Yes, They're Frozen!
If I were to rank all the most frequently asked questions about my pregnancy, this one definitely rates in my top 3--What about your confinement plan?
First of all, read T.H.I.S to familiarize yourself with the term "confinement", the Chinese traditional beliefs and practices in postpartum.
Alright, now I assume you kinda understand the background, the theories, and the reasons why my ancestors invented and passed down those restrictions & rules thousand years ago, generations to generations, regions to regions. The result? Billions of Chinese mothers are benefiting from their wisdom...also suffering at the time. What? 30 days of sole confinement, bed rest, and being fed 5 meals a day are not fun ok, at least to me. Don't forget there are tons of taboos & don'ts too. Just thinking of those rules gives me postpartum depression already @.@
Cut the crap. Anyway, the bottom line is my mum isn't visiting; her knee caps are too weak to survive the 26 hours flight unless someone is willing to travel together with her. And ya, my sis is the right candidate, I thought of that too but after considering her back problem that she's still dealing with, I better don't risk it no matter how bad I wish they could be here with me. I can't be too selfish. As for my MIL, she won't be coming either. My sis-in-law just gave birth to a super adorable baby boy last month; everyone is super busy with the newborn (Y.A.Y! Double dragons for the Law family, a dragon & a phoenix! 龙凤呈祥!)
So ya, it'll be just me & Chean, dealing with the confinement thingy and our baby. Hold your pitiful stares and don't raise your eyebrows yet, because we actually see this coming months ago and we roll out plan B--Frozen Confinement Meals.
Yes, they are frozen, FedExed from L.A every 5 days or every week, depends the package you chose. Actually there're a few companies in L.A that offer the similar confinement meals service; I picked JingMommy (金品月子膳食) because: 1) It's owned & run by Taiwanese, 2) They imported all the herbs packets from Taiwan (風車月子藥膳), and 3) They adopt 莊淑旂博士's confinement theories (google her and you'll be convinced).
I honestly think Taiwanese have better knowledge about confinement plan than Malaysian (look at all the Taiwanese celebrities who have given birth and still look amazing); our confinement practices are kinda rojak (mixed) and I'm not buying some of the theories my mum told me, cause she herself doesn't even understand the rationale behind those practices (she's an ABC btw, that's even less convincing :p), no facts, no reasons, just blind rules. Ok lah, I do appreciate ancient knowledge and personal experiences, but I need more substantial information & solid facts, sorry for being such a pest @.@
Oh, before I forget, feel free to peek at the menu & price, if you're interested.
#1 I ordered the trial samples couple months ago which cost me US$70 for FedEx overnight shipment. Sigh. This expense is unnecessary if I live in L.A; they offer free tasting from time to time.
#2 Five meals a day, plus drinks and soups, all in full size portion. The "real" meal plan will come with rice (養生飯), eggs (活力蛋), veggie (鮮翠生蔬), and herbal soup (風車生化湯). Jeez, how can a human eat so much in a day? I got depression already (T____T)
#3 紅豆紫米粥
#4 香菇枸杞燉雞湯
#5 黑棗花生燉豬腳 (This one tastes surprisingly good! Full of collagen~~)
#6 紅棗枸杞鱸魚湯 (My fave of all! Y.U.M.M.Y~~)
There are more that I didn't take pics with, like 麻油鸡, 花生薏仁湯 and so on. They all tasted decent. I just wish I could get them fresh, daily fresh, but it's impossible unless I move to L.A. This is the best possible solution that we came across other than hiring a confinement lady from L.A. I never ever wanted to have a total stranger to take care of me & my baby, I won't do that even if I were in M'sia. It's just odd to me, too used to my personal comfort zone perhaps :p
Also, I've ordered loads of postnatal herbal packets directly from Taiwan and my MIL posted me tons of traditional herbs & medicines too (maybe I'll share with you all later). Hopefully things go well. If we can do this, we can do anything!!! Hahahahahahahaha~~ *being delusionally positive*
Hmm... Gan jiong max!!!
Wish me luck, will you?
p/s: share with me if you have any thoughts or ideas about a better confinement meal plan in the U.S, appreciated :D
Fingers crossed,
Bev
First of all, read T.H.I.S to familiarize yourself with the term "confinement", the Chinese traditional beliefs and practices in postpartum.
Alright, now I assume you kinda understand the background, the theories, and the reasons why my ancestors invented and passed down those restrictions & rules thousand years ago, generations to generations, regions to regions. The result? Billions of Chinese mothers are benefiting from their wisdom...also suffering at the time. What? 30 days of sole confinement, bed rest, and being fed 5 meals a day are not fun ok, at least to me. Don't forget there are tons of taboos & don'ts too. Just thinking of those rules gives me postpartum depression already @.@
Cut the crap. Anyway, the bottom line is my mum isn't visiting; her knee caps are too weak to survive the 26 hours flight unless someone is willing to travel together with her. And ya, my sis is the right candidate, I thought of that too but after considering her back problem that she's still dealing with, I better don't risk it no matter how bad I wish they could be here with me. I can't be too selfish. As for my MIL, she won't be coming either. My sis-in-law just gave birth to a super adorable baby boy last month; everyone is super busy with the newborn (Y.A.Y! Double dragons for the Law family, a dragon & a phoenix! 龙凤呈祥!)
So ya, it'll be just me & Chean, dealing with the confinement thingy and our baby. Hold your pitiful stares and don't raise your eyebrows yet, because we actually see this coming months ago and we roll out plan B--Frozen Confinement Meals.
Yes, they are frozen, FedExed from L.A every 5 days or every week, depends the package you chose. Actually there're a few companies in L.A that offer the similar confinement meals service; I picked JingMommy (金品月子膳食) because: 1) It's owned & run by Taiwanese, 2) They imported all the herbs packets from Taiwan (風車月子藥膳), and 3) They adopt 莊淑旂博士's confinement theories (google her and you'll be convinced).
I honestly think Taiwanese have better knowledge about confinement plan than Malaysian (look at all the Taiwanese celebrities who have given birth and still look amazing); our confinement practices are kinda rojak (mixed) and I'm not buying some of the theories my mum told me, cause she herself doesn't even understand the rationale behind those practices (she's an ABC btw, that's even less convincing :p), no facts, no reasons, just blind rules. Ok lah, I do appreciate ancient knowledge and personal experiences, but I need more substantial information & solid facts, sorry for being such a pest @.@
Oh, before I forget, feel free to peek at the menu & price, if you're interested.
#1 I ordered the trial samples couple months ago which cost me US$70 for FedEx overnight shipment. Sigh. This expense is unnecessary if I live in L.A; they offer free tasting from time to time.
#2 Five meals a day, plus drinks and soups, all in full size portion. The "real" meal plan will come with rice (養生飯), eggs (活力蛋), veggie (鮮翠生蔬), and herbal soup (風車生化湯). Jeez, how can a human eat so much in a day? I got depression already (T____T)
#3 紅豆紫米粥
#4 香菇枸杞燉雞湯
#5 黑棗花生燉豬腳 (This one tastes surprisingly good! Full of collagen~~)
#6 紅棗枸杞鱸魚湯 (My fave of all! Y.U.M.M.Y~~)
There are more that I didn't take pics with, like 麻油鸡, 花生薏仁湯 and so on. They all tasted decent. I just wish I could get them fresh, daily fresh, but it's impossible unless I move to L.A. This is the best possible solution that we came across other than hiring a confinement lady from L.A. I never ever wanted to have a total stranger to take care of me & my baby, I won't do that even if I were in M'sia. It's just odd to me, too used to my personal comfort zone perhaps :p
Also, I've ordered loads of postnatal herbal packets directly from Taiwan and my MIL posted me tons of traditional herbs & medicines too (maybe I'll share with you all later). Hopefully things go well. If we can do this, we can do anything!!! Hahahahahahahaha~~ *being delusionally positive*
Hmm... Gan jiong max!!!
Wish me luck, will you?
p/s: share with me if you have any thoughts or ideas about a better confinement meal plan in the U.S, appreciated :D
Fingers crossed,
Bev