Veterinarian, Blogger & Mother. Cecylia shares her musings on life and style in the same breath. She passionately believes that "every day is worth dressing up for."
When I mentioned on Facebook that I’ve been ‘in confinement’, I was not kidding. In Asian tradition, a lady who has given birth must stay at home strictly for a month or 40 days, depending on where you’re from. As it has now been two and a half weeks since Winston’s birth, I am well and truly in the middle of my postpartum confinement period.
No matter the heritage of your maternal relatives, some blanket rules apply, but there are many more:
Eating ‘heaty’ foods that have a healthy douse of ginger, drinking water that has only been marinated with ginger, and washing hands only in warm water, infused with, yeb, you guessed it, ginger. Other rules include being forbidden to look at TV and computer screens, as they are too ‘damaging’ to retinas and of course, not leaving the house or have ‘wind’ blown on you. That means, no air-con and no standing in the doorway. Oh, and the really hard-core types farewell showering and shampooing for an entire month. So far, I’ve broken every rule – and hubby also has his doubts about the strict confinement regime.
Soon Maternity Dress / Vintage shades & Belt / Gigi New York Bag / Urban Soul Heels
For someone who thrives on moving around, hunching over the laptop and eating cake every day, these few weeks have been somewhat difficult. I think it may be first time since I was a newborn that I have rested this much, though I’m still not good at it. My mom and mother-in-law have been cooking and cleaning for us, and hubby has also taken a month off to look after me. Also, we’ve been blessed with a very good baby. So, instead of admitting that I’m a little bored, I can only say that I’m very thankful and loving every moment of motherhood. Cheers to all our visitors who have brought a little of the outside world to me.
I’m so sorry Mom, but we ‘sneaked out’ (into our backyard) to take these photos when you weren’t looking. Surely I’ve got to start practising wheeling the pram somewhere…
And another thing, I absolutely adore this Soon Maternity dress and was hoping to feature it in its full glory, but I never imagined how quickly my belly would shrink after Winston‘s birth. (No exercise for 12 months, you’ve got to be kidding me!) Maybe it’s a good thing that I’ve farewelled cakes for 2 weeks…
[spoiler title=”中文版”]当我在Facebook上提到我在’坐月子’，我不是在开玩笑。亚洲的传统提出女士必须严格留在家中一个月或40天。Winston诞生已经两个半星期了，我正在坐月子的中间。
坐月子有许多规则，但这些是最普遍的：
必须吃’ 热性 ‘的食物。由生姜所烧的，饮水也必须是生姜所酝过的热茶，洗手也只能用生姜泡过的温水。其他规则，包括禁止看电视和电脑屏幕，因为对视网膜会有破坏性。当然决不能离开房子或让风吹到你。这意味着，不能开冷气，不能站在门口。哦，还有些人甚至整整一个月告别洗澡和洗头。到目前为止，我已经打破了每一条规则 – 丈夫对这些严格的限制也有他的怀疑。
因为我平时每天都会出家门，用笔记本电脑，而且吃蛋糕，这几个星期过下来真不容易。我想这可能是我有生以来第一次休息地那么多，我还真坐不住。我的妈妈和岳母都来为我们烹饪和清洁，老公也请一个月的假来照顾我。此外，感谢神赐给我们一个非常安静的宝宝。因此，虽然有时我有一点无聊，我只能说，我很感恩，也非常爱作母亲的每一刻。特别谢谢来看访我们的朋友们。
对不起妈妈，但当你不注意的时候，我们’偷偷地到后院去拍了这些照片。因为我必须开始练习推童车…
还有一件事，我很喜欢这条孕妇裙，但没想到，生了宝宝后，我的肚子如何快速地收缩了。 也许是因为这2周与蛋糕告别的结果…[/spoiler]
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Congrats for your baby! I’m so glad you are setting your own rules, after all is your body and baby and you decide what is best for your family! And look at you, you are one hot mamma! Love that your dress totally matched the stroller, so cool!
Cee. ♥
Code Overdressed
thank you Cee, Ah I should find an orange frock next time :D
You look amazing! I really like that red dress with the tan accessories too :)
And yey for little Theo! What’s his thoughts on the latest addition? hehe! :)
The no exercise for 12 months rules – is that a tradition or a medical rule? never heard of it before! Hopefully hubby can walk the dogs for you while you can’t exercise.
it’s a doctors thing- can’t run/do sit ups for 12 weeks *sobs* (They’re my favourites), but I can walk soon- can’t wait!
You look fantastic dear! ;)
Giveaway SAMMYdress at Tic Tac Living – International
Congrats!!! You look great (^_^)
You are looking fantastic Cecylia! Love the dress.
x Kirsty
http://geelongfashionista.com
Thank you Kristy, it’s such a flattering dress, very easy to wear.
Congrats dear for he newborn!
Well in Greece we have the same tradition for the 40 days too :)
http://beautyfollower.blogspot.gr/
wow that’s awesome! How amazing is it that our cultures have so many similarities!
Ah yes THE confinement! Can never forget that -EVER. With my husband coming from a Chinese background, I was told that I could not leave the house…umm..sorry not happening..in fact it didn’t happen because I had to visit the maternal health nurse even if she was only a street away! Then we (hubby, baby no.1 and I) sneaked out one evening for dinner because, seriously I nearly died NOT going out! As for the hardcore not showering or washing my hair? You’ve guessed it – DID NOT do that at all either ;)
lol you go girl! So glad that you understand and can empathize with me :D Yeah I had to take Winston to see the nurse a day after I went home too so technically I went out quite early :D But looking back, it was quite a luxury as my Mom took such amazing care of us
[…] saggy boobs are created…). I have to thank my mom for cooking me healthy dishes during my ‘confinement’ month, and breastfeeding certainly has helped (it probably cancels out the fact that I can’t […]