my day during confinement

wanted to jot down a typical day while doing confinement. I don’t think i’ll go through this pregnancy journey again (especially so now that i know i am a g6pd carrier) so i guess some form of journaling is required to remind myself what i went through.

my confinement is anything but typical. I would think confinement = loads of rest, constantly lying down resting and not move so that the body can recover.

me? i’m constantly “working” non stop and perpetually sleep deprived. i dont have a maid, nor a confinement lady. My house is wayyyyyy too crammed to house any additional person anyway. Here’s how one of my days will be like.

9.30am-10am: I usually wake up around this time, depending on how tired and how much sleep i get the night before (usually not enough), and the first thing that i’ll do is to express milk. the bursting, hurting boobs are usually the reason why i pull myself out of bed. yes, it has taken priority over brushing my teeth and washing up in the morning.

10am – 10.45am: Expressing milk in progress while my mum will handle the 2 babies during this time. she will give Jerry his milk for the morning, and keep him entertainment with his daily dose of youtube (sigh!). my aunt (from the US) usually skype my mum at this hour and demand for my kids to report in front of the web cam as well.

10.45am – 11am: I’ll put the milk away in storage and quickly take a quick bath and blow dry my hair before the massage lady turns up. i won’t be able to bathe after the massage (tummy will be bind with herbs) so the bath is critical for me. i also give my toilet a quick rinse after each bath so that the herbal water doesnt stain the tiles or the gaps between the tiles. if i still have time before the lady shows up, I’ll help my mum prep the milk for jerome as well so that she can feed the baby during my massage.

11am – 12.15pm: Massage in progress. This is the only time i get to catch up on social media or just close my eyes to relax because i cannot really do much but just lie down.

12.15 – 12.45pm: i’ll spend some time entertaining Jerry and watching over Jerome while my mum cooks my lunch.

12.45pm – 1.15pm: I’ll eat my lunch and usually, Jerry will still demand attention and i’m split between trying to finish up my lunch and managing him and preventing him from climbing over the safety gate that blocks him away from the dining area/kitchen/main door. this time round, my mum isnt as free so the food is usually bland and tasteless so i take a much longer time to finish what i need to finish.

1.15pm – 1.30pm: i’ll entertain the kids so that my mum can go about her chores (water her plants and tend her greens).

1.30pm – 1.45pm: my mum bathes jerry while i check on jerome and change his diaper if necessary. I also warm up his milk for his next feed.

1.45pm: Jerry too get his milk feed and today, i juggled both kids while my mum have her lunch.

2pm – 2.30pm: Jerry goes down for his nap. If he does, it a FANTASTIC DAY, but it usually doesnt happens because i am at home and he is super-glue koala and wants to do things with me or bring me around the house telling me things in gibberish that i cannot comprehend. If Jerry naps, I’ll proceed to feed Jerome and burp him.

2.30pm – 2.45pm: when both kids are fed, i’ll strap on a pair of vinyl gloves and do my round of bottle and pump parts washing and pop them into the sterilizer.

2.45pm – 2.50pm: i’ll hang around for a breather (if jerry is sleeping) or entertain Jerry while waiting for the sterilizer to be done.

3pm – 3.45pm: It’s milking time once again. my boobs will be hurting and i’ll lock myself away and express the milk. I’m usually busy massaging the milk ducts so that i clear the milk effectively. I am SUPER afraid of block milk ducts and mastitis because of my “overdrive” milk supply so i always ensure everything is cleared. Better to be safe than sorry!

3.45pm – 4pm: I’ll pack the milk away in storage and go about doing my chores – boil water and transfer them to my bathroom for hands washing (i’m not allowed to touch tap water).

4pm – 5pm: by this time, jerry would be awake and would need to be entertained. If he is not awake, i’ll wash the bottles. If he is, i’ll play with him or just hang around him and keep a watchful eye on him just so he’s out of danger (he loves climbing all over, especially to really high places!).

5pm – 5.30pm: I’ll prep the milk for jerome and rouse him for a feed.

5.30pm – 6pm: my mum lets jerry out of the house for some outdoor run. He’ll drag his toy story car to the corridor and run around, get dirty, climb the stairs and usually, suffer a fall or two (or more). at the same time, i’ll check jerome’s diapers and clean him and prep him for his evening sun tan. I’ll also hang around the corridor and wait for the sun to appear.

6pm – 6.20pm: Sun tanning in progress (this is the timing where the sun will shine onto my corridors). Jerry will continue running in the corridor at the same time. I’m quite amused that he can self-entertainment himself for a long time without much toys!

6.20pm – 6.30pm: my mum will give jerry a quick bath, while i dress jerome up.

6.30pm – 7pm: i’ll watch the kids while my mum cooks dinner. Jerry also gets fed with his ‘dinner’ around this timing.

7pm – 8pm: I’ll eat my dinner and catch some tv while my mum looks after the kiddos.

8pm – 8.45pm: milking process starts all over again. my mum will feed jerome when he wakes and fusses during this time.

8.45pm – 9pm: pack the milk away and start the washing/sterilizing again. If im feeling lazy, i’ll just laze around abit and leave the bottles for der to wash when he comes home later.

9pm – 10pm: If i am tired, i’ll let jerry watch some youtube to entertainment himself (i know its bad, but i am not superwomen really). If im not, i’ll read books to him or go through the alphabets and teach him some animals/fruits/items etc.

10pm – 11pm: Lights off. I will give jerry his milk and put him to bed. Daddy comes home around this time and have his dinner and proceed to wash the bottles if there are any. on good days, the bub will fall asleep at abt 11pm. His bedtime has been getting later and later as he grows older because he refuses to sleep!!

11pm – 11.30pm: Jerome’s feeding time. Der usually does this feed because i’m still in the bedroom struggling with Jerry if he is not asleep. If he is, i am still stay in the bedroom and surf the net/play games to unwind for the day.

11.30pm – 12 midnight: the husband will spend time with his ipad (unfortunately, not his wife) catching up on his favourite watch forums or news.

12 midnight: I usually fall asleep with my mobile in my hands because i struggle between getting in more me-time and fighting the z monster (and usually lose to the z monster).

between 1-2pm: I’ll wake up ard this time to milk myself again, pack the milk away and head back to bed.

2am: Jerome will wake for his feed again. I will keep some fresh milk for him lying around for the husband to feed him during this time. the husband will also help to wash the bottles and pump parts at this hour after he is done with jerome while i snooze.

5am: another of Jerome’s feed. I will handle this feed myself if the husband is snoozing and not awake. Sometimes he is and i’ll help him. there are also times where i’m soooo tired that the husband will wake and do the chore as well. If its a weekday and the husband gotta work the next day, i’ll drag myself out of bed for it.

8am – 8.30am: my mum usually will knock on my door to wake the 2 sleepyheads up. the alarms always fails us cos we are too tired with the previous’ day activities. the husband will change out jerome and prep him for his phototherapy and give him milk thereafter. I’m still in bed to catch more winks.

8.30am – 9am: if there are used bottles lying around, the husband will wash them and pop them into the sterilizer before he leaves for work.

9am – 9.30am: my last chance to snooze, and the cue to wake is when my boobs are bursting.

rinse and repeat the day all over again.

as you can see, i barely have any time to rest. It’s more packed and tiring as compared to holding a full-time job. I always think its a joke when people say i can shake leg during maternity leave. It’s really anything but it (shake leg bit).

Took me a really long time to draft this post! I keep typing a para or two and stopping, coming back to it whenever i get a minute or 2.

to the mummies out there… is your confinement anything like mine?