Post-Confinement Needs List

I've noticed that most, if not all, of my clothes have acquired a semi-permanent aroma of massage oils. It is not necessarily a bad thing if I'm just staying at home, but would definitely be a problem for work. Granted, most of them are not really work clothes anyway - which brings me to another potential problematic scenario.

Since I am now working in a plant, I would need somehing that I can easily change into or wear underneath of my fire-retardant coveralls. And since I would also be expressing breast milk at the office, they will need to allow easy access for said activity. I found these wonderful tank tops on Baby Loft that would be just right. I'm thinking of getting several of them, if not in all colours.

I'm also planning to get some milk collection shells. So far the supply is adequate, sometimes exceeding demand, but during workdays I would like to make every single drop count. I'm still haunted by the memory of squeezing out only 15 oz over 2 days, just to spill half of it when I got home to feed Nuaim.

A new set of newborn teats to go with the Medela bottles, too. Somehow I cannot find Medela teats on the website where I bought the pump and bottles from - do they even make any? But since Medela bottles are standard size (unlike Avent), I can just buy any BPA-free bottle on the market to use.

A new haircut is something I need to get as well. The hot weather is making any length beyond shoulder unmanageable. Especially now that I'll be expected to spend more time out of the office and in the plant (albeit not in the process area due to breastfeeding).

And last but not least, to get my watch fixed. I can't keep depending on my phone since I won't be allowed to bring it in the plant. Maybe I should get something cheaper as well that I can wear daily and save the other watch for only special occassions.

Since I mentioned phone, I'm sneaking in a want - a brand new 3G phone with a QWERTY keyboard. Touch Pro2, maybe (I'm partial to HTC for some reason).

Half-way through...

Tomorrow I hit the mid-way mark of my confinement. Officially, it ends on 18th June. Which means it's 20 more days before I can be free to go (almost) anywhere I like and eat (almost) anything I desire. However, that also happens to be the end of the 2-week school holidays, which starts next weekend. My sons are really looking forward to spending their holidays in Damansara or Shah Alam, and I know my siblings and parents would love to have them there.

So as a compromise, I'll be leaving for KL on the 9th of June, just after Sofiyyah gets her 1-month jab & check-up. It'll probably mean that the boys get an extended school break, just so that I get to do a few of my own stuff in and around KL after my confinement is over. So here's my wishlist:

1. Toy Story 3 opens at the cinema on 17th June. I would love to bring the boys to watch it as their first bona fide cinema experience, maybe on the first Monday of school to celebrate my freedom.
2. Secret Recipe's Blackforest Cheesecake. The one time I had it was a week before I delivered. As everyone else at the table was sharing/sampling food, I passed it around when I was halfway through the slice although I really wanted it all to myself. It never came back. So this will be a solo trip for me, downed with a nice caramel latte.
3. Meet up with my Coachee at KLCC to prepare for her assessment in July. I could probably squeeze in a shopping trip while I'm there.
   

That'll also be a good time to start my EBM regime with my brand new Medela Harmony breastpump. Yes, after all the BPA horror stories, and comparing prices through various online stores, I've switched allegiance from Avent to Medela. It will also help that the bottles are different sizes so they do not get mixed up with Aiesyah's 4 oz bottles (she's still not giving them up, and refuses to share - big baby!). I got quite a good deal from The Baby Loft, which includes 4 extra bottles, a cooler bag and a sleek Citystyle bag to carry it all in. In fact, the Citystyle is so sleek I could pass it off as a normal handbag!

Introducing Amirah Sofiyyah

As promised, photos of the new Princess. This is she just after returning home from hospital.

And this is Sofiyyah, 7 days later, sans hair. According to tradition, the whole head is shaved, the hair weighed against gold (or is it silver) and the equivalent value donated to the poor and needy.

Confinement in Kedah

Since I blogged quite extensively about my confinement regime after my third child, Aiesyah, I thought I'd do the same for this birth. This time, I'm spending the 40-day period in Alor Setar with my mother-in-law, so I get to sample Kedah-style 'pantang bersalin' for a change.

It certainly is a change from my previous experiences. Number one item is the food. I'm not complaining - it's a lot tastier than the typical Kelantanese offering. Although Mak would certainly not approve of all the frying and sauteing that goes into the food preparation!

A main feature in the menu seems to be 'ikan talang kering'. I'm a bit skeptical about the exact benefits of eating salty preserved fish as part of post-natal recovery, but it seems to be the staple confinement food here. The first week, even at the hospital, I would be served a small portion of this fish that has been fried (I can hear my mother gasping in horror!) with ginger and onion. Sometimes it would be 'masak asam' - similar to the fried variety but with a sourish gravy. Even the soup and vegetables I can tell have been cooked with some oil in it.

Cik Dah came up to Alor Setar with Mak on the third day and stayed on till the weekend, so during that time I was served with the more familiar menu of chinese herbal soups, 'sambal lada benar' and 'ulam'. And my favourite red dates drink! I also had my 'mandi teresak', which thankfully has become part of the current regime (I was so missing it before Cik Dah arrived). But now that she's gone back to Damansara, the Kedahan menu has returned.

The discipline of applying all the oils and wraps are also missing, in the sense that it's mostly up to me to decide whether to put them on or not. Whereas Mak was very strict about making sure I always have the 'barut'/bengkung' on, and that someone (usually Cik Dah, if not the masseuse) always applies 'minyak panas' on my legs and back before I go to bed and after I shower, there doesn't seem to be an urgency to do that in this household (saya sendiri pun malu nak mintak orang tolong - kalau dengan mak atau suami sendiri senang sikit nak mengada2). I suppose since MIL had C-sections for all 3 deliveries, the only 'pantang' she could observe was regarding the food.

It wasn't until the baby was already a week old that I had a massage. Hubby's aunt, Mak Chak, had recommended a lady called Mak Lang who had performed similar 'urut & tungku' services for her daughters during their confinement. She would only come in after my stitches healed. Well, I don't think they healed completely after just seven days, but my legs were starting to feel half-dead so I insisted that she come. So she did, for three days.

Mak Lang brought a set of oils, jamu and 'bedak boros' - a form of 'bedak sejuk' that looks and smells like kurma paste - that I apply all over my body after my bath. We started off the day with a massage, then tungku, after which I take my shower. Unlike my previous masseuses, she did not help me put on the bengkung. In fact she didn't even mention it once. Luckily I managed to put it on myself. On days or nights when I feel a bit lazy, I just use an elastic tummy wrap.

I need to engage her again after the 20th day, maybe for another 3 days. I've finished the bedak boros (only enough for 5 applications), and now using Losyen Yusmira (a 3-in-1 consisting of lime juice, citronella extract and ginger essence) instead. Less of a mess, I think.

Creative people do creative things

Some blogs I go to just to have a look at the wonderful pictures and creativity:

1. Tablescaping
2. Interesting workdesks
3. Fashion designers

Numero Quattro

Baby number 4 arrived at 3.24 a.m. on 9th May, 2010. A perfect Mother's Day gift.

It's a girl. Her statistics:

Head: 33 cm.
Weight: 3.3 kg
Length: 48 cm.

That makes her the second largest of the brood at birth, after Nuaim, except that Aiesyah @ Kak Teh is more bigheaded. Heh heh :-)

Sorry, no name and pictures yet. Will get round to it in the next post, InsyaAllah.

07.05.03 - 7 years on

Today is my wedding anniversary. We celebrated by spring cleaning our bedroom to await the arrival of the baby. Correction - Hubby spring cleaned the room while I spent time watching various cartoon shows and mediating fights among the kids. Since we've already had a fancy-ish dinner a few days ago (I was so sure the baby was going to come early!), tonight's anniversary dinner will be Hubby's own home-made roti canai. Sungguh romantik!

Despite my earlier prediction that Baby was going to arrive before the due date of 9th May, there's still no sign apart from the irregular contractions. My hospital bag is packed, I've been nesting like crazy (or maybe it's just a manifestation of my natural obsession with tidiness and order) and my legs are so tired I can hardly stand for more than 5 minutes - yet I'm still a good 60+ kg in weight and probably 60+ inches in girth.

Maybe my decision to take early leave, coupled with the intent to get Hubby to spoil me rotten to make up for all those months in Sudan has left me so complacent that Baby decided to do the same. Maybe it's because I was too relaxed during this pregnancy, compared to the previous ones (which always coincided with peak project periods). Or maybe Baby wants to present itself as a Mother's Day gift, which this year coincidentally falls on the same day as my EDD. Or I'll get my wish for a nice birthdate i.e. 10.05.10, to follow the pattern of Nu'man and Aiesyah's.

Whatever it is, I hope and pray for the best. And that Hubby will be around to accompany me in the labour room.