What you need to know before labor
I can't believe how quickly September is leaving us.
Tomorrow is October which means the month of Isabella's birthday.
She is going to turn 2!!
We are so blessed.
Alhamdulillah.
I am resting at home today. Like I said, October will be a lot of resting. Hehehe. I think I deserve it after a long years of being workaholics.
My little girl is sleeping next to me.
For her, it is enough to feel my warmth next to her and she will sleep for 3-4 hours.
My labor bag is packed today.
All clean laundry has been folded.
So, what are the things you need to do before labor comes?
1)Find out which hospital you want to give birth.
There are so many facilities in Malaysia.
Make sure that they are within a good distance for you to travel when the pain starts.
You don't want to be driving so far during those painful contractions.
2)Find out the facilities provided such as NICU for neonatal care. You don't know what might happen after birth. Some babies are born too early (preterm) which means they have to be treated in the NICU.
There are many other cases such as neonatal jaundice (demam kuning) or baby born from GDM mother (ibu kencing manis), mother with prolonged leaking liquor (pecah air kutuban banyak hari) and etc.
When I say facilities, it means all facilities including Labor room, the ward, operation teatre and etc etc.
3)The costs of delivery via Natural birth or Ceaserean Section.
4)Choose you obstetrician wisely. Ask your friends for their reviews. Your obstetrician is like someone you want to get along with, someone you trust wholly and you like. You are entrusting the life of your child and yourself to her. You gotta to know that she is excellent at her job and to be able to trust her judgements. Doctors make a lot of decision and judgement and every doctor might make different decisions.
5) Choose your peadiatrician for your newborn.
Choose wisely just like the above.
6)Attend your antenatal check ups.
7)Watch your hemoglobin. Towards the end of pregnancy, our hb usually will decrease just like mine. It started with 12.6 and now it is 11.2.
I am on my blood supplements daily now just to maintain the level of hb or increase it, anything as long as it doesn't hit <10 which is not good for my pregnancy and baby.
8)Pack your labor bag.
I know some people pack the bag at 36 weeks or more but to me it is very important to be ready.
So, at 31 weeks I have packed my bag.
Pack things for you and for the newborn. Don't forget the diapers and pads as well.
Bring your inner garments, long skirts/sarong, socks, supplements, snacks, towel, toiletries and slippers.
For your newborn, bring long sleeves pajamas, cap, diapers, towel, blanket, napkins, socks and mittens, maybe some baby traditional rub, baby wipes.
9) Now that you know where you are going to give birth and have packed your bag, what you do is wait.
Wait for the sign of labor and continue with daily life. Be active, don't pamper yourself.
Walking and moving will help with descending of the baby's head inside your pelvic bone.
Having sexual intercourse can help ripening your cervix as well so it will make your labor easier and natural.
I would walk and use the yoga ball more often in this 3rd trimester.
10)Prepare postnatal sets. Some people use traditional herbal sets and some use supplements like Shaklee postnatal sets and some don't use anything.
I think it is very important for us to prepare for this.
I have to agree that without taking anything, our bodies will heal because they are designed that way.
But how long it will take to fully recover, that depends on your genetics, your activities and your food/supplements.
After almost a year of sharing your body, organs and storage with another human being you can imagine the stage of depletion your body must be in.
After all that, you have to go through a critical period of labour which is super exhausting, energy consuming with lots and lots of injury.
That is why mothers feel tired and sleepy right after giving birth.
Then, after all that, you have to start breastfeeding your newborn.
Can you imagine what was left inside your body now?
What quality of milk will it be without healthy food/ supplements or herbs?
The stage your body will be?
We call it speeding up ageing process.
So, whatever you do, make sure you pay attention to period of confinement.
It is for your health and your beauty.
Me? I seriously don't want to look flabby and old even after having children.
I changed my mind about my confinement sets.
I will not buy Tanamera.
I will buy Shaklee's postnatal sets.
I told you I recently fell in love with Shaklee. I am so certain that they will help my healing fast, return me to young form and improve the quality of my milk.
Besides, I don't have to worry about causing jaundice to my newborn because herbs can be too hot for the little one.
11)'Bengkung'.
This is very important for me.
I have chosen a long 'bengkung' from Bengkungsuper.
You can check on their Ig.
The last one that I used was useless. It moved easily and became loose after a while.
I want it to be tight and long to support my womb and help shrink my form.
Besides, you can choose other colors as well such as blue and green. I wanna check if they have in pink.
It costs around RM 75-80 I think.
12) Read about breastfeeding and labor stories to prepare yourself mentally and emotionally on the ordeal. You also need to educate yourself on these two things.
I will not suggest you to believe everything that you hear, you know when it is different from science but you can listen to the experiences.
Most mothers go through labor without even knowing the signs of labor.
Many mothers don't prepare themselves with knowledge on breastfeeding and when the time comes, they can give up easily.
13)Find a confinement lady to massage you 3 days after labor. You need to have a proper massages, herbal bath and warm compress.
14) Decide where to reside during confinement period, who is going to take care of you.
If you have parents, elders or sisters to take care of you that is great.
If you are like me who prefer the solitude of my own home, you might need to book yourself a confiment lady. You can decide how long you need them. The price can range from RM 600 for 3 days upto RM 2-4k per month.
Get reviews or recommendations from friends and relatives as well.
15)Read about the best meal during confinement period, the nutritions you need to help return back your strength and improve quality of your milk. I like reading about recipes as well.
Well, I am not someone who eats fried fish with plain rice during confinement.
I will eat healthy food and lots of water.
Perhaps, I will post some of the recipes as well in the future.
This post is for general preparation only.
Inspirations to get back in shape.
We all need inspiration.
Sigh.
After baby, there is a lot of work to do for weight loss.
I have 4 months to relax before that.
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