My Pantang

I have always been on my own when it came to post delivery confinement. With Munirah, towards the end of the maternity leave, I made the mistake of going back to Sban where my mother insisted on me taking this concoction of kunyit hidup (turmeric) and air asam and God knows what else. That resulted in diarrhea and my mother was adamant that the air kunyit hidup is not the cause. MrM had to take me to a clinic in KL where I was found to be so dehydrated that the doctor immediately put me on a drip. The reason being the GP that I went to in Sban was unable to diagnose let alone prescibe a course of action for my condition.

I think it was with Aliah that I went back to my mother's again simply because we were in the midst of renovating this house in RK and it was convenient for MrM to check on the contractors' work on the house. And I did not stay there for the entire 40 days either. Something happened during that confinement with my eldest sister that again I do not want to dwell on.....

My mother would scare me with her horror pantang stories i.e. what would happen if you do or don't do certain things and how you would only feel the effects of not strictly following the pantang rules only when you are older, da da da.....Sometimes I felt the anecdotes were bordering vulgar...for instance, if you sit with your legs open your you know what would be wide open as well (for those with normal delivery). And she would never fail to shudder at the thought of me getting cut up for the 4th time to deliver Harith. As if I had a choice in delivery after Munirah. And many more that I don't care to write down here.

Apart from the ikan haruan and jeli gamat that I am taking twice daily, I drink water a lot. My biras said that during pantang one must not drink too much water. What does everyone expect? I have to drink water and at least 8 glasses a day. I don't drink cold water and I don't gulp, just sip. I have my usual Nescafe in the morning with 2 slices of wholemeal bread. I don't wear socks during the day but at night I do since the room is air-conditioned. I take fruits such as oranges and pears and shy away from grapes and the cempedak goreng MrM bought for the kids. I eat mostly steamed fish daily and any veggies. I have not take eggs but eat cakes or mee hoon that has eggs in them.

I where pants and khakis during the day and not kain batik. I take nice warm showers in the morning and evening. If Dr Nik had his way he asked me to take showers 3 to 4 times a day!

I had my urut session already for three days and another one at 40 days. I tried the velcro stomach shaper but find that I sweat so much that makes me itch all day. For now I have refrained from wearing that until Harith is about a month or so.

As for the future, who knows? I try to eat healthy and well and rest as much as I can. Whether I will feel the effects of not following the old folks pantang rules in the future I don't know. All I can hope for is to regain my srength back through a proper diet and exercise.