If you have been following me on Twitter or Instagram, you may know that I have recently given birth to a healthy baby boy called Asher on 6th July. He is our bundle of joy, God’s miracle!
Bellyrubzbeauty.com will now be featuring posts on our journey with little Asher. So if you are not interested, you are welcome to skip these posts and head straight to my beauty review posts. :>
So, how I found out I was pregnant was when my colleague told me she was having her time of the month and mine was late (we usually have our at the same time. Yes, we are such good friends we tell each other). I told Ben that I was late for a week, but we didn’t go out to buy a pregnancy test pack until I was 2 weeks late. After 2 tests done, it is confirmed that we are going to be parents!!
We were thinking how we should tell our families. I went out to buy some mugs with slogans: Best Grandma in the World, Best Grandpa in the World and Best Aunty in the World (I have 3 sisters and Ben is the only child). The look on Dad’s face was priceless (he is not an emotional type of person), mum was over the moon and my sisters were all surprised and happy for me!
During the first trimester, I wasn’t allowed to crouch down or tippy toe to reach up (Chinese traditional). I was told to rest more and not do heavy lifting at all. Ben was protective and looked after me very well. I did not have any morning sickness and did not have any special cravings or change in food preference at all. I did feel some fatigue, but not too serious. The first trimester went by so slow especially when I am counting down the days to get an ultrasound scan to see my little baby. At the first scan at 8 weeks, as soon as I saw the little peanut shaped thing in my uterus, I burst into tears! It is real! I was horrified of stretch marks so I also started applying Bio Oil to my belly, buttocks, thighs and bust area to prevent them.
At the second trimester, fatigue seems to have faded, I have more energy! I also traveled to Hong Kong and Japan for 4 weeks. My pants were starting to fit too snug around the waist so I bought heaps of leggings in size 12 (I was a comfortable size 10). Leggings, dresses and long tops was pretty much my wardrobe for the entire pregnancy. Throughout the second and third trimester, my belly grew quite fast during the 5th month, so I was using Little Genie Re Gen oil and cream, River Veda Honeysuckle and Rose bath and body oil, Temple Tonic Pink Lotus and White Tea, Bio Oil, Palmer’s Cocoa Butter Formula Massage Lotion for Stretch Marks and Essano Body Oil for my bump twice a day (I have no stretch marks at all!). Near the end of the second trimester I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes and had to use insulin. So I was finger pricking 4 times a day to monitor my sugar levels and insulin at each meal and before bedtime. Jabbing my own belly with a needle is quite nerve racking.
Finally at my 3rd and final trimester, this is the hardest trimester. I have back pain, groin pain, leg cramps, fatigue, short of breath and occasional low blood sugar because of the insulin. Luckily, my nature of work does not contain long hours of standing or heavy lifting, I managed to keep working until the 4th day before my baby is due for induction. My diet consists of 1/4 basmati rice, 1/4 meat and 1/2 vegetables. Sometimes I just don’t want to eat. By this trimester I’ve had the help of Trilogy’s Organic Rosehip oil for my dry facial skin, L’Occitane Cleansing and Softening Shower Oil with Almond Oil for my body and Weleda Lavender Relaxing Milk Bath to relieve my swollen feet and ease me to sleep.
Labor was short and intense for me. I was diagnosed with gestational diabetes during my final trimester so I had to be induced just in case my baby gets too big. So on the 6th July Sunday morning, my hubby and I checked into Auckland hospital for the induction. The experience was rather sore when the gel was put in, but it was nothing compared to the contractions! At 10 am I had the gel applied, contractions started but the pain was minor. I was checked again at around 4 pm and I was only dilated 4 cm so they broke my water to increase the contractions. The nurse said from experience, I should be giving birth after midnight so my hubby was considering going home for dinner.
At about 6pm, my contractions were getting pretty strong and frequent. I was pulling and squeezing my hubby’s arm! I was then given gas and wheelchair to the birthing suite at around 7. After a few pushes and screams, baby Asher’s head is out and so is his little body! We were given skin to skin contact and he was the most beautiful thing in this world! After they delivered my placenta, my bleeding couldn’t be controlled. I was monitored for 4 hours to see if I need to go into theater to find out the cause of the blood loss or of I needed a blood transfusion. After a few hours, my blood loss was controlled (total loss was around 2L!).
During my stay at the hospital my mother in law made me red date water which is good for blood loss.
After birth After 2 nights at the hospital I moved to Birthcare. Birthcare was nice, but they did not allow husbands to stay after 8pm so from 8pm to 8am I was pretty lonely with baby Asher and his cluster feeding was stressing me out (I did not have enough milk and my nipple were cracking). The midwives at Birthcare suggested nursing tea for the milk and Purelan 100 ($20.99 from Baby City) for the cracked nipples.
After 2 nights at Birthcare, I went home which was much more comfy! Besides the red date water, I also had iron tablets and Floradix Formula ($32.90. I was given this from the PR company, but it is available from the supermarket or Health2000) to help with my low energy levels. For nursing tea I had great results with Weleda Nursing tea ($19.90 from my local Health2000 store), Red Seal Raspberry Leaf Tea (also helps to tone my uterus), Red Seal Black Adder Licorice tea (both were sent to me from the PR company, but they are also available from supermarkets and also from Health2000) and Artemis Breastfeeding Tea ($19.90 from my local Health2000 store).
We have just reached our One month mark and it is a rather big milestone for Chinese tradition. This month was a confinement period where mum and bub were not allowed to go out as we need to get as much rest as possible and avoid any wind or cold weather affect us. Also during this period, we had to eat Pig’s trotter with eggs and ginger in black vinegar. I basically had this every single day – for lunch or dinner. I also had fish and papaya soup and chicken feet and peanut soup to help with the milk production (these are all very traditional food to eat). Another thing you may not know is that we are not suppose to wash our hair (yea, no washing for 4 weeks.. gross I know), but if you do have to wash them, you need to use hot ginger water to rinse off. This is to avoid the head or joints in my body getting cold, thus a higher chance in getting arthritis in the future. Throughout the first month, I have been diligently drinking my breastfeeding teas, Floradix Formula and getting the good ol’ sleep.
