My 44 days of pantang

Sort of my pantang diary. Heh.

Day 1 After labor at 4.50pm, puasa until next day. Only drink a few sips of warm water using a tiny straw. Nurse came at night, asked her if I could eat anything. Oh, cannot cannot...

Day 2 Two nurse bathed me early in the morning. Well, basically just rubbing my body with wet towel. By now I have lost any shame. Just do anything. Pasrah. Redha. My very first meal. Roti putih with honey. For lunch, mum came with sup tahu. One whole tupperware of sup tahu with lots of halia. Nurse advised me to drink a lot. Showing directly in my face the colour of my bladder in the urine bag definitely is a wake up call. Okay, nurse. I'll drink up. By noon, my bladder was clear already and the nurse took the urine tube off. Taking it off is okay, putting it on is hurtfull. Seriously. I was told to try get up from the bed. Sakit memang sakit... But I tried. And I tried walking too.

Two ustazah came to visit me and also gave a congratulations card. They recite dua for me. They will come everyday to recite dua for patients. Alhamdulillah... Definitely an Islamic medical center.

Card and Manhaj magazine.

Doctor came in the evening and was amazed (such exaggeration, but well, she's happy) at my progress. Badan kecik tapi kuat semangat, she said. I was told I could go home the next day. But at night banyak angin until I got headache... And fever. Maisarah, the nurse advised me to lie on my side to make it easier to fart to get the angin out.

Day 3 Tuna sandwich hospital. Mak came with lunch. Apa? Tuna? Mana boleh makan tuna! Although my doctor said eat everything, Melayu still got pantang so I follow. Nothing happened after I eat tuna, though. News on my angin got to the doctor... Instead of getting discharged today, kena tahan one more day. But the doctor got the plaster peeled off, though. She told me to just rest. Maybe yesterday I walked too much. Bersemangat sangat jalan... We went all out to get the angin out today. Sapu minyak afiat on my back, pinggang, and kaki.

Meroyan at night. Seriously, I meroyan! A minor one maybe, Alhamdulillah masih terkawal. I finally know what meroyan is. After maghrib I suddenly broke down. Iz went to watch a game in Tg. Malim, leaving me and mak. Suddenly I had bad thoughts and cried. I thought of my tummy which is no longer flat, the stretchmarks, how I'm not able to nurse Sofia... I had to ring up the nurse to take Sofia who is crying, and apparently the nurse didn't look too happy coz they had just send her to me by my request. That occassion sparked me going meroyan. Not being able to nurse Sofia. And then berjangkit-jangkit to Iz leaving me, yada yada yada... Luckily mak noticed me crying and understood. Semua tu hasutan syaitan, she said. Be thankful Sofia is okay and told me to istighfar a lot. Seriously, I now understand why some mothers dare to kill their newborn... Few hours later a nurse came to inform that Sofia got jaundice so she wouldn't be with us tonight.

Day 4 FEELING FRESH! Nasi goreng cina for breakfast. Got eggs.. Iz patiently removed each bit of eggs in sight. Hahaha! Went to visit Sofia at the nursery. So cute terlangkup like that. Around 3 pm, the doctor came to inform that I can go home. Alhamdulillah... Nurse Maisarah pushed me in a wheelchair all the way to the emergency parking area.

Sofia's first picture in her playpen.

Day 5 TALI PUSAT SOFIA TERCABUT SUDAH! A nurse from KKM came to visit us. She took Sofia under the sun and said Sofia got jaundice. Haaa.... Ada kuning ni! Immediately called Iz and the four of us went to the clinic to check. The reading is 6 something, not so severe. I was told to keep on feeding Sofia. Oh, and we found out Sofia's blood type is A+! Similar to mine! FINALLY! Sudahlah muka sebiji papa, I was excited at least we have something in common. Hehe.

Day 8 Cukur jambul and tahnid Sofia. Mil, fil, miru, yaya, meen, chairin, mak, and I got to put stuffs into Sofia's mouth. Other than honey and kurma, mil also brought gula, garam, gula batu, and air zamzam. I put extra salt... Dunia ni penuh asam garam, Sofia... Hehe. Alhamdulillah, Sofia behaved well. Sleeping throughout the occassion. Pak Ngah, Mak Ngah, Mak Tam Khairul, Pak Tam Khairul anak-beranak cucu also came but didn't get to put anything into Sofia's mouth. Such a lot of food... That I cannot eat. Hahaha. Sirap ais sedap... Cannot cannot. Had nasi putih ulam raja ikan bakar air suam.

Us shaving what's left. Bagi kemas sikit.

Day 15 Watched Tamil movie on TV2. Should have rest. Got headache at night I started talking rubbish.. Complained to mum that Sofia is too heavy... Istighfar banyak-banyak... Sofia woke up only twice. Once at around 12, then at 5.40am.. Such a good child..

Day 16 Had kambing!

Day 17 Last night Sofia woke up every one hour.... Sofia pee again at Uwan on the way to take a bath. Semalam also she pee... Maklang came to pay a visit. Lunch today daging black pepper and kailan ikan bilis.

Day 18 Opah takes over! Hahahah... Mother in law came to spend the night. Berkemas satu rumah I feel so blessed I only eat, sleep, and nurse Sofia. Also, Chairin and mak came home with a huge baby hamper! And another gift in a paper bag. Both from SMK Ampang Pecah teachers. Awwh... They were just too kind! They even had a small ceremony to present the gift. Chairin recorded the occassion.

Such a huge hamper!

Day 19 Introduced Sofia to the sound of plastic wrapper. Yes, we unwrapped the hamper in front of her. Haha. Hadiah, Sofia, hadiah...

Day 20 Haruan kukus for lunch. Surprisingly tak hanyir pun... Mak really knows how to cook. Hahah. Had one bite of Pizza Hut Beef Pepperoni pizza before Sofia decided to wake up.

Day 21 Saturday as usual busy day. Mak and Chairin had class. Had one slice of leftover pizza for breakfast. Kuetiaw sup Ani Sup Utara for lunch. Mak tam and maklong came to visit. More gifts for Sofia! Mak tam gave a bag and one bath set. We now have two sinilar bath sets (one received from SMKAP).

Day 22 Busy day. Mak and Chairin had class. Kuetiaw sup pasar for breakfast. Nasi putih, carrot, and ikan gelama goreng for lunch.

Day 23 Had satay ayam and daging (one cucuk only) for dinner!

Day 29 Mak came home from pasar with Chairin and brought home McD. Hahaha... They bought me Fillet o Fish. Orang dah beli... Kenalah makan, kan...

Day 32 Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka! SOFIA IS ONE MONTH TODAY! Nestle Koko Krunch and Post Honey Bunches of Oats with RoastedAlmonds for breakfast before taking Sofia for her one month checkup. Already 3.64kg! Fuh fuh... Then, Iz actually queued 2 hours for the Ayamas roastes chicken promotion. Jiwa kental... Got 2 roasted chicken for only RM21.80 as he used up his cash voucher as well. So instead of the Merdeka RM31.80 promotion. Cik Nik and Ayah Wa together with their kids came to visit. Sofia received more new rompers!

Day 34 Iz brought home Cheezy Wedges and one large mashed potato! Woot.. Woot.. So yummehhh....!

Day 35 Koko Krunch AND kuetiaw sup for breakfast because I'm afraid that's the only time Sofia sleeps... I now follow Sofia Time. No guarantee that she will sleep during lunch. So there.

Day 36 Tried nursing Sofia while lying down on my bed. I can get used to this! Hehe.. Tried this way because since yesterday the c-sect area felt painful. I guessed it must be because of holding Sofia too long in my arms and sometimes I have to support her with my leg.. Put pressure on the luka I guess..

Day 37 Post Honey Bunches of Oats with Almond for breakfast. Nasi and sup daging tahu lembut for lunch (one of my favourite dish during pantang). Oh by the way, we bought a new filter pump for the pool! Alhamdulillah... Iz picked it up at Asyik's place earlier this morning. And oh, I ate one piece of KFC original chicken before bed.

Day 38 Wednesday and they have class as usual at Bukit Beruntung, so mil came over last night to take over taking care of me and Sofia. Again, cereal for breakfast and nasi and sup daging tahu lembut for lunch. Had one slice of Dominos Beef Pepperoni pizza which the teachers gave them.

Day 40 Horlicks and 3 pieces of Oat Crunch biscuit for breakfast. Dah mula gatal nak keluar rumah... Sibuk-ing around them upgrading the filter pump in my kain batik and socks.

Day 41 Nasi kerabu for lunch. Bubur nasi ikan bilis for dinner.

Day 42 Bubur nasi ikan bilis 2 servings for breakfast. Cereal for lunch. Nasi and daging goreng peria, AND dominos pizza for dinner. Because there is a promotion, RM10 only for regular pizza.

Day 43 Selamat Hari Raya Aidiladha! Last night's leftover pizza di pagi raya because we were all too tired to cook anything. Hahaha... Nasi and daging goreng peria, again for lunch. Nasi putih sup daging korban for dinner. Tita came over! Finally, bestie finally came. Such a busy doctor.

Day 44 Nasi putih and gulai kambing for brunch. Koko Krunch few hours after. And then susu kambing added with one spoon of grinded almond and dates. Nasi ayam for dinner. Again, susu kambing special mix.

Alhamdulillah, I'm so thankful I managed to get through pantang! I think the toughest thing must be not being allowed to wash my hair. For 44 days, I only washed my hair once! Berkerak, berkepam, berminyak... Just name it, I got it. Mak would comb and tie my hair for me. I did it myself once in a while and couldn't bear the stickiness. Hence I just leave it to mak. And oh! Param and pilis! Param whole body... Pilis not so rimas as it was only rubbed on my forehead (always gatal tangan to kopek).

A day after pantang I asked my husband how do I look now? He said I looked normal. Normal. As for me, I think I looked pretty with thicker hair now. Must be the good food I ate (a lot of fish!), but Tita said it's the hormones. The good hormones will left when Sofia starts making bubbles... Bubbles and my hair will start thinning... Oh, Sofia! Please don't blow mama's hair away!

Mak and Iz and Chairin and mil and fil and brother sister in laws have been so kind to me during this pantang period! I feel so blessed to have them around, hence this post is to remind me myself and Sofia too, please, please, please be nice to them.

Papa on the floor, Sofia's playpen, and mama's bed.