My first confinement wasn't easy - I had post-partum blues, Daniel was admitted to the hospital for 4 days due to jaundice, I had difficulties eating the food my mum prepared and a long list of other issues.
Determined to have a better confinement this time, me and my mum made some slight changes to how things work. First, I dislike eating ginger, and you know for Chinese during confinement, ginger is a must. You practically eat, drink, bath with ginger - tons of eat. During my first time, my mum cut big pieces of ginger to cook with, and I was expected to eat that ginger, along with rice and others. Guess what I did - yup, I finished all the rice, and threw away those big pieces of ginger. This time, I asked my mum to slice the ginger and have it fried till golden brown. Its working coz I am finishing the entire plate - rice and ginger as well.
Second, during confinement, people normally cook using rice wine, which was what I had during my first time. And again, picky me, did not attempt to drink that rice wine that was cooked with the dishes, and into the dustbin those rice wine went. This time, my mum did not but any rice wine, but instead, she bought ginger wine, which I found taste better than rice wine. Again, this time, I finished all my food.
Thirdly, Chinse custom believed that we should avoid bathing as much as possible so that the "wind" won't be able to enter the body. Living in a hot and humid country with no bath was something unimaginable. But thanks to the advancement of technology, herbs that was needed to be picked are now readily available in simple packaging. One packet per day, with boiled water, was something which I looked forward to everyday.
Fourthly, I managed to find a lady to come to the house for "urut" session on the 2nd week of confinement. In a way, it helps alot to dispel wind that was already in the body. During my first confinement, I never thought of seeking one in the first place. Only after confinement, my mum's neighbour saw that I was very pale that she asked me to go for urut.
All in all, the second time was definately much better, and I have 3 more days to go before I officially can go jalan-jalan outside.
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