September 2018

What it means to be a new mother

Almost 2 weeks ago, I gave birth to a healthy baby girl – my first baby. And since then I’ve been doing my 30 days confinement with the baby and with my mother helping me out. My days basically consist of expressing milk, breast feeding directly, changing diapers, a fuck-ton of laundry, properly arranging my things in the new house and reading up on what to expect next. So it’s no wonder that when people ask me “have you had any rest?”, the answer is “no”. Confinement in Asian tradition is supposed to be a time for a new mother to rest and recuperate. After a long labor, it’s 13 days postpartum and I’m still looking forward to this elusive “rest”. I don’t see myself as a pedantic mother.  But one thing that really annoys me to no end are those who are and expect me to also be pedantic over my baby. Parties that have had children, and hell, even those who haven’t seem to have an opinion the second my baby cries. BABIES CRY! It’s their…