Rostrum, I dun remember taking any bu during my time. But I had daily chicken essence (without dangui etc etc) and every other day bird's nest with pao sheng. I dun regard bird's nest as bu - as many pregies will disagree. But I need pao sheng to give me energy n keep me awake.
Rose, if u r aiming for natural, do try to take coconut water from week 35 onwards. Take it once a week. In all I took abt 7 coconuts as I had one false alarm (which I took one more on the day itself) and on the eve of delivery since I knew I will be induced, I had one more. Go for those with green husks, usually from Malaysia. Don't take those from Thailand (vital coconut).
When I deliver my gal, her complexion was very good. And my lochia flow was heavy during first 3days. Delivering without epi is possible, but provided cervix is dilating gradually. For me, after going through 11hrs of pain, my cervix was not opened (I wasn't relaxed enough, can see my bp of 135 +\- once I had epi, my bp dropped to 108 to 112. And cervix dilated. Try not to numb all the way as you need to feel contractions to know when to push. Oh ya, on the day of delivery, I also had two bottles of chicken essence to gv myself energy to push. Giving birth naturally is not easy. But the end result is very very satisfying.
Pandawife, I dun think evening wipes is necessary. But if my gal wakes up during evening, we will still wipe her. Fast one lah. Like what grumpus says, clean here, cover there. Lol. After she makes a fuss, I will carry her very close to my chest. Let her listen to mummy's heartbeat and let her feel our body warmth. She usually cool down in less than 15seconds. Very effective for me so far. When dr loh deliver here, she was crying, when put straightaway on my chest, she stopped crying and was listening to my heartbeat. I still can't forget that moment.
