i guess some of you are wondering what i'll be doing for the post-natal period; ie the confinement period. well, i did not hire a confinement lady and i will be at our apartment after the discharge from the hospital and handling baby on my own with b's help. b's mum will be cooking for me for that one month period.
i will let you all know right now that i personally don't believe in the whole confinement process. i've had so many friends come up to me to say that they regretted getting a confinement lady because they felt bullied into doing things that they never would have done for their baby had they been on their own (eg supplementing powdered milk because the confinement lady said that the baby's not getting enough breastmilk).
personally, since i've read so many books and actually helped to raise my brother (who was extremely small at birth) i've got things that i buy into and things that i don't. i guess i'm saying that i've got my own ideas on how things should be done (and i am quite a type-a sort of personality!). logically speaking, not being allowed to shower or wash hair is really quite disgusting and dirty (consider the fact that after delivery, you sweat buckets for a couple of weeks because you're losing all the retained water). can you imagine not being clean and then putting baby's mouth to your breast to feed? eew.....................also, wouldn't it be easier to catch germs in dirty conditions?! also, apparently, i'm not allowed to drink water, pure H2O, for the whole month. one should know that while breastfeeding, you get really dehydrated and this would affect the quality of your breastmilk.
anyhow, i'm not saying that i will purposely go against all these customs. it's just that i'll do everything in moderation and according to common sense. i think that's best.
and personally, i do not think that this is the time to tell me horror stories about how other women couldn't cope even with help post-natal (although i do admit that these stories i discard immediately). it's time to give me support because i'm going it alone and i'm excited!


* even though my mind is set, this will not stop me from asking for help if i really can't cope or if i take a longer time to heal!