Confinement lady - A nightmare from Hell (Part I)

Chenya is now 1 month old. It has been a pretty chaotic and challenging month, not so much with Chenya but more so with the confinement lady that we got.

Honestly, if you ask me now, I would think that confinement is grossly over rated, overly expensive and more of a trouble brewer than a helper in the time when the least you need at home with an addition of a young little baby.

We had one for Ryan when he arrived. It was a last minute arrangement since Ryan arrived prematurely. We called one of those confinement centres and they arranged for Mdm C. We have heard nightmares before and hence we were already very apprehensive. She turned out OK though not without her share of problems at home.

So, when we were expecting Chenya’s arrival, we made sure that we book her in advance (6 months) ahead and requested banked in her RM500 booking fee (non refundable) and the price has increased from the previous RM3000 now to RM3300. It is as if we had a choice.

2 months before Chenya’s arrival, we called her to keep you posted and updated so that she would be prepared. One week before Chenya’s arrival, I gave her a final call to let her know that we are preparing for Chenya’s arrival on the 20th July 2011. And guess what??

She called back and she said that she can’t make it because her daughter is getting married and she is recommending another replacement! WTF!!!! Obviously it was too late now for us to find another replacement and we really do not want to force her to come since she is going to take care of the baby. Held by ransom, we reluctantly agreed with her assurance that the replacement would be a good one. (where have we heard that before??)

I had to pick her up (Mdm L) from Puduraya. On the way back home, she started laying down her ground rules that she will only cook for the mother and baby and that it is their rule that they will only work 28 days. She firmly made clear the date that she would be leaving and if chargeable if extension is required.

I told her that we have bought most of the Chinese herbs required and she was visibly and vocally upset that the various Chinese herbs were not separately and individually packed (ready to be cooked by the medicine hall). She said that she is NOT used to having to cooking without these pre-packed `recipes’.

I was thinking to myself, if you can only cook with pre-packed recipes, then I don’t need you since I can cook myself. Why on earth would I need to pay RM3300 for someone to buy pre-pack soup? WTF!!!

….to be continued …..