, well certainly you can, but in Malaysia, in much harder way. And some manage to do well in both, its impressive!
Again, it depends on you.
At the time when you are old, will you think about how you want to spend more time at work?
No.
You will think about how you wish you spend more time with your loved ones.
Enough said. :)
are you kidding me with those eyes?!
Welcoming 2014 at a new house, with baby, new life, new job, new place, new responsibilities, new environment. Could it be any harder, or any sweeter than this :)
Alhamdulillah..
Plus Encik Lebah took 2weeks leave before starting new job, so we spent time together 3 of us berjalan jalan pusing KL and Putrajaya. And of course, baby Ammar Haikal loves car rides..! Zzzzz je!
Sarawak to Kuala Lipis to Putrajaya.
I just noticed, we moved every second year!
And this year, will be more challenging.
But i pray, insyaAllah dipermudahkan in everyway, amin..:)
Everytime i see Haikal eyes, i feel like he is trying to say, "come on mummy, you can do it, you will be a good mother".
InsyaAllah insyaAllah..sayang.
Baby Ammar Haikal grows so fast, now he is 64days old.
Completed his 3rd vaccine.
And he is a chubby 6.3kg baby now!
He started smiling at us and cooing cutely usually when he wakes up in the morning on our bed.
He started to reach up for toys, and enjoys playing with them especially when hes in maxicosi. I am impressed and amazed with his development. Subhanallah..
My husband also enjoys singing baby lullaby and twinkle twinkle little star in his manly voice,and baby Ammar Haikal still smiling!
Owh i love you both.
Sayang mummy daddy, grow well keh my dear :)
