Vietnamese Postpartum Diet & Care

So- I knew when I got pregnant, I was going to battling with 2 cultures...

my mothers culture vs. my husbands...

so we compromised...

Lets just say, Vietnamese superstitions can sometimes freak anyone out... this is what I thought would happen:

no showers for a month
a strict diet of rice, porridge and basically nothing...
no leaving the house for a month..

NO SHOWERS FOR A MONTH...

But that wasn't the case. Vietnamese culture believes in the "Sitting Month". “Sitting month” is a folklore ritual observed by many postpartum women in Vietnam.. Traditionally, its pretty strict... but we did a modified version.

I did the following:

1. Avoid All cold food and drinks including ice water- just room temperature water... no juice or soda
2. Sour food and fruits- I don't know why- but I followed it for 30 days.
3. All fresh fruits and vegetables- I ate cooked vegetables but my mom wouldn't allow salads or anything.
4. no beef or seafood- Strictly chicken or pork.
5. rice, vietnamese pho noodles.. rice noodles- I ate brown rice with most of my meals... ALL meals must be served hot. NOTHING COLD..

6. Bathing restriction was a struggle with my mom- who tried her best to encourage me not to shower everyday- but lets be honest, parenting was pretty difficult and there was little time to shower.. I did sponge showers every other day and I washed my hair once a week...

7. Restrictions in physical activity- well its not like anyone would run a marathon the first month anyways- but vietnamese traditions believed one should NOT leave the house for a month... We talked about this for MONTHS with my husband and our Pediatrician who felt that exposing our baby to people is more harmful then taking little strolls around the neighborhood... We kept it simple, because I was still healing- we only went out for 1-2 hours at a time.. and it wasn't everyday...

8. Lots of rest... I took a lot of naps and rested while family came to hold the baby.. we had some rules tho- people who came had to wash their hands- kept their shoes outside (shoes carry 99% of bacteria).

9. Vistors- Since Landon was a premie- we were very strict on visitors. Mostly immediate family- my parents, grandmothers, siblings and josh's family. All extended family had to wait a month to see our baby. Anyone who held Landon had to lay a blanket on themselves first.

that was basically following "Tradition" without giving into crazy demands... and to be honest, I'm healthy so I do believe that most of it worked.

Losing Baby Weight and Staying Healthy

Losing baby weight is not easy.. it doesn't magically slide off on its own...

Most of you know- I was obsessed with 2 things during my pregnancy..

1. cake
2. McDonalds

but once I had Landon- I went into "GET YOUR ASS HEALTHY" mode. I didn't want to be the mom who "let herself go".. but it wasn't easy.

SO- as the 37 lbs began to shed- I did the following:

1. get some rest. Carrying a watermelon for 9 months is exhausting... pushing out that watermelon.. well- that's a different story. But- I went into full hibernation for 4 weeks per my mothers request. The minute I started labor- I was on strict orders to relax and take it easy. I wasn't to lift anything or do anything but nurse, eat and sleep for a month. It gave my body time to heal and I believe it was well worth it.

My mother, husband and mother in law did all the cleaning and cooking while I relaxed and eased into motherhood...

2. eat healthy. For my first month, I was on a strict vietnamese postpartum diet... (I'll do a post on this later) After a month of this- I moved to an all organic diet... all organic meats, veggies, fruits and grains. for a girl who ate chicken nuggets everyday- I thought I would die of starvation, but this transition was not difficult. I prepped snacks for the week to keep me fueled and it really helped. I did cut all dairy from my diet. when I do have dairy, it is organic.

3. Nurse or Pump (If you can)... I nursed Landon around the clock and still do! They say "Breast is best" and it how can you pass on burning 500 calories a day!??! 7 months and still going strong!

4. exercise- have you all met me? this word was not in my vocabulary... but after month 1- we started going on walks around the mall... at month 2- I started doing Insanity with my husband. I didn't apply myself 100%- but I did break a sweat and by month 3- I was back in my pre-pregnancy clothes. Insanity is a great work out- I really helped me tone my body and rebuild muscle tone- I was able to do it at home while landon slept and its only 45 minutes long!! By month 3, keeping up with Landon and nursing was all I needed to shed my baby weight. between month 5-7 I took a break because my wrist started to hurt... but I started up again because I wanted to continue to stay stronger.

5. Think positive... Stay Positive... believe in yourself!!

Peas Please!!

Well.. someone is ready to eat!!

I didn't think I would be the mom to make food, but then again, I didn't think I would be the mom to breastfeed either... Somehow, it happened, and I'm excited... SUPER excited to do it!

So I'm branching out with a new adventure.. making baby food! It will be trial an error- but here we go!

We started with EarthBest organic brown rice cereal- it instantly caused him to back up and have constipation- which then interrupted our potty training... btw, baby food takes baby poop to a whole different level! (baby steps.. baby steps!)

After a week, we took a break from eating "solids" and tried to get him back to a regular bathroom schedule!

At week 3, we tried EarthBest Organic Oatmeal.. which kept him regular and he loved it!!

now onto the next transition.. deciding what to start with. Some people say sweet potatoes, avocado, or bananas... I started with Peas... because I decided greens first.

and I decided to make it in bulk to freeze and feed... here we go!!

what you need:
- food processor
- 2 bags of frozen organic peas
- water (baby breeza delegates how much water to put in on its own)
- spatula
- food storage containers, ice cube maker, etc


Start with deciding which food processor to commit too...


we decided on the baby breeza! I did make my husband purchase the baby breeza, baby beba, and baby bullet.. then I sat there and opened it all- stared at it for a few days and really thought about the process and what I needed my food processor to do for me.. packed up all the others and returned them.

I wanted my food processor to be a 1 stop shop. the baby breeza- you throw in the veggies and just press a button and it steams, blends,and purees!! after that you just pour it in the ice cubes and freeze!

I poured 1 pack of frozen organic Peas into the processor, selected "Sweet Peas", pressed steam and blend, and walked away for 20 minutes...

I let the puree cool- poured it into some silicone ice cube makers and set them in the freezer to store... (side note: I bought these ice cube makers at william somoma- they are not 1oz cubes- which kinda bummed me out.. I will get these instead.

the next morning- I popped them out and threw them into a labeled ziplock bag- "sweet peas" and date. I plan on defrosting by throwing 1 cube into a little bowl and setting it in hot water to heat (we are a anti-microwave since blogging this study about the affects of microwaving foods: here

Soooo... Let him eat PEAS!!!

this face has no idea what's coming...

still has a smile because I'm sure he thinks he's getting oatmeal...

1 spoonful...

he didn't LOVE it- but he didn't HATE it either.. he took about 10 spoonfuls before losing interest!

NO MORE PEAS.. NO MORE pictures!! he was done.

check out our video of Landon eating peas. lol

Pump it, Store it, Save it for a rainy day!

I started pumping and saving about 1 week before I went back to work. I frantically tried to pump and store but I always felt that I was doing it wrong... then one day, I googled, googled, and googled some more on how to save and store breast milk and I've only found a handful of helpful step by step sites... So I hope this blog post helps some of you mamas out there!!

STEP 1: BUY PUMP

We have the Medela Pump in Style Advanced Electric Breast Pump with Backpack. I started using the pump at the hospital after delivery to help my milk come in. I love this pump!

STEP 2: WASH YOUR HANDS & PREP

YES.. WASH YOUR HANDS.. I also pre-prep all my pump accessories. It's always ready to go! Make sure you have all your essentials ready, ex: grab some water, get a photo of your baby or your phone to watch a video of him to help stimulate your milk. (Creepy but it works!)

STEP 3: PUMP PUMP PUMP

pump your heart out!! I pump for as long as he feeds. About 15 minutes on both sides. There are days where he will only feed one side, so I'll pump the other side and store. I also prefer to store milk in 2oz, 3 oz and 3.5 oz. Never store more than 4 oz at a time!

STEP 4: STORAGE BAGS

Decide how you want to store milk. I started off storing in bottles but it takes longer to defrost milk and it took up too much space so I changed to these handy Medela bags. I like them because they freeze flat and it's easier to organize!

STEP 5: LABEL STORAGE BAG

Always label with the Date & Amount. I like to add the time as well. If your little one is in daycare make sure you add their name!

STEP 6: OPEN BAG & FILL

Be careful & don't spill your liquid gold!!

STEP 7: CLOSE BAGGY

Best way to close the bag is to seal the ziplock bag 3/4 of the way and then remove all the air from the bag.

you can squeeze it with your hands and to remove the air and then close the bag OR remove the air by rolling the bag over the counter.

the main goal is to remove the air and prevent air bubbles. the second method over the counter works the best!!

STEP 8: LAY FLAT TO CHECK

STEP 9: STORE IN FREEZER

Store your milk flat in the back of the freezer. **DO NOT FREEZE MILK on freezer door!!**

Once your milk is completely frozen, you can stand it up with the earliest date first.

**Before I started freezing this way, My freezer looked a HOT MESS**

That's pretty much it!! Happy Pumping & Saving!!

To Microwave or NOT to MICROWAVE...

After reading this article... I decided I had to share.. and I hope that everyone who reads this will spread the word!!

Below is a Science fair project presented by a girl in a secondary school in Sussex. In it she took filtered water and divided it into two parts.

The first part she heated to boiling in a pan on the stove, and the second part she heated to boiling in a microwave.

Then after cooling she used the water to water two identical plants to see if there would be any difference in the growth between the normal boiled water and the water boiled in a microwave.

She was thinking that the structure or energy of the water may be compromised by microwave.

As it turned out, even she was amazed at the difference, after the experiment which was repeated by her class mates a number of times and had the same result.

It has been known for some years that the problem with microwaved anything is not the radiation people used to worry about, it’s how it corrupts the DNA in the food so the body can not recognize it.

Microwaves don’t work different ways on different substances. Whatever you put into the microwave suffers the same destructive process. Microwaves agitate the molecules to move faster and faster. This movement causes friction which denatures the original make-up of the substance. It results in destroyed vitamins, minerals, proteins and generates the new stuff called radiolytic compounds, things that are not found in nature.

So the body wraps it in fat cells to protect itself from the dead food or it eliminates it fast. Think of all the Mothers heating up milk in these ‘Safe’ appliances. What about the nurse in Canada that warmed up blood for a transfusion patient and accidentally killed him when the blood went in dead. But the makers say it’s safe. But proof is in the pictures of living plants dying!!!

FORENSIC RESEARCH DOCUMENT
Prepared By: William P. Kopp
A. R. E. C. Research Operations
TO61-7R10/10-77F05
RELEASE PRIORITY: CLASS I ROO1a

Ten Reasons to dispose off your Microwave Oven
From the conclusions of the Swiss, Russian and German scientific clinical studies, we can no longer ignore the microwave oven sitting in our kitchens. Based on this research, one can conclude this article with the following:

1). Continually eating food processed from a microwave oven causes long term – permanent – brain damage by ‘shorting out’ electrical impulses in the brain [de-polarizing or de-magnetizing the brain tissue].

2). The human body cannot metabolize [break down] the unknown by-products created in microwaved food.

3). Male and female hormone production is shut down and/or altered by continually eating microwaved foods.

4). The effects of microwaved food by-products are residual [long term, permanent] within the human body.

5). Minerals, vitamins, and nutrients of all microwaved food is reduced or altered so that the human body gets little or no benefit, or the human body absorbs altered compounds that cannot be broken down.

6). The minerals in vegetables are altered into cancerous free radicals when cooked in microwave ovens.

7). Microwaved foods cause stomach and intestinal cancerous growths [tumours]. This may explain the rapidly increased rate of colon cancer in UK and America .

8). The prolonged eating of microwaved foods causes cancerous cells to increase in human blood.

9). Continual ingestion of microwaved food causes immune system deficiencies through lymph gland and blood serum alterations.

10). Eating microwaved food causes loss of memory, concentration, emotional instability, and a decrease of intelligence.