I realised that giving birth is really a walk in the park compared to the aftermath of giving birth! (Duh right? This is my second one!) I must say that this is just my experience...I really respect and am in awe of other Mummies who go through a lot more to bring their child into this world. Recovering your strength and health for one is really tough when you are determined to fully breast feed your baby and when you fall into the category of "advanced maternal age" (you can already guess my age! :) you feel every ache and pain postpartum! Ouch!
So handsome even at one week old! :)
The Check In
Personally for me, the first two weeks post partum was really the most difficult. Firstly I was emotionally drained from the experience of hyperbilirubinemia in Joel, added to the physical strain of giving birth, sleepless nights...I am just glad that when I checked into the confinement center the first thing they gave me was the very thing I needed! It was the "CALL BELL"! (Ha ha ha! I think all you mummies out there would agree with me!) It was basically the passport to me not having to do a single thing/lift a single finger unless I wanted to. It made such a difference because I literally did not leave my room for 4-5 days because of the extreme pain in my lower back, abdominal and pelvic areas. Thank goodness for all the help!
The Call Bell!
I felt a little lost the first few days as I did not know who was who and what was where. I think that if someone had spent a little time with me to do a simple orientation session to share about how things are done, who does what, and what goes where, it would have made things even more pleasant than it already was. It is the little things that matter, for example, how is cupboard space segregated? I was in the sharing room which allowed for 4 Mummies to stay in at the same time. My bag was on the floor and my clothes were on the bed next to me for quite a few days before I decided to just put my bag into any cupboard space to get organised. Same with the bathroom. I wasn't sure what belonged to whom and what I could use. The funny thing was, I missed using the herbal bath for the first 2 days because I didn't realise that one of the buckets were for me! The toilet bowl was also missing the seat cover and it was precarious business going to the toilet! (So funny! Everytime I went to use the toilet, I had to be careful not to fall into the toilet bowl!) It also felt strange that no one would tell you/remind you what to do/eat and not to do/eat during confinement! I had the experience of a confinement lady the first time and I remember her constantly telling/reminding me about good confinement practices.With regards to food, during the first few days, I was surprised that they served me french fries, ham and nuggets for one my breakfast meals. I do like continental breakfast but I felt that the quality could have been a little better. I didn't feel like eating processed meat then.
A Bumpy Start
Like most things, beginnings always need a little tweaking. I realised that it was up to me to make my stay the best I can. So I started to ask around a lot, made an effort to talk and get to know everyone in the centre, Hubby helped to tell them about the broken toilet seat (which they fixed promptly! Hooray!) opened up to them about what kind of food I prefer, how much I enjoyed drinking soup, eating the rice wine chicken/pork/kidney and vegetables. I also asked them questions to understand more about how they would care for my baby. After that I shared with them how I wanted them to support me in caring for my baby in line with their best practices. It really does take two hands to clap! Both parties making the effort really makes a difference. I am pleased to say that overall, I had a great time recuperating at the centre and would highly recommend new mummies who are trying to decided between a Confinement Lady or Confinement Centre (you can read about how we rationalised trying out a confinement centre here) to try out a confinement centre! Stay tuned for my next installment in the review of my stay at Yuan Yuan!
A Bumpy Start
Like most things, beginnings always need a little tweaking. I realised that it was up to me to make my stay the best I can. So I started to ask around a lot, made an effort to talk and get to know everyone in the centre, Hubby helped to tell them about the broken toilet seat (which they fixed promptly! Hooray!) opened up to them about what kind of food I prefer, how much I enjoyed drinking soup, eating the rice wine chicken/pork/kidney and vegetables. I also asked them questions to understand more about how they would care for my baby. After that I shared with them how I wanted them to support me in caring for my baby in line with their best practices. It really does take two hands to clap! Both parties making the effort really makes a difference. I am pleased to say that overall, I had a great time recuperating at the centre and would highly recommend new mummies who are trying to decided between a Confinement Lady or Confinement Centre (you can read about how we rationalised trying out a confinement centre here) to try out a confinement centre! Stay tuned for my next installment in the review of my stay at Yuan Yuan!
How do you handle bumpy starts to new experiences?
Update: 30th December 2016
The center has been rebranded to Culture Romance Confinement Retreat Center. You can reach them on their Facebook page at @cultureromance
