End of my 28 days confinement

Finally ended my 28 days of confinement with no confinement lady, just 13 days of day time help from my lovely mummy. And throughout the whole confinement, I did not strictly do or not do what I am supposed to.

Staying home and rest

New mummies are tired and weak from the labour and loss of blood (scarily ALOT), hence they have to confine at home to rest. However, I do not have such benefit. Baby has jaundice and I had been going out so very often since day 4. To the polyclinic and to the hospital. She's still has jaundice even till now. Going back for another blood test this coming Monday. 

No showering/washing hair

Showering and washing of hair is said to cause wind in the body. I showered and washed my hair everyday since day 2. I was too weak and giddy on day 1, if not, I would have showered. I was so hot, sticky and stinky especially after all the heaty confinement meals. And I only started showering with the herbs (大风艾) from week 2. Oops. 

No drinking of water

Water causes water retention from pregnancy to remain in the boody. But I had medication and supplements to eat. So I had to swallow with water. Just that. I only drink herbal soups, red date drinks, milo and holick for fluid intake. 

No direct blowing from fans

Another reason for causing wind in the body, For the whole month, the aircon was on (Ouch..the bill is going to be very scary). And sometimes it wasn't cool enough. Hence the fan. Oops. And the living room is without aircon, so when I have my heaty confinement meals, the fan is sometimes turned on. Even so, I would still sweat like nobody's business. 

No touching of water

Everytime after I change my girl's diaper, after meals, after using the toilet, after touching Latte (our Japanese Spitz), I have to wash my hands. I have to touch water to bathe my girl too. Oh and washing the pump and sterilizing needs water. Some mentioned to try to use hot water for washing of hands, but our tap does not have hot water outlet for washing hands. 

Everything Ginger

To the Chinese, ginger is good for expelling wind in the body. Almost every dish in the confinement meals has ginger in it. But after knowing LO has jaundice, I picked out the ginger slices in the dishes. I doubt there is much help by doing that since all the dishes has been ginger-fied. 

My last confinement meal from Rich Food Confinement

I hope that even though I skipped alot of these Chinese old wives tales, my body will somehow not be weak as nagged by the elders. Good luck to me.

Confinement Food Trial - RichFood Catering

Hubby and I decided to try out another confinement food. We ordered the trial dinner at $29 from RichFood Catering. Here's what we received. The food came about 5pm.

Black Beans & Red Dates Pork Ribs Soup 黑豆，红枣排骨汤
* Black beans promote blood circulation and has detoxification effect.
Pretty nice tasting soup. But the herbal taste is not very strong. I wonder will this be strong enough for my confinement.

Stir Fried Kai Lan w/ Mushroom 芥兰炒香菇
* Kai Lan is rich in iron, calcium, manganese & potassium.

Steam Fish w/ Sliced Ginger & Qi Zi 姜丝，杞子蒸鱼
Even though the fish slices look very little in the container, the quantity seems quite alot while eating. Enough to eat for two.

Red Date drink and a portion of rice is part of the meal.

For 2 meals a day for 28 days, the price is S$1 379.00. With Early Bird Discount of S$59.00, the amount would be S$1320.

Still alittle unsure of which to go for. Hmm...

RichFood Catering
http://confinement-meals.com/

Confinement Food Trial - Natal Essentials

As we had planned for a "no confinement lady" confinement for the first month after giving birth, hubby and I had sourced around for home delivery confinement food companies. Based on some reviews, we planned on going for Natal Essentials, though they are a little on the pricier end. But we were more concerned on quality over price, hence we opted for the "safer" option.

We decided to try out the trial that they provided. Dinner came at around 5.10pm today (Their dinner delivery is between 4pm to 7pm). The trial costs $32.10 with GST. It was packed in a plastic bag, but the food was kept warm in the delivery guy's thermal bag. We only got around to eating dinner at 6plus, hence the food kind of went cold. Oops.

甜梅菜焖鸡腿 Braised Chicken w/ Preserved Veg
The chicken was cooked very thoroughly. The meat came off easily from the bones, hence it is very easy to eat. Tender and nice.

香姑肉碎豆仁蒸滑蛋  Steamed Egg w/ Shredded Mushroom & Minced Meat
To be honest, we both thought that this is a toufu dish with minced meat. I did not notice the shredded mushroom nor did we thought for any moment tat it is a steamed egg. But apart from that, the dish itself (be it egg or toufu) is quite nice. I ate most of this dish. I can finish the rice with just this dish.

红枣枸子生鱼汤 Nourishing Sheng Yu (“Sheng Yu”) Soup
(Benefits the spleen, stimulates urination, clears the Heat and expel Wind in the body)
The soup is full of herbs and tastes very strongly of herbs. Hence I only took a few mouthfuls, ate most of the fish slices and left the rest to the hubby. It is a rich tasty soup. It would taste nicer if drank warm (I know, I should warm up the food first... My fault.)

Meal includes 1packet of Rice & Red Dates Longan Tea (abt 400ml).

The dishes are enough for two. Hubby and I can share the dishes during the confinement period (Psst.. I think he will be bored of it after one week =P)

For trial, I find it pretty expensive ($32.10 with GST) to be given just these. Just have to think that the food is cooked in a way that is good for my future tired body. And with my intended package together with the early bird discount, each meal will cost about $28.06.

The price list of their food package (as of Aug 4 2014)

I wonder if I should order trial from another company to try? =P

So which confinement food company were you intending to go to? Do share with me.


Natal Essentials
http://www.natalessentials.com/