Week 1 of Charles' life: "Omugwo Starts"

So what happened in week one? I ate lots of yam peppered soup; I drank lots of palm wine like a drunkard; and my late daily all night vigil started. Baby Akachukwu Charles woke up every one half to two hours to breastfeed.  Also both of my legs also got swollen as post partum symptoms that I could barely work. This happens because of fluid imbalance and one of the functions of the yam peppered soup  is to make this disappear. Did I mention that I started doing salt water sit baths? Yeah,  you are expected to continue the sit baths daily for the next two to three weeks.

The week one of Akachukwu's life was filled with joy with lots of food to eat though and it made me to tolerate all the negatives I mentioned above. This food and drinks wrapped with joy makes you completely forget the negatives you are going through. You will even forget that you passed through labor.
I know some would be asking; "what the hell is omugwo? When a lady gives birth, a close member of her family comes to take care of mother and child. That close family member is usually the mother or mother-in-law of the lady. This act is called omugwo.

Omugwo has a sweet and savory side. The sweet thing about omugwo is that you get to eat lots of specially made dishes for you:).  Now the bad; get ready to keep awake at night with your baby. Your sleeping pattern automatically changes because most babies tend to wake up every two hours at night to breastfeed.

After being discharged from the hospital, omugwo food awaited us at home. My husband had already bought tubers of yam while my dad brought dried fish and crayfish. Then there was a keg of fresh palmwine. For those that don't know, palmwine plays a significant role for first time moms in breast milk expression. I will further explain this in my upcoming posts.

There is a popular Nigerian food served to a woman that just gave birth and it's particularly unique to the Igbo culture. It's called "ji mmiri oku", translated in English to mean yam peppered soup. Other tribes have their own post-partum meals and I would like others to comment on their own tribal post partum foods. Yep w'all here to learn.  Yam peppered soup (jim mmiri oku) has other scientifically proven benefits which I will write on in my next posts.

Going Home With Baby, Yay!

As I stated earlier, I gave birth at a prestigious hospital that offers quality services. To see the name of the hospital, check out my previous and first posts.

My stay at the hospital wasn't long. Me and baby were discharged within two days. They had to monitor baby for some time in hosptal to make sure he didn't have jaundice.

They also gave him antibiotics to clear any possible infection. When the medical team checked him and saw that he was very okay, they discharged us, and we headed home immediately. Thank God!

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My Short Stay At The Hospital

While I was at Hospital to give birth, the staffs treated me with warmth and pamper. I really enjoyed my short stay there, the staffs were so nice.

Three course delicious meals were served and regular hot water was given. Your baby is bathed and dressed every morning by the nurses. They have a wonderful baby bath tub there. They also regularlly come check on you and baby to see how he is fairing. Hopefully the Hospital continues this wonderful services. They really do offer quality services.

My family and well wishers came visiting as usual with congratulatory hugs.

To see the name of this hospital, check out my previous posts here:   http://akachukwuebite.blogspot.com/2018/02/gratitude-to-people-that-helped-me_89.html

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Gratitude To People That Helped Me During Labor (Part 5)

Finally, I would like to specially thank my brother Emeka for all the help he rendered during my birth stay at the hospital. Emeka rendered so many services that were so valuable. He ran lots and lots of errands, helped to bring whatever was needed at the hospital. Infact, if I am to add all the help he rendered, I would conclude that he did the highest job ever. That's why I saved the best for last. Special thanks to Emi!

For everyone that sent their well wishes in one way or another, I say thank you. For all those that prayed for me, I say thank you.

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Gratitude To People That Helped Me During Labor (Part 4)

Continuation of my thanksgiving post huh...

Yes, I will like to thank my sister-in-law fondly called "Mama Chidimma" as we have come to know her as. She played a key role in buying a lot of clothes for baby Akachukwu from Lagos and he is still wearing some of those clothes today. She also purchased so many baby items at affordable prices direct from Lagos.

A big round of applause to my mother-in-law for all the phone calls that she made. She wasnt there physically but her numerous phone calls made her presence felt. She was always calling to find out every step and stage.

Another big round of applause to my sister Christabel, her husband, and her husband's family. Christabel my sister sent me a big travel bag fully packaged with newborn 0-3months clothes. Correct new first class cotton clothes. If you price such quality baby clothes in the market, it will be nothing less than N500 each. So imagine me collecting a travel bag of such clothes. I didnt have to spend money buying baby clothes. A big thanks to her.

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Gratitude To People That Helped Me During Labor (Part 3)

I really want to thank my brother Chuks and his wife Esther for all they did for me during my time of labor. Chuks accompanied by his wife drove me to the hospital in the night around 8pm when labor signs set in. They stayed there until i was admitted into a room. They had to leave around 10pm to go back home. A day after delivery, they came with a big cooler of rice and stew with fried fish. That really warmed us up because the food was mouth watering. I can't thank them enough for all the support they gave.

I also want to thank my brother Stan, his wife and family for being very supportive financially. They gave us money in pounds which if converted to nigerian naira becomes a lump sum of money. They are based in Uk so could were supportive in this manner as they could not nlbe physically present. Thanks to them.

I cannot forget to thank my sister Ada and her husband Mike for the role they played. After delivery, they came visiting with their own yam peppersoup popularly called "Ji mmiri oku" in Igbo land, u get. Its the popular delicacy the igbo culture prepare for a woman that just gave birth. They really took out extra time to prepare that food.

God bless them all.

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Gratitude To People That Helped Me During Labor. (Part 2)

Continuation of the previous post....
http://akachukwuebite.blogspot.com.ng/2018/02/gratitude-to-people-that-helped-me.html?m=1

Thirdly, I would like to thank my darling  husband for the financial support he gave to me. He refused to enter the labor ward because he couldn't stand it, lol. He rather waited at the room and gave support in other ways. He helped a lot financially like buying whatever was needed and he did that as quickly as possible. He had already bought all the baby things pre-term which helped me to prepare emotionally for the D-Day. He ran around, driving back and forth to ensure that he provided all the items needed. He drove a 2hours journey from Owerri to Port Harcourt on 24th morning cos he wanted to be present. A big thanks to him.

I would also like to thank my father for the financial support he gave too. He prayed constantly. As of that day, he was at the villa. He travelled to the village 3days ago for an event so wasn't around at the time. Immediately he heard i had given birth, he was filled with joy and started buying things for omugwo ighotago :). He bought lots of dried fish, palm wine, meat, garri etc... My father provided a lot of financial support too. 

Thanks for reading.

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