My Daily Post-Natal Ritual

How many of you actually go through the traditional post-natal treatment? Full or half? And how many of you don't do it at all? Well, I guess everyone's entitled to their own preferences. Me? Well, in my case, there's no such thing as 'I don't care' or my mom will have my head for breakfast! No, seriously, no kidding! Skip it one day, and I'll never hear the end of it. My mom is really traditional when it comes to these things. But then again, it really pays off for her. She's coming 55 but she still looks 45, or so many people tell me. Anyways, enough about my mother...

Yeah, I got the full treatment, only mine is home-made, as opposed to going to treatment centres such as W & A (the one in Kiulap) or Martha Tilaar. I saved a lot of money this way, I suppose.. So what does this entail? I think my daily routine below shall best describe the schedule, the do's and don'ts, the concoction that would be my best friend from day 1 after delivery:

When I wake up in the morning...

1. Wash face, brush teeth, etc

2. Take my insulin.. then go downstairs with Ayra

3. Take my jamu (I hate it but the taste is not bad) - this to be taken before every meal

4. Wait for 15 mins, and then take my breakfast

5. Bath time:
  a) Vaginal soak - 5 mins soak in water boiled with manjakani and betel leaf (key ingredients in feminine medicine) and mixed with sea salt, these help to heal the vaginal tear, clean the insides, tighten the vaginal canal
    b) Bath - Using water boiled with daun sembong and some other herbs.
  c) Hair washing - not too often, say, every 3 days. My mom told me every week but it's just not humanly possible for me.

6. Body treatment:
    I got these as a package (excluding the kapur, lime and minyak balsem) from a lady in Kuching who's niece does this for a living. Apparently takes about 1 month to finish. All home-made. It cost me about RM300 for the whole thing, worth it!

a) Minyak rempah - serves as massage oil. To be applied all over the body, face and hair (yup, hair also..oh well, at least I don't need to use conditioner..hehe)

b) Kasir Badan - Take 10 of these balls of powder,  add water and mix them well together. To be  applied on the arms, hands, legs and back. Once dry, just scrub them off. It serves as a traditional powder and exfoliating substance. I love the smell of it and it makes my skin really smooth.

c) Balsem Cap Kaki Tiga - To be applied on the tummy - front and back. This helps the kapur and lime to give better result.

d) Kapur and lime - these need to be mixed together, the kapur must looked pale yellow for it to work. To be applied on the tummy (front and back) after applying the massage oil and balsem. This helps to speeds up the contraction of the uterus to its original size, speeds up the vaginal bleeding and gets rid of excess fat. 

e) Tummy binding - using a post-natal binder (I recommend the binder with zig-zag pattern from Sendayu Tinggi) or a good tummy corset. Better result if used with a tummy and butt-shaping underwear.

f) Kasir muka - Take 2 of these, add water, mix well and apply on face. Scrub off once dry. It works the same way as the kasir badan.

g) Serbang dahi - I don't really use this often but this is to be applied on your forehead, helps to decrease post-natal headaches.

h) Tudung/ Serungkup - to cover your head, minimise headaches.

7. Leg bind - well, I did this for the first week only. It was kinda hard to walk when your thighs are being tied together. Think the way geisha walks. I even had to do this when I sleep.

Phew! All that for a morning..well, make it 45 mornings counting from the day I got home from the hospital.

Anyway, it's not just that. There's also traditional baths on 3rd, 7th and 45th day of confinement. A lady specialised in traditional post-natal treatment will do these for me. These are usually followed by traditional massage, urut peranakan and of course, binding of the tummy. For the 45th day bath, this will mark the end of the confinement period and one will have mandi wiladah (if one has not had it yet) and mandi nifas at the same time.

As of today, I am on my 36th day of confinement. Only 9 more days to FREEDOMMMM!!! But it still means no cold water, no soft drinks, no seafood, no oily stuff, no spicy stuff, no fish, hmm..what else ah? Well, at least until about 3 mths post-natal. Hmm..not sure if I would wait that long. Normally just 2 months, but last time with Azeema, I extended it to 3 months, but it was such a long wait. And patience is not one of my virtues.

I think that's all. Busy is only in the morning. Afternoon is more relaxing...