What is confinement food?

This question has been bugging me a while because I have no idea what is confinement food. My gynae has no clue either and the old folks at home kept harping that I need to eat confinement food this time round. 

For my last confinement, I had them catered (cos it was Covid and I couldn't get a confinement nanny) from Yan. It was a restaurant and branched into confinement takeaway, probably to tide over the period. The food was so, so yummy. But the old folks were pissed because it was not "confinement" enough (whatever that means). They insisted this was no food for a lady who has just given birth and there was not enough ginger in the food. 

Personally, I didn't want to have that much ginger because I was breastfeeding and it was said that ginger would cause the jaundice in the baby to spike higher. Note: There is no scientific proof to this. 

This time round, I took a closer look at what the hospital served me after I delivered. It is just like any normal meal. I guess they just made sure I had good nutrients and a balanced diet. Me being me, even ordered all the food I would be unlikely to enjoy the next one month during confinement. I could eat Indian Curry, western big breakfast and a steak!

I had a confinement nanny so I asked her what she would be preparing for me. Basically, she explained that the confinement food followed the TCM. I am not supposed to take "cooling" food. And all the food will be cooked using sesame oil. 

Here's what the nanny cooked for me. It does look a lot like homecooked food doesn't it? If you think it looks kinda of repetitive, it is because I have very selective taste buds. There are some dishes that my family can't cook and she cooks it really well. So I sort of requested to eat quite often. Every morning, I also eat the same fish noodles. 

By the end of the 3rd week, my stomach could no longer take the "heaty food". There were too many meals and too much food. I actually finished everything cos I hate wasting food. I started puking from week 4 onwards and the old folks finally relented and told the nanny she could cook less. The poor nanny was actually kinda of sandwiched because she had to please the old folks yet watch me grow more unwell with each passing day from over-eating. I was so pleased when the whole confinement finally ended. 

Nonetheless, I would really recommend my nanny. It is just that my family is super uptight during the confinement making me a sad woman. Bleh!

How to survive an outdoor maternity shoot?

For my maternity shoot this time round, I chose to have it outdoors. Because the last round was taken indoors (see post here on the considerations), I thought I should do something different this time round. Mind you, this time round I also have a toddler in tow. But I also bought a helper along so that made things a lot more manageable. 

For those who are also on the fence about doing an outdoor maternity shoot, GO FOR IT! Sure, it is exhausting. But the effect of natural light and just being in a non-confined space makes everyone more relax and the photos, in my opinion, comes out more natural.

1. Note that the shoot is subject to weather conditions. To be honest, the weather forecast was not in our favour. That week was supposed to be raining for 5 days a week. But I took a bet on it partially because time wasn't on my side and our workplace is around that area and it seems to have avoided the showers. 


2.  And speaking of time, take your maternity shoot early (from 32 week onwards). I took mine in 36 weeks because the Hubs was busy and I felt like I might be popping anytime that week. I was easily exhausted too. This was the first series so you can't really see the exhaustion on my face yet.


3. To help counter the exhaustion, I actually hunted down a place - National Museum of Singapore that has quite a bit of variations in the scenary so that I didn't have to run around too much. Still, the clothes change took quite a while and drained me quite a bit LOL!





Expect lots of sweat. I don't actually wear make-up so I don't have the problem of "melting makeup" but my son was drenched. The photographer was sharing that we should have brought along some powder for him so that he could freshen up. Tip for other Mummies. 


Bring Water. I only brought water for my kid and I regretted cos the Hubs and I were so parched halfway into the shoot. 


Toddlers love the outdoors. If you have a toddler, an outdoor shoot might be better because they have a huge space to run about. They are more natural. We had so many good photos!




Be open to photobombs by your toddlers. Basically, at this age, they can't be directed for the shoots. So we just had to accomodate him. Having said that, the effect was really good and the smiles captured were so genuine. <3


Bring a helper or helping hand if you have a toddler. Not all the shoots will be of the family, so you would need someone to keep an eye of the little one as you do a clothes change or take a shoot with your signficant other. 


Take control of your own shoot. In my last maternity shoot, I conceptualised one of the shoot and I realised that I love that series the most. This time, I actually conceptualised from location, wardrobe, theme for all 3 shoots (Perankan, Flower Fairy and Regal Royal) and I absolutely love the outcome!

Perankan Dress from Ans.ein. Accessories from Goldheart

For Fellow Diabetic Mothers

So Gestational Diabetes struck again during my 2nd pregnancy, now that I am more prepared I was less whiny and upset by the whole ordeal. I did a post previously on the list of the food (read here about it! It is everything you need to know about gestational diabetes!) and their results. I had this impression that I could rely on it and pass all my prick test with flying colours. 

But it didn't work that way. Apparently with age, the body's tolerance became worse. I felt I ate a lot less or had to be a lot more conscious about what I am eating to not fare badly. For my last pregnancy, I basically work from home and most of the time it was during lock down, so I basically ate the same food everyday. This time round I did a bit of experimenting (some didn't go too well) and found some food that was both fulfilling and diabetic-friendly. 

Under

1. 1.5 wholemeal bread (with hummus spread) - 5.1
2. Confinement Trial Set from Nouriche - 5.4
3. Hardboiled Eggs with Strawberries - 5.2

Pass

1. Noodles with 3 dumplings + salmon + tofu + a slice of cake + half a cup of yoghurt - 6.5
2. Oats with egg and veg - 5.8
3. Thunder Tea Rice (Less Brown Rice) - 6.0
4. Oats + 1/8 mooncake - 6.4
5. Pesto Grilled Chicken Set (from Eighteen Chefs) - 6.7 
6. Fried Rice - 6.2
7. Black Chicken Soup - 5.7
8. Seabass and Ratatouile - 6.0
9. Lamb Set with Veg Sides (from iSteaks) - 5.6 (Read about my review here!)
10. Sofra Turkish Set - 6.2 (See meal in picture above!)
11. Thunder Rice (Veg Only) + Coffee - 5.4

Fail 

1. Mos Burger (Fish burger without sauce- 7.7
2. Pizza Set - 7.7
3. Homecooked pasta with mushroom and asparagus -7.2
4. Salad Set (with chickpeas) - 7.5
5. Starbucks Breakfast Set (Wholemeal Bagel) - 7.4

All about Klairs

Be happy for me because your girl here finally lay her little paws on the Klairs All-Day Airy Sunscreen ($21) and she loves it. True to its name, it is light and doesn't stick on the face. Smooth application too! Look at my happy sun-protected face. Lately I am still staying indoors most of the time because as you all know the baby is arriving any time soon. 

But I am pretty sure once I am back in the groove this will be a product which is quite consistently restocked :P Truly a Klairs girl, because their products are really suitable for my skin and won't cause outbreak. :)

This round, I also stocked up on the Klairs Daily Comfort Hand Wash ($30) (read about it here!), yes it is kinda of becoming a constant. Our house uses the diluted version and it still runs out really fast. Oh yea, this time round I tested the Klair Supple Preparation Facial Toner ($22) because a lot of people have been raving about it. Somehow toner just isn't my thing. I don't really see the impact after adding it to the regime. Given that I will be pretty short on time soon, I think I will be giving this a pass. 

Am feeling a bit like a boring ole lady, will be trying new products the next round :P

Our First Halloween Meal with Parkroyal@Kitchener Road

Friends who know me will know that I am crazy about Halloween. The last 2 years (no thanks Covid) was really tough. But this year, we decided we are going to celebrate it! We were contemplating whether to dress up for our Halloween Dinner but decided that maybe only the little one will dress for it because my huge tummy made it hard to find an approriate themed costumes for the family. 

Our Halloween Meal - a buffet was at Spice Brasserie at Parkroyal@Kitchener Road. It is not our first time there, but it has been a long time since we last went there. (You can read some of our reviews here.) It is a place that holds quite a bit of memories because I have been there, before marriage and now as a mother. The good thing about it being familiar is that I know all the yums there and can go straight for it!

My favourites have always been the chilli crab (with the mantous), desserts and Indian stations and local delights. Spice Brasserie is a place that knows what it is good in and excels continuously in those areas. It has been more than 2 years and the standards has not fallen. 

We went for the Halloween Special's which included the 12-hour-cooked Whole Lamb Leg with Fresh Herbs,  Baby Pork Ribs in a smoky BBQ sauce, a roasted pumpkin stuffed with cinnamon and spices, and a creamy chicken pot pie. Personally, I felt the dishes were very well-executed. My son was very thrilled with the spooky Red Velvet Cup Cake topped with blueberry compote and devoured it all up. 

The other food/ deco generally have a touch of Halloween here and there. My son was also very much in love with his favourite ice creams. If you have toddlers, you can let them have a plate of fruits, sushi, man tous (not the healthiest, but it is so good, they should have a taste) and fried rice. 

My husband insisted I tell you readers that the oyster omelette is super delish when it is served piping hot. A new yummy find this time round was the char-siew and satays. I would have ate up all the satays just that, it would fill me up too much and I didn't want to deprive others of their rightful share. Haha. I also had fun making my own muah-chee.

Spice Brasserie’s Halloween Specials is at SGD 75nett per adult and SGD 37.50nett per child, which I thought was priced pretty reasonably because just a few crabs and you will pretty much break even. Haha! There was a photobooth that day and we had so much fun with it. 

Quite honestly, I didn't expect to stay that long around the photo booth and props area. But our murderous axe-welding bear refused to leave the vicinity. He was just so in the mood and was growling at other diners when they approached the props table. I suppose they might think he is part of the Halloween deco. LOL!

It was a very fun night for the family. By the time we actually reached home, it was way past his bedtime. The next day, we could still hear him telling his grandfather about the eye cupcake he had. :)