Confinement lady and I

Madam Sie, as I know her is a lady with a sweet and pleasant voice. We met only on one occassion after a phone conversation to discuss our future as confinement lady and mother. It was music to my ears when she confirmed that she was available on the given date. As the date arrived, we picked her up at her home and she was still sweet. Day 1 was sweet as well. She settled down and started her work as the confinement lady. That night, she spoke non-stop to get to know me better. Alas! I need the sleep as a new mother. Lots of wonderful stories, but I need my rest. In a weeks' time, I heard complaints about the baby's never ending black tarry poo. It's normal as I thought to myself knowing that it's called meconium and should be fully discharged by now. To my dismay, it continued and lasted for 2 weeks..and my baby was sent to the hospital for jaundice. I quickly thought and went to check the baby during bath time...time was not given for the baby to discharge the poo. No wonder the baby's tummy is meconium-infested for over 2 long weeks. Request was made to give baby time to discharge poo during bath time...no, she just won't listen. The message had to be repeatedly drummed into her deaf ears and had to be supervised to ensure she gives baby time to poo. One thing caught my eye...wiping the baby's delicate eyes with rough dry toilet paper and I went up the roof! In the second week, weird habits came. "Buy me my favourite coffee sachet, I need newspapers, Your napkins are insufficient, Baby hankerchiefs are not suitable, I need 100plus drinks, Takeaway breakfast for me..." Requests after requests..came in like mortar bombs drumming into our ears...my husband, mum in-law and me. As a family, we have never been so demanding in our lives. This is too much to bear but we continued on under Queen Madam Sie. Relatives and friends came to visit. Madam Sie turned into a mouse and went to hide. Relatives saw her cooking and questioned her. She had a terrified look. Her confinement food is much too cooling for a mother under confinement. It was only steamed fish with ginger, soya pork with ginger, stir-fried french beans and kale, papaya soup with ginger. After the relatives left, "your relatives are no good, they came like a kampung full of people, they filled the hall." They are MY relatives and she zoomed into Queen mode again. There is more to come...verbal abuse came in. "Your wok is too thin, You are a weakling, You have no bones, You didn't flush the toilet, You didn't order breakfast last night and I'm not cooking, Your drying area is too small, You have no breastmilk, You dirtied your baby's clothes with your breastmilk, You, you, you..." It's just too personalised that you can't take it anymore. I was terribly sad and fell sick...not getting up for 2 days and had to be in the hospital for a week's observation. So, I said goodbye to my baby and off I went...leaving the house and baby to Madam Sie...dreading and fearing that the worst could happen to the baby. But I just kept quiet. In the last week of confinement, Madam Sie expressed interest to continue working on. Something fishy. She has been extremely well behaved and careful in her words. Owow! Back to sweet Madam Sie like in Day 1. Wow! Ultimate transformation. No way! She will leave and the peace in the house will be restored. I figured that she was trying to capture my heart again. No means NO! Conversations and hubby time is almost non-existent. She joins in the conversation if it's in the hall. She is super sweet. If it's in the room under closed doors, she will open the door and budge it. WTF! So, hubby and I communicated through the phone and sms. The world is going to end under this tyranny. On the last day, she left with some goodies, not gifts from me, but goodies begged from me. She asked and I gave away. She asked again, and I gave away again. Those were the leftovers...ingredients that I never finished during confinement. I had enough of Madam Sie and if she asks for the house, I would give her too...I just can't be bothered with her requests and was waiting for her to leave for good. Even my neighbout was not left in peace. She had the cheek to ask for stuff from my neighbour. My face went red like a lobster. Have I been too harsh? I am just a new mum being taken advantage of. A view around the house gives her more opportunity to take advantage of the family.