Today is the start of a 2-day trial of "independent parenting" for Louis and myself. Since the day of Faith's arrival, we've had help from either the hospital or the confinement lady upon our arrival back home. This weekend, our confinement lady has asked for time off in order to pay respect to her deceased mom back in Malaysia.
The concept of a confinement lady is prevalent in Singapore and Malaysia. Usually by word of mouth, a mother-to-be would hire a nanny of sorts to take care of herself and the newborn for a period of one month. It is believed that the 1st month after childbirth is a time for the new mom to recuperate from the delivery and also one in which the body requires a lot of nourishment to repair and renew itself. Hence, the confinement lady is hired solely for the purpose of providing 24x7 care to the mom and the baby. This usually involves the cooking of nourishing food for the mom and also general care of the baby so that the new mom could rest as much as possible.
It is with some amount of trepidation that Louis and I look forward to the 2-day of having Faith to ourselves and wondering if we will survive with our sanity intact. The morning started off on a wobbly start as Louis and I spent some 5 hours "combating" with Faith on the proper technique to suckle and breastfeed independently without assistance from myself. I never knew what mothers went when they say that the first 2-3 weeks of breastfeeding was the most challenging and hence, much determination is required to persever the daily challenges that comes with breastfeeding. In gist, breastfeeding techniques or Faith's temperament change by the day and what worked yesterday might not work today until both mother and child develops a routine and also when the milk flow stabilises.
For lunch, our BIL and SIL came over together with Anthea and Anders as the cousins wanted to spend some time with Faith and also to partake some of the "vinegared pig trotters" food that is only prepared during the confinement month.
Right now, its mid afternoon and Louis is taking a nap in Faith's room while I'm blogging. Faith's been sleeping for a good 3 hours after the morning's combat and I should be too cos we wouldn't know what other "challenges" are ahead of us.
Wish us luck!
3 comments:
Faith already has her "own sleeping style". :) It's another new beginning for both of you. Enjoy and have fun "experiencing the challenges". Now I wonder whose temper did Faith took after? :)
Yeah yeah! So, my words to you are now coming back to haunt me ;) Well... we can trade and compare what rascals our kids are now.
Hi guys, welcome to the club! It's gonna be fun, I tell you! Inasmuch as they're gonna be a 'challenge' sometimes, we're gonna miss holding them in our arms when they grow up. Faith seems to look like both of you, that means you both look alike!!! LOL!!
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