Tuesday, October 11, 2011

I've given birth!

I only get to update today, on my 22nd day of confinement! Anyway, I have safely delivered SVD a 4.65kg baby boy on 20 Sept 2011 at about 1.14pm (tengah azan Zohor). I had a regular check up on the 19th and was making sad faces to the doctor in order to plead for a MC that day. She then checked and found out i had 4 cm dilated and warded me. I was not prepared at all and rather speechless. And the suspense started from there...
Alhamdulillah, everything went ok without any complication. Except the baby was detained for 5 days due to his heart beating too fast. Apparently this is normal for big babies. 4.65kg...yeah, i was shocked too. The doctor did mention about it looking at my belly but i bet she also didn't expect it to be more than 4.5kg. During labour, i did think this might be my last. I thought of the risks of getting pregnant after 35 and was too tired during pregnancy. There is also a risk of bigger baby following this pregnancy and I'm too scared for a C-sec birth.
Obviously i had a tear but i don't know how bad it was (if it was bad at all). I was fully comfortable (when the tear healed) on my 12th days of confinement. Usually it takes around 1 to 2 weeks to heal. I don't remember my previous records but i guess i healed faster than this one.
This is my first time going through confinement at my own home, previous 2 were at Batu Pahat. I think I'm more organized at my own home. I listed out the medications i have to take, write down the confinement countdown. This time I'm more aware of the confinement stages.
First, make sure the tear is healed in order for you to feel comfortable during confinement. Once you're comfortable, you can now focus on your effort of losing the pregnancy weight. So you must take necessary healing medication  and rest during the 1st & 2nd week. I took pati ikan haruan as recommended by friends/families. Pati gamat is good too which i took during my 2nd confinement. Other confinement medication:
Nona Roguy Akar Herbanika (to keep body warm)
Nona Roguy Phytonatal pills (to avoid constipation)
HiGoat goat's milk (to lower baby's jaundice reading)
Jamu (traditional way to maintain energy and glow)
Pati prune Innershine (just want to try. Who knows I'll glow like Maya Karin ;-P )

Apart from the medication, there is also confinement rituals:
Urut/sengkak (traditional way to put womb back to its place and treat the body back to normal)
Tungku (same as above)
Param (yellowish powder spread on the body to keep the body warm and fair)
Pilis (dark mixture placed on forehead to avoid wind getting into the body)
Bengkung (belly wrap to shrink the belly and ensure the womb is in its place)

I managed to do the rituals until today. Now that I am comfortable, I'm planning for aqiqah and birthday party for the kids. I also need to think of my objectives after confinement. I shall write about it in another entry :-)
Right after labour.

On his 6th day.