Updated: May 30, 2020
Since Eilidh is already 4 months old, I have decided to update you guys on her routine that was started by a baby-led one.
I was innitially quite stressed about how she was going to have a proper routine, since I will be at work and unable to control her schedule. So during my maternity leave, I used every inch of this opportunity to get her on some sort of routine without really upsetting her wishes.
For the first few months, it was entirely baby led; I latched her whenever she cries for milk, and put her straight for a nap as soon as she has her first yawn. It took her awhile before I realize Eilidh was setting her own routine.
She would automatically wake at 730, and normally be abit sleepy tired for the whole morning. I used to bathe her the first thing she wakes, but soon realize this started to annoy her since she wasn’t fully awake. I realize she probably don’t have enough sleep time because she normally properly goes to bed at 10pm. Because of her lack of rest, i figured she is probably overtired thus I had trouble putting her down for a nap.
When she eventually progressed from feeding every 2hrs to every 3hrs, it was alot less tiring for me. By the time she was 2 months old, I completely weaned her off latching because I did not want her to go on a milk strike when I’m at work.
By 3 months, I got her on the following schedule:
0900 wakes up 0930 wipe down & bath time with a FEED after 1030 NAP 1200 FEED 1300 NAP 1500 FEED 1600 NAP 1800 FEED 1900 Playtime with Mommy and daddy 2100 wipe down & FEED 2130 Sleep 0330 night FEED & goes back to sleep 0730 morning FEED & goes back to sleep
So in all Eilidh sleeps from 2130 to 0900 with 2 feeds in between, which is a sleep time of a total of approximately 11 hours as she falls right back to sleep immediately after feeding. She naps 3 times in the day for around an hour each nap, which brings me to 14 hours of sleep a day.
Suprising at this age she is such a good sleeper; after feeding her all I need to do is cudddle her for awhile and put her down in her crib and walk out of the room. After coming back after 10 mins she is fast asleep! I’m hoping she stays that way like, forever 😂.
For her feeding, by 3 months she was around 5.9 kg, so I followed the following formula as a guide on her daily intake:
5.9 x 120 = 708ml
She drinks a total of 100ml per feed and 130ml for her last feed. Taking to account she sometimes doesn’t finish her bottle, she drinks a total of 600-730ml per day. She has been drinking only about 500-600ml per day since she was 1 month old.
I got my helper to stick to this schedule after seeing that Eilidh likes and automatically sets this schedule, and it works out really well for me and my husband, especially when we get to have at least an hour at night with her for playtime. By the way, did I mentioned how strong her legs are now!?!?
Updated: May 30, 2020
Confinement. The one month of misery most Asian women are forced to go through with no justification. For my non-asian readers, these are some of the horror we have to go through:
1. No washing hair 2. No drinking water ; only Red Date Tea 3. No leaving the house for a month 4. Only bathe in herbal water 5. Only eat confinement food (which is ridiculously oily btw)
And yes, my mom tried to make me eat the horrible, horrible confinement food that Chinese woman have claimed it has help them stay youthful throughout the years.
I got the above picture from Google search. So please dont sue me.
People actually tell me this:
This is why Asians age slower than white woman; because we take care of ourselves during confinement by following these rules
Err, say what?
Many Asian girls I know actually blame their poor health to not following confinement traditions when they were younger – although it is quite clear it was because they simply did not maintain a healthy diet nor exercise. I actually have my mom tell me that the reason of my backache in the begining of my pregnancy was because I was eating too much Western food. 😑😑
I personally am not a fan of Chinese confinement food and refuse to succumb to old wives tale assuming these beliefs will make me happier when I am the one who just had a baby. During my first month all I wanted was water and nothing sweet, so I secretly threw away all the red date tea my mom brewed. I did not want disgusting stale Chinese confinement food so I got my husband to cook dishes with superfood products that I adore. (Which was also alot healthier and tastier than any confinement food being offered to me)
You will regret not following rules because your body will never recover from child birth
I was being warned that my baby would not grow well, that I wouldn’t recover from my wounds, and I will grow old with aches all over because I refuse to follow the confinement rules.
I went back for my 1month postpartum check up, my gyne told me he was surprised at the rate of my recovery and said I could start exercising ASAP. I started my weekly runs again and went back to Crossfit by the time I was 3 month Postpartum.
I hired a jamu to help me flatten my tummy, and she mentioned my body did not look like the body of someone who just had a baby. Of course I told her my secret – exercise and a healthy diet.
Your baby will not develop well because you did not eat confinement food
During Eilidh’s first checkup with the PD, the doctor said she was growing very well and fast, and was very satisfied with her development. Even friends and relatives who have seen her always never fail to mention how alert and strong she is at such a young age!
Don’t get me wrong, I do not think confinement rules are rubbish. They were probably practiced during a time when water and food were unsanitary, the weather was too cold to be outdoors… In ancient china.
I feel many of these rules we are forced to follow as based on old traditions that nobody bothered asking why and following it blindly. New moms who are already so stress about having a baby shouldn’t be forced to follow rules that make them feel uncomfortable. If there are no scientific evidence behind a practice, don’t stress yourself over it 😉 The whole purpose of confinement is keeping yourself healthy so baby will be too, and there is no one way to do it.
Updated: May 30, 2020
So, I feel like I should really post my post partum fitness routine, since many people have been commenting on the amount of weight I lost.
My pre-pregnancy weight was 60KG, at a dress size of 8 (xs). I went to CrossFit 3 times a week and ran 5km twice a week, so you could say I was rather active before I got pregnant.
My pregnancy was a tough one, and because Eilidh’s heart wasn’t beating well I. The beginning, my gyne told me to stop doing vigorous exercises.
Yep, that was me exercising on holiday when I was carrying Eilidh for 4 months, and went back to crossfit shortly after.
Although I did go back to a wee bit of exercise after her heartbeat was stablized, I felt tired so often and did not have the energy to work out. At the same time on my 28th week, I was diagnosed with a low placenta which caused me to bleed more often, so I was quite wary of what I was doing.
By the time I was full term, with the lack of exercise and my full on cravings, I ballooned to a weight of 81kg!! That’s 21 kg more which is more than the recommended amount by medical professionals. I was worried my weight loss would be a tough one.
Immediately during the first two weeks of post partum, I lost 10kg quite quickly and went down to a weight at 70kg. Of course that wasn’t good enough for me, so I was hoping my jamu would assist me in losing some of the water retention I have.
My jamu was Dian from SG Postnatal massage, and I can tell you she is good! I would highly recommend her. PM me if you want her contact! She helped me lose 2 more extra kg and managed to flatten my tummy abit more.
I’m not the sort that bothers too much about my weight, but my fitness level and dress size. By my 4th week, after getting the greenlight by my gyne, I resumed my running. I struggled alot at first, as my core was weak as fuck. Infact I had to hold my tummy as I run because it felt so heavy.
The second time I attempted my run, I wore my binder as well and it did help me manage my core.
Of course I did not intend to go back to crossfit so soon, but because of what a community CrossFit is as I couldn’t pass off a night out with these awesome people! They have constantly encourage me to come back to crossfit as soon as possible, so I did! I realize my muscles of my core were completely lost and I have problems controlling them. At my gym there is a trainer who is rather familiar with post natal fitness, so she has been looking at my form as I do the workout and guided me on exercises to do to get my strength back.
Because my core is so weak now, I can’t run as far or long, my stamina for the wods have dropped and I have been unable to do my favourite exercise of them all – burpee box jumps!! The lack of core muscles has affected my confidence in jumping on the box and so I have to start from stacking plates higher each time and slowly progress on to the box.
Of course realizing how low my fitness levels are at the moment it prompt me to get back to my CrossFit routine. I now go to CrossFit in the mornings on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and I do runs on Sunday Evenings. It’s good because since Eilidh is already waking me up at 4am I just go to the gym as soon as I wake!
Having a Garmin Smartwatch helps, as it tracks my heart rate, daily steps and prompts me to move when I’m not. It really makes me think how much I move in a day!
Especially on days when I’m not at the gym, I could only achieve 8000 steps. So this makes me walk a longer route to the station, taking the stairs rather than the escalator, etc.
They say since it takes you 9 months to gain, it takes at least 9 months to lose. In he beginning, I barely fit into my sports bras and I was probably a size 12. I just did my new year shopping and I’m now wearing a size 8 in cotton on! Of course I’m on the bigger side of size 8, so I’m still working hard to lose the weight!! This year my New Year’s resolution is to get back to pre pregnancy fitness levels! Wish me luck!
