I'm in my 5th month now, that's half way through my pregnancy journey so I've started planning for confinement as well as things to purchase for me and the baby. Hubs was helping out, he found us a good baby sitter, went over to her place yesterday for a survey and we have booked her for late Aug/early Sept.

Anyway here are some of my thoughts for confinement, the word confine is scary for someone who treasures her freedom like me, after all I'm not a superstitious person so I do not believe in staying in bed for 28 days but it has been a topic that many has asked because my mom or my mother in law will not be helping me during this period so it's up to me to plan ahead.

Let's start with a list of chinese confinement restrictions:
1. No washing your hair for the entire confinement period.
2. Avoiding exposure to "cool" elements such as cold water.
3. Low temperatures from an air-conditioner or fan must be avoided too.
4. Bathing only with specially prepared warm water that is infused with herbs.

The thought of not washing your hair and lying in a room with bad ventilation and wrapped from top to toe to prevent "wind" from going into your body is pretty ridiculous to me. In fact it's not going to be hygienic or comfortable for me and my baby so I've decided to do it my way.

Let's be rational for a second, do you know anyone, just name me someone who has gone through all procedure of confinement with an excellent outcome of being very healthy, with no sign of rheumatism, arthritis and weak joints as she aged. These are signs caused by aging and it effects both men and women and it varies from each individual.

Ok set aside all these scary thoughts of confinement, I am glad to have a very open minded and supportive husband. I've decided to hire a Mak Bidan (malay confinement lady) who will take care of my postnatal massage and bathing the newborn as well as helping out with washing the babies clothes (which is mainly putting the clothes into the washing machine).

Question were asked why a malay CL instead of a chinese CL. First of all I am not going to follow the restrictions of the chinense taboss, I made my point very clear and I am going to stick with it besides that I've made my own amount of research, through forums and people with experience, 70% have gone through a horrible confinement with a CL, let's just say it's depressing to have someone unpleasant to stay in with you 24-7 for 30 days, not to mention the charges they charge these days, it's not worth risking it. Plus mak bidan doesn't necessarily have to stay in with us, like an PT she comes in for just a few hours.

Here's what included in the traditional Malay practices of postnatal care:
1.Body massages
2.Hot compress (bertungku)
3.Corset (bengkung)


Credits to https://ispub.com/IJTWM/9/2/4210

 

Fingers crossed towards a happy confinement :)

Hello baobei! I can't believe that it's real! You're a blessing, a gift from god and I can't wait to see you soon,  152 days to go :) 

Papa and I have gone through a roller coaster before knowing your existence. My advise to all 1st time preggers, if you don't trust the 1st gyne or you find that something is wrong, try another gyne, go to the public hospital for another check up before jumping into any conclusion.

Upon recommendation from my GP he introduce me to my 1st gyne, which was my nightmare not to mention very very expensive as well, his charges are higher than the gyne in a private hospital! After the ultrasound scanning he gave me, he told me I had a miscarriage because the baby had no heart beat and advise me to go to a hospital to clear the womb before I start bleeding then it will be a mess etc etc. Well that wasn't what I expect to hear and I was clearly disappointed with the whole incident.

Thank god I had mumzilla! She told me to get a second opinion before admitting myself to clear out my womb, I went to Hospital Putrajaya for another check up. Thank god! Thank god! They told me my baby had a heart beat and the other doctor made a mistake. wtf right! The 1st gyne was so confident, he told me he was 100% sure it had no heart beat. Seriously he gave me a heart attack! My husband and I decided to keep this news until we feel that the baby will be with us till the end because we didn't want to go through the horror again.

Anyway besides that horror story, our baby is strong and healthy now. We are visiting Dr Ng Soon Peng in Columbia Asia Puchong. He's a very gentle doctor and every time hubs goes there he's very excited to see our baby on the monitor when doc is doing the scan and we get a copy of a ultrasound scan each time :)

I'm currently in my 2nd trimester, 18 weeks now. Everything is well except that I'm not very happy with the weight I put on T____T

Pre pregnancy weight: 52kg
18 weeks pregnancy weight: 58kg

Anyway hubs and I just want a healthy baby, I will work even harder to loose all the weight I've put on during pregnancy!

I shall see you soon baobei xoxo

Finally my dream came true! I was super excited when hubs called me URGENTLY when I was happily sleeping after some doing massive damage to my wallet BKK, he asked for my passport number :X We're going to Europe!

Here's something funny I would like to remember in the future, ok lah, I suppose it's not so funny, it more bimbotic. Hmmphy it's a lesson, don't assume. So here's the bimbotic part, we when to the airport 1 day earlier :/

Nevermind that, we made it safely to Dusseldorf after a transit in Paris.



DAY 1

Arriving Messe Düsseldorf to check out the fair ground. The trip was partially a working trip then pre-honeymoon. Hubs was here for a shoe fair so whenever he's at work, I had fun travelling and discovering places by myself but everyday I'll visit him for lunch and we'll have dinner at some place nice.



After cleaning up the booth we went to a deli round the corner of our hotel for a great snack. Thumbs up for my 1st strawberry tart. I love how easy it was find a deli, they have it everywhere so not a problem to get really good food.

Not to mention how much I love their supermarket, I went there everyday during my stay in Dusseldorf, it was end of summer so strawberries and peaches were really easy to find and not to mention cheap!! Don't forget to try  Movenpick Yogurt, it's like the best yogurt ever.



Here's my 1st dinner in Dusseldorf at Brauerei Schumacher. The beer is served once you're seated, like in HK they serve you chinese tea, yeah basically the same thing here. Hubs was super happy because he's a beer person unlike me, I choose to stick with my Germany Sausage Platter.



The famous spot where every tourist stops and snaps a pic.









DAY 2 Königsallee

This is where the shopping happens, a paradise for shoppers like me! The shops are a combination of luxury and commercial brands and I happen to be there during end of summer sales so yay for me!!!

Shoes were my 1st priority because I got feet like a big foot so I hardly get any stylish footwear in Malaysia. My 1st thought was Birkenstock, it was shocking when I entered the shop, everything was nearly gone, like wtf! How can! ZARA sales was crazy unfortunately the sizes left for ladies are far too big so I can't fit in em but hubs was lucky, he got all the S and XS sizes



I don't remember the name of these but you can get it at the snack food available in Kongsallee, it was potato wedges with some sauce that taste like twisties.



A typical deli. Makes me so hungry looking at it nao lol





Guten Morgan DAY 3.

Here's my typical breakfast for 2 before sending off hubs to work. lol. I'm speaking as if I'm living there, I wish I could. Maybe sometime in the future if I'm lucky nuff.



How not not fall in love with this place ♥♥♥



Hidden beauty I spotted, Nordpark. As I was walking to the trade fair to visit hubs I stumble upon this relaxing spot, I've been walking past it for days and I've seen people walking in and out of that gate, I was quite curious what was behind it, lol, I know I *bu pa si* wander around alone, my family will be furious when they hear this but it was really worth it, the atmosphere was wonderful, there were birds,swans and ducks which my hubs made jokes of me caused I was so amazed by them pfft men! what do they know right?

 

DAY 4 Düsseldorf Altstadt

Highly recommend Fischhaus Düsseldorf for dinner. The restaurant is usually packed so you'll have to wait a lil while to be seated but it's worth the wait.



A stroll around Altstadt after dinner. I'm enjoying this trip all over again writing this post but I'm gonna stop for now before it's getting too long. Shall return another time to jot down my lovely memories of my Europe Trip ♥

It's official :)

Today on my 25th birthday I was given another title, Mrs Kok. Yes I got hitched!

There were no romantic proposal but we just decided that we'll like to spend the rest of our lifes together and so today 21st June 2014 marks our new journey together as husband and wife.

Given that I didn't had a lot of time to prepare, we made it through. Thanks to my sis for the hair do and my aunt for making me the pretty little bouquet of flowers :*



We got our ROM in Thean Hou Temple, thanks for my wonderful friends and family for being there for me. It is a great reminder how thankful I am for all the blessing I have. Thanks for being apart of this great feeling!

  

Last but not least, I'm happy to be Mrs Kok.