Post Partum Care

My mom has been so concerned about my post partum care and that I recover properly according to Korean tradition.  Since she works and can't be with me 24/7 for the first few months, she even offered to hire help for us which I declined.  Hubby will be home with me and I want to care for our newborn together without hired help.  My mom will be able to visit frequently but I guess she's still concerned since she can't be here full time. 

It's very important in Korean tradition that the new mom keeps her body warm at all times after baby.  My mom insists that my entire body must be covered and kept warm day and night and I must only drink warm or room temperature liquids.  I have a problem with this since my body is always naturally warm and I hate being hot and love drinking cold water.  I must also avoid touching cold water which is not a big deal but it takes so long for the water to warm up at home.  Am I supposed to leave it running and wait to wash my hands?  What a waste!  I guess the consequences of not keeping warm post partum are a lifetime of aches and pains as I age.  I will try to follow this tradition and mom's orders as best I can because it's true: mom is always right (most of the time). 

Another tradition is eating a lot of seaweed soup.  This I don't have a problem with because I love seaweed soup and don't mind eating it for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  I'm sure I'll get sick of it after four consecutive days of eating the same thing all day long but if it's good for me and the baby then I won't mind too much. 

I think when our mothers had to care for us as newborns, our fathers weren't as hands on as modern day dads.  Maybe it's a Korean male thing but I never hear about how helpful our dads were in caring for us and our moms post partum.  I always hear about how my mom and aunts went off to their mothers for the first few months to recover and care for us as newborns.  I assume that our dads were too busy working and making money because I'm sure there wasn't paternity leave back in their day.  I hear that in Korea, there are post partum centers where new moms and their babies live for the first month or so to receive around the clock care without the help of their husbands.  Paternity leave probably isn't as established in Korea as it is here.  My mom is so worried that I'll be too overwhelmed trying to do everything on my own but Hubby is amazing and I know he will be very hands on with Emily.  We live in a great age where dads are much more involved and paternity leave is a norm now.

Hubby and I took the girls out for a long walk again today and my contractions have intensified a little more.  Ten days left until due date!