The birth of our daughter at the end of September marks a new chapter and brings about new life experiences for me and my wife.
小女9月底出生，為我和太太揭開人生新一章，也帶來新的體驗。Mum was admitted to a nearby public hospital for the birth. The maternity ward is a lifely and buzzling place, subdivided into many rooms occupied by up to 4 mums and their babies at a time. Visiting hours is from 08:00 to 20:00, and up to one person can visit at one time and two different people each day. These limitations are part of the hospital's covid policies when the rest of the society has moved on as if nothing had happened - apparently there used to be no limit to visitations before covid, so a dad could in fact accompany the mum and baby all night long. One long-lasting impression from the maternity ward was the symphony of baby cries in which all babies took their turns to join including mine. Calming down the baby was almost impossible in this ambience and was very tough on mum especially when she was battling her own fatigue at the same time.
我普通人家，安排媽媽進公立醫院分娩，一個病房同時最多住四個媽媽和嬰孩，再加上其他病房，好不熱鬧。病房探訪時間是朝8晚8，每次只限1人，每次最多2人，是醫院現時的新冠防疫安排（醫院外基本上沒有人再理會新冠的了）——據說之前不論探訪人數和時間也沒限制，所以訪客（通常是爸爸）可以陪伴產婦和寶寶過夜。病房令我印象最深的是此起彼落的嬰啼交響曲，而且總會有寶寶接力，小女當然也有參與，媽媽要哄孩兒乖好艱難呢，尤其是入夜疲憊心煩交集時獨力面對。
Mum and baby were finally home after 3 rather gruelling and exhausting days in the hospital. The hospital gave us a lot of information and documents to take home, including a ’Green Book’ which is actually a chunky folder with information at different stages of a child's growth and records for health checks and vaccinations. In this electronic age, a folder like this to organise things is still quite handy.
在醫院遭疲勞和嘈音轟炸三天後，母女終於可以回到安靜的家了。出院時有一堆資料和文件帶走，包括一本「綠書」（Green Book），載有小孩至4歲時的資訊和健康記錄卡（體重、疫苗注射等），在這電子年代，一書在手，也有其方便之處。
In the baby's first week home, midwives from the hospital came to our place several times for health checks and took us through some sections of the Green Book. We found this service very helpful: not only did it save us the time and trouble of travelling with such a young baby, the home was also more relaxing environment where our interactions with the midwives were more like a casual chat at times. They were keen to share their personal experiences as mums, and one of them even 'warned' us of the trouble of finding a good school! (Granted, schooling in Australia is not as cut-throat as our homeland of Hong Kong and other parts of Asia, but quality education is still valued and highly sought after by many Australian parents!)
出院後首周，醫院仍有派助產護士家訪，不只替嬰兒作檢查（相等於香港產後第一二次母嬰檢查，但省卻母嬰出門之煩），還依綠書講解注意事項，這項服務固然值得稱讚，在家庭的環境中，氣氛較輕鬆，跟護士交流的感覺更像交談，護士除了講「公事」外也樂得分享自己的經驗，甚至連小孩將來上學選校的問題也聊了！（別以為在澳洲讀書是沒有選校問題的！）
We followed the Chinese tradition of confinement in the first month of the baby's birth. This practice is actually not confined to the Chinese, as I talked to a Malay colleague and a Sri Lankan one who told me of their confinement customs. Westerners have their own version too, although not as elaborate. Nurses in the hospital kept emphasising the 6-week mark, before which mums who underwent C-section should monitor their bleeding and swelling, and should avoid driving or lifting heavy objects. It seems that precautions for post-partem mums are a rather universal theme but just done differently. And in car-dependent Australia, advice against driving would almost have the same effect as house confinement!
華人對坐月子很講究，甚至連澳洲廣播公司今年也出過專題報導，是不容小覷！不過，跟一個馬來族和斯里蘭卡同事聊過，才知坐月不是華人獨有，但其他種族有自己的一套。西方人看似沒什麼坐月的概念，但住院時護士都會對剖腹生產的母親強調首6週要注意傷口和腳部腫脹、避免拿重物和駕車，其實也是「坐月」的一種，即是產後母親應留意身體復元的狀況。而在澳洲要「避免駕車」的話，就幾乎等同留在家的意思（尤其是沒有Uber的年代），跟華人坐月時避免外出也有幾分異曲同工！
I also overheard another conversation in which a nurse advised a mum who underwent birth with forceps to avoid bathing or going into sea water in the first 6 weeks to minimise the chance of infection. Chinese traditionally also advise all mums to avoid contact with water after birth, which would make a lot of sense in the old days when water contamination was still a real issue. It seems that there is wisdom in many of the Chinese traditional post-partem advices and practices.
我有天也聽到護士叮囑另一個用產鉗接生的母親，首6周要注意防止陰道受感染，避免泡浴和浸海水，原來中國人傳統不讓產婦沾水，也是有一定智慧的。妻子在澳洲也想盡量跟華人的產後調理，猶幸在墨爾本有名的越南區，可以買到應是全城最便宜最好品質的薑，每天用薑水洗澡和煮薑醋豬手不成問題。
At the time of publishing, my baby girl has reached 2 months of age. Many new experiences await, not only for the baby but also for her parents. But no matter what lies ahead, we'll be in it together and be holding her steady through this journey.
不經不覺小女已兩個月大，由小女出生到長大，她本人和父母會不斷有新體驗，但無論如何，大家都會攜手同行，一同面對未來！
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