Don't we all go through the face where we dislike our parents during our teens but then understand the bigger picture only when we are in our thirties. I guess this is also one of the kind. Those 30 days that I underwent this was pure torture as it seemed then but today three years forward I am thankful for the recovery.
Like most home in Kerala we had a home nurse booked for my post natal care. They are usually well trained in caring for mom and baby after they return from the hospital. And it is during this first month that the by then football ground size uterus shrinks back to its original size. Well does it really get to it is another story all together. Ok let's add a 5 to 10 kg window to it. Ligaments, muscles all work to getting back to normal. Most importantly the mother gets the time to regain some mental stability too.
Well like most moms I was very excited about this royal treatment that would be exclusively for me. And so we started around 8 days after my delivery. I could see the lady heating up water in the traditional way with firewood adding Naalpamaram to it. She used to call me in to bath maybe an hour earlier. This was time for the oil massage with Ksheerabala Tailam. The pressure applied to the joints and muscles during this massage seriously gave you a feeling so heavenly. After the massage was rest for half an hour. I had actually planned to catch up on reading, online activities or chatting with hubby on phone. But I realised that after the sleepless nights and round the clock breast feeding , all I wanted was to close my eyes and be at peace.
But here ended the fancy ride. When she came in to wash off the tailam I had a shocker. The water was not hot, it was HOTTTTT!!Maybe it was because I had always had bath in cold water through my life, I just could not take it. And she would swing the mug of hot water at my lower abdomen. This it seems shocked the uterus to shrink faster. I would yell on top of my voice and curse too. Hell my c section was not even half this painful. When I got off the bath I felt as if someone had boiled me for lunch. Oh those 30 days ! I still shudder thinking about it .
Today most women go for the lumbar belt but she wanted this too the traditional way. She would tie a cotton saree around my uterus area that was just short of suffocating me. I would cheat once in a while trying to loosen it up but she would redo it through the day. I eventually gave up.The next in line was food. At the hospital all I remember having was black coffee, rusk and rice gruel. After maybe 10 days food returned to rice but with so many restrictions. There was hardly any salt or any spice. Yes lots of black pepper and turmeric to wash out all the waste from inside my poor stomach. And ghee just seemed to be everywhere leaving me feel like a ghee mysore pak at the end of the day!
And the funny part was that I was to be confined to my room. No dining outside, no watching TV ,just rest and rest only.Truthfully I hated those 30 days and just wanted to be over with it. At the end of it was the naming ceremony of my son, my first social contact event after the confinement time. And that was the day I thanked my home nurse. Everyone complimented me on my glowing skin, me returning back to my original me and also exclusively breastfeeding my baby. I was over the moon! I had no pains, no weakness and was up and going in those 30 days. I thanked my lucky stars for giving me the strength to go through the treatment. There were times when I felt I could not take it anymore and wanted to quit. But then took it one day at a time. Today I recommend the same to each and every new mom out there!
Like most home in Kerala we had a home nurse booked for my post natal care. They are usually well trained in caring for mom and baby after they return from the hospital. And it is during this first month that the by then football ground size uterus shrinks back to its original size. Well does it really get to it is another story all together. Ok let's add a 5 to 10 kg window to it. Ligaments, muscles all work to getting back to normal. Most importantly the mother gets the time to regain some mental stability too.
Well like most moms I was very excited about this royal treatment that would be exclusively for me. And so we started around 8 days after my delivery. I could see the lady heating up water in the traditional way with firewood adding Naalpamaram to it. She used to call me in to bath maybe an hour earlier. This was time for the oil massage with Ksheerabala Tailam. The pressure applied to the joints and muscles during this massage seriously gave you a feeling so heavenly. After the massage was rest for half an hour. I had actually planned to catch up on reading, online activities or chatting with hubby on phone. But I realised that after the sleepless nights and round the clock breast feeding , all I wanted was to close my eyes and be at peace.
But here ended the fancy ride. When she came in to wash off the tailam I had a shocker. The water was not hot, it was HOTTTTT!!Maybe it was because I had always had bath in cold water through my life, I just could not take it. And she would swing the mug of hot water at my lower abdomen. This it seems shocked the uterus to shrink faster. I would yell on top of my voice and curse too. Hell my c section was not even half this painful. When I got off the bath I felt as if someone had boiled me for lunch. Oh those 30 days ! I still shudder thinking about it .
Today most women go for the lumbar belt but she wanted this too the traditional way. She would tie a cotton saree around my uterus area that was just short of suffocating me. I would cheat once in a while trying to loosen it up but she would redo it through the day. I eventually gave up.The next in line was food. At the hospital all I remember having was black coffee, rusk and rice gruel. After maybe 10 days food returned to rice but with so many restrictions. There was hardly any salt or any spice. Yes lots of black pepper and turmeric to wash out all the waste from inside my poor stomach. And ghee just seemed to be everywhere leaving me feel like a ghee mysore pak at the end of the day!
And the funny part was that I was to be confined to my room. No dining outside, no watching TV ,just rest and rest only.Truthfully I hated those 30 days and just wanted to be over with it. At the end of it was the naming ceremony of my son, my first social contact event after the confinement time. And that was the day I thanked my home nurse. Everyone complimented me on my glowing skin, me returning back to my original me and also exclusively breastfeeding my baby. I was over the moon! I had no pains, no weakness and was up and going in those 30 days. I thanked my lucky stars for giving me the strength to go through the treatment. There were times when I felt I could not take it anymore and wanted to quit. But then took it one day at a time. Today I recommend the same to each and every new mom out there!
