The Bub in the Belly

Today we went to Chinatown to buy herbs for use during confinement.

According to Chinese confinement rules, the mummy is not supposed to drink plain water or touch plain water during her confinement. If she wants to bathe (and some don't bathe at all for the whole confinement period), she must bathe with water boiled with herbs. For drinking water, she has to drink water boiled with red dates and longan. Apart from these herbs, there are (many) more that she can take to expel wind, expel "bad blood" and regain her health. She also has got to be put on a confinement diet, which contains lots of sesame oil and ginger.

Here is a shot of all the herbs we bought today.