Of Baby Ariff & Confinement

Went to visit Smah (better known as Sikulat in cyber world). Kami sama pregnant tahun lepas dan sama-sama keguguran after that. She decided to try again while me and Tebby decided not to anymore. She got pregnant again later and just given birth semalam.

Name is Ariff Farhan. Mama Ariff said, it's with 'i' not 'e'. Am not sure if the name has two 'f's or just one. Mandai-mandai aje letak Ariff. Born at 3.12kg, this little bundle sure full of spirit. Time kami visit, kalau dia marah, merah-merah muka and meronta-ronta sampai keluar tangan kecik dia tu dari bedung. Baby Ariff, good boy now okay. Jangan grumpy-grumpy okay.

In my live (i must add, so far), I have been pregnant with 5 babies. Iman had a twin but the foetus never made it even in 1st trimester. Adam almost got a younger sister (my instinct strongly says it was a girl). Among the 3 children I gave birth to, Iman is the smallest and lightest at birth while Adam was the opposite. Giving birth to Iman was the most difficult thing to do (as well as the most painful) while Adam, despite his size, was the easiest. Kakak? All in the middle between the boys. Caring for Iman, well, was the most difficult stage when he was a baby. Menangis. Tak lapar. Tak basah. Cuma menangis. Alhamdulillah, I am blessed with such a wonderful husband yang sanggup melayan kerenah Iman yang didodoi sambil berdiri sampai terlelap semula. Besar sikit, mengamuk pulak. Since communication used to be limited, tak tau kenapa dia mengamuk. Difficult? You bet. With Adam, it was all easy. The kind of baby yang letak kat atas tilam, terus doze of tanpa perlu ditepuk-tepuk or dodoi. Kakak? She's in between the two. Difficult or not, painful or not, I love them all the same.

Anyway, confinement was tough during my 1st and 2nd tho I spent those back at my hometown. Those were emotional and full of tears. My 3rd, albeit being spent here in KL, minding 3 kids without any help (Yes, my husband did help but he has to go to work after paternity ended. He left me and the kids with enough cooked meal tho, thanks Yang). My mom is a strict dietician, the old way. Little water, no fruits, everything must be 'dry'. I can't blame her tho as that was how she was taught how healing process was after child birth. I ended up weak, not hydrated enough and a good case of constipation. During my 3rd confinement, it was mainly due to survival tho, I ate balanced diet. Of course kena jaga-jaga for food that are 'gatal' and 'sejuk'. I took bread, milo, horlick, vege, fruits and loads of plain water. Had soup, singgang, grilled chicken and all. In short, I was well-fed and well-hydrated. And I recovered relatively quicker than I did during my 1st and 2nd confinement. Of course I took all those medications as well as a good dose of jamu. After a week bersalin, I already did the laundry, masak, sapu rumah and all. It was mainly for survival, like I said earlier, but hey,.. I survived!

This is purely based on my experience. How you want to deal with your confinement issues are totally yours to decide. I am not against traditional method and nor am I against modern ones. Have it in anyway as long as you can keep yourself healthly and fit enough to care for your baby (and other children too!!)

I know Smah pon is more or less like me. Janji sihat kan, Smah..

Dan yang penting.. jangan stress!!!