Practicing Ge-Lai

I am not a Chinese nor any blood inherited from them. I just want to try this thing I have read year 2009. I know some were facts and some were just traditions. Still I am taking consideration in doing this after giving birth.

I still remember 2009, I am working at Aegis People Support. I was being seated beside a pregnant tenured employee who happened to read a blog of Giselle Sanchez from Pep.com website. Since it was prohibited in the office, so she hides it from time to time. Then I've got the guts to ask what is she reading about. She said a tips after giving birth. She was 8 months pregnant during that time. I admit it didn't interests me, not until I got pregnant this year and remembers her. Here is what Ge-lai about. The blog was written by Ms. Sanchez.

Ge-lai, is a post-partum care that has been practiced for centuries in China and up to now by the traditional Chinese. And why? There are many advantages. I have an 80-year-old Chinese lady friend who has had six children, but she looks like she is 50 years old and as strong as a 40-year- old lady. Mrs. Dy has no veins in her hands, no wrinkles, never had cosmetic surgery nor botox. Take note, she is 80 years old. She told me her secret was her practices after giving birth: Ge-lai. Let me go over some of them for our future mothers who wish to reap the benefits.

    1.    No bath for a month!

    The Chinese believe that when you give birth, all your pores open up because of the extreme pressure and exhaustion.You also accumulate a lot of “cold” in your body such that bathing brings in more “cold” even if you take a bath with warm water, especially your head.

    2. After a month of NO bath ge-lai expert will assist you took bath with  matching different herbal boiled leaves .

    3. Then a 9 days uterus massage to lift back to its normal position and a rewarding bathing pass and again have a final massage.

    Advantages of the one-month bath abstinence: faster recovery, better resistance to sickness like colds, fever, “binat”, and more time for your baby and to breastfeed.

    Abstaining from taking a bath also abstains you from going out, which gives you a mandatory one-month rest, which you badly need after giving birth.

    4. Twice a day, sit on boiled guava leaves. You have to be naked when you do this, okay. If you’re wearing a panty, it won’t work.Seriously speaking, the steam of the guava leaves will hasten the healing of your wounds down under and will make your uterus contract  faster (breastfeeding will also hasten this).

    5. Eat lapu-lapu, cook in soup with ginger to heal the stitches in your belly (for caesarian operations) and stitches in your pep_   (for normal delivery). I actually researched on why this works. Apparently, lapu-lapu is rich with omega 3 fish oil , which is enhances tissue repair in our bodies.

    6. Drink Seravallo wine. This is made from the bark of a tree in Brazil which is very rich in Iron.  Broken sleep patterns from breastfeeding or taking care of the baby makes you lose a lot of iron in your body. Seravallo replenishes your iron. It is safe for nursing mothers because it is more of a medicinal tonic than a wine.

    7. Eat soups with lots of ginger and drink hot chocolate with native egg. Again this is to eliminate the “cold” in your body. Chocolate is warm. Sweets are warm. And ginger is the warmest.

    8. After giving birth and on your first four weeks after birth, wear a binder or a girdle even when you go to sleep.

    9. If you can, breastfeed. It will be great for your baby and for yourself too.

    For your baby: It will strengthen your baby’s immune system. . No colic that is very common among infants.  Colic is excessive crying and irritability in infants because of stomach or intestinal discomfort caused by air spasm or inflammation. This happens when infants are given formula in a bottle because they get to  suck some air when sucking milk.

    For the mom: Massively reduces the uterus inflammation and brings back the uterus size to normal.

    It also reduces birth weight and gets you back to your normal weight in one week. It makes you lose 500 calories per feeding which means you do not need to work out so much and you can eat whatever you want since you get to lose it anyway.

    Disadvantages: You will be the slave of your child or the breast pump every two hours, if not, your breast will explode of breast milk. Well, it won’t really explode but it will feel like it—it’s called engorgement.

    You will be the U.F.M., the Ultimate Feeding Machine of your child. You feel helpless and you won’t get to do anything else, even write a blog entry!

    But things will normalize in a month and you will learn to do other things around your breastfeeding schedule, and you will be proud  that the Ultimate Feeding Machine is the Ultimate Sacrifice a mother can make for her child. And the word sacrifice is an understatement! 

See the advantages?! That's why I am so tempted to try this so. :)