Every pregnant ladies should have went through that period where people (especially the oldies) start to bombard you with all kinds of confinement myths and tell-tales. I remember being that pregnant lady who is pretty daunted by the dire consequences people keep telling me if I don't do this or don't do that. Your confinement experience can get pretty stressful if you just blindly follow the confinement rules without using some logic reasoning behind it. Afterall, we are currently living in the 21st century yo! And those rules are like ancient old I believe? Since I just went through my first confinement, let me share my thoughts regarding some of the famous confinement myths!

1. No shower during confinement - open pores after delivery??

It is a common practice for Chinese mothers not to bathe or wash hair during confinement. It is thought that contact with water opens up our pores, causing "wind-cold" to enter the body.

However, I do feel different after showering. Apart from that awesome after-shower feeling, I can seriously feel the terrifying chillness, especially on my scalp and neck area when I walk out from the bathroom. I don't really know how to describe that chill but it feels like the coldness is literally "soaking into your pores" you know WTS. I don't know whether is it because of the after-effect that I finally showered after so many days but I remembered being freaking paranoid after the shower and diligently blowdry every single strand of my hair. This is a huge achievement because I seldom blowdry my hair in the past due to pure laziness and my thick mane doesn't help too. Ok, the scariest part is, I actually felt this mild headache at the right side of my head for awhile after the shower which scares the crap out of me. T_T

A part of me hopes that the mild headache is due to the lack of sleep by taking care of baby instead of that myth about some scary wind entering your pores and torturing you with body aches for the rest of your life.  

Anyway, I started to shower every week during the confinement. Learning from the "fatal" mistake from my first shower, I will wrap my damp hair and neck with a huge thick towel and quickly run into the room to blowdry my hair. Just try to imagine that scene haha. Thank god I've not experienced any headache except for that first shower incident. *touchwood*

All in all, I will still encourage mummies to bathe during confinement to save your sanity living in sunny island Singapore. But please take safety precaution by making sure you dry up yourself as much as possible and cover yourself up TOTALLY before stepping out of the shower room. Only bathe in warm water with herbs and confinement shampoos. Better be safe than sorry!

Similar to point 1, the reason why new mummies are encouraged not to head out is to avoid any "wind" entering the body which can cause health problems later in life.

Ok I admit going out every other day with hubby after the 2nd week of confinement. I know. 1 month don't go out at all sounds very easy right. I thought so too. However, after eating pretty much the same food everyday, staring at the four walls everyday, taking care of a baby on 24/7 standby, occasionally scrolling through the instagram photos of how my friends are enjoying life outside (lol), honestly speaking, I need to catch a breather. I need to feel like a regular human once in awhile instead of simply a milk cow to my baby haha.  

One thing I want to point out is, please take note of what you are wearing out during confinement! The first time I went out, I wore just a short sleeve dryfit shirt and long pants. Major regrets. The aircon in the shopping centre is so freaking chilling! I straightaway ask my hubby to send me home even though I'm pretty excited about my first shopping centre trip during confinement. (Ya, I'm actually excited over a visit to a nearby neighbourhood shopping center, like I'm going for a USS trip lol.) From then onwards, I wear a cap and long sleeve whenever I head out during the confinement period.

This requires major determination mummies. I'm proud to say that I completed nearly 90% of my confinement without switching the air conditioner. Only on the air con on 3 occasions during confinement in the day? For the first 2 weeks or so, I really sweat like a cow. Everyday felt like sauna because you are wearing long sleeve and long pants, trapped in the room with no fan and air con and eating super heaty confinement food in SG awesome sunny weather. I managed to train myself to enter this zen mode where I can just lie on bed to imagine myself in a sauna detoxing my body. To a lot of my friends' surprise, I kind of like how I'm sweating so much because the whole experience really feels like some detoxification session? lol. And I swear that my complexion has never been so good. Rosy and radiant complexion. *beam* But my black circles got worse due to the my milk cow's duty every 2 to 3 hours round the clock.

That being said, it doesn't mean that we MUST completely forgo air conditioner and fan during confinement. I think a minimal amount is fine. But just try to refrain from staying in an aircon the whole day, especially during the first 2 weeks of confinement? Because this will make your body too cool to perspire all the water retain in your body during pregnancy. SWEAT IT OUT MUMMIES!

4. No reading / screen time during confinement!

It was said that after delivery, our eyes will be weakened due to the large loss of blood which is associated to our liver. Recovery to our pre-delivery eyesight will take 6 months post-delivery. Thus, it will be wise to rest our eyes more to prevent aggravating the condition.

I know way before confinement I will guarantee plus chop break this rule haha. Come on, who in the world can actually be on hiatus from any forms of IT gadgets for 1 month! But frankly speaking, I also don't have the energy to surf the net because I really value my sleep more than anything else during the confinement period!

Regarding the myth on weakened eyes after delivery, apart from fatigue, I don't feel anything weird about my eyes except that my myopia seems to increase?

5. No drinking of plain water during confinement!

Myth had it said that new mummies should avoid drinking plain water during confinement as plain water is too "cold (寒)" for our body and causes water retention, especially in our belly area!

Personally, I drink plain water most of the time during confinement after finishing my daily 3 litres of longan ginseng drink, Yes, you will be super thirsty the whole time and drink like a cow during confinement no joke! I'm somebody that hate drinking water to nuts (super bad habit I know) but I really drink loads during confinement. Frankly speaking, I think it's fine drinking plain water during confinement. It is actually very important to hydrate yourself, especially if you are breastfeeding! Just make sure the water is warm will do. And drinking it definitely doesn't give me a water belly!