So the day we were looking forward to was finally here. . the day that we get to bring our baby home. We were going home as a family for the first time.  The first day went well, baby slept most of the time and the first night was relatively easy except for the many feeds that she woke up for. Just when I was proudly sharing with my colleague that she is such an easy baby, her comment that babies change ALL the time came true. The remaining of the confinement was in one word, a CHALLENGE. It was everything and nothing like what we thought it would be.

We decided not to engage a confinement lady and if we were ever to do it again, we would do it the same. Not having a CL  meant alot of extra chores that hubby had to take on (laundry, cleaning, etc)  so I don't recommend this unless daddy can take at least 3 weeks off work and is willing to be hands on (yes, it includes changing smelly poo-filled diapers and changing sheets with milk spit at 6am!) . However, it also meant that we were really hands on and got to know and bond with baby alot.

Then there is the so called confinement meals or diet. Since we didn't have a CL, my dad was my personal chef. And I enjoyed every meal!! I did cheat a little and had some hawker food once or twice with the permission from my "confinement chef".  Apart from an approximately a litre of red dates tea a day, I just had plain water all other times. Since I was breastfeeding, I had to make sure that I kept hydrating myself.

And yes, there is the infamous post-natal massage. A must-have for mummies who cannot bear to keep any of those flab from preggie days! The massage was a great "me-time" and I dozed off every single time I had the massage. My massage therapist was really helpful in unblocking the blocked ducts which I had. It was almost as painful as the contractions though!I almost cried through that. The wrap which has to be kept on for at least 6 hours was uncomfortable and hot, but it does work like a modern version of a high society corset. Minus the lace. My hubby had a brilliant way to keep me motivated to keep the wrap on. He placed the money which I was going to pay for massage sessions on our dressing table so that each time I felt tempted to remove it, I would first see the money which I am spending. It does work, I did not want the money spent to go to waste so I actually kept the wrap on overnight after every session!

Looking back, the confinement month seemed like a tunnel with no end to it at that time. Nevertheless we would not have done anything differently and each time we woke up and saw our little princess all the exhaustion simply melted away.

Lindy, Mum to Heidi 9 mths