Entering a new world

Alhamdulillah, my wife delivered a beautiful daughter on 26th July, roughly about 2 weeks ago. The 9 month journey of waiting has ended and my wife and I are now joining the club of parenthood.

Both of us are new in this world of parenthood and there are literally millions of things that I personally need to learn either by experience or by asking someone who is more experienced. Although I am a doctor and knows roughly regarding the developmental milestones of an infant and the commonly occurring healthcare related problems in children, the journey itself is a different thing altogether.

An example would be breastfeeding. It is quite difficult in the first few days for my wife to establish good breastfeeding technique. On top of that, the baby is becoming more jaundice due to insufficient breastfeeding. It took us lots of time and patience to establish the breastfeeding. At one point, I personally had to take the blood from my daughter to check the level of bilirubin. Fortunately, the bilirubin level is below the phototherapy level and she does need to be admitted to the hospital.

Staying in Malaysia means that you will encounter the tradition, that has been passed on from generation to generation. During the postnatal period, there are lots of taboos especially among Malays of things that you could or couldn't do during the postpartum period. There are certain taboos that made me wonder regarding its motives and whether it is actually beneficial to the mother and the baby. The hardest part in this subject is how to approach your parent and in laws and to voice out your opinion without hurting their feeling. Personally, I think it is very difficult.

A new world with thousands of challenges. Hopefully, my family will be able to go through it :)