1. I'll be taking care of my own newborn, Keith will be rooming in with me, bonding with me. I won't put my baby to confinement lady and rest for myself. Newborns need bonding with their mummy not the confinement lady. So I do not need a confinement lady to feed/bath Keith for me or even sleep with her at night. I don't trust them to bath my baby either.
2. I'm a picky eater as in I eat only a certain food. I can enjoy a sesame ginger stir fry pork for the whole month and didn't get bored with it. I do not need fancy confinement food. A simple dish with sesame and ginger + a black dates tea for me will do - the whole month.
3. Finding a place for the confinement lady to stay in. My house got 4 rooms but all is occupied. 1 master bedroom which going to be occupied by hubby, kyle (mostly will be staying with my in laws and only back during the weekend), Keith and me, 2 Kyle's room which non renovated - full with his toys, 3 hubby's office, 4 my store room. Where to fit a confinement lady?
4. Confinement lady's job for now a days is to take care the baby and cook for the mother. They don't help in the cleaning the house and the price offer doesn't include ingredients for them to cook and their meals.
So why do I need a confinement lady for? I rather save that money and spend it on my children.
My mum will be taking care of me, we that's what we're planning from the day I told her I'm pregnant. She'd done my confinement for me during Kyle's birth so for her to help me with my confinement this time around should not be a big problem. The only problem we had is I'm going to have my confinement at my house in Butterworth, while she's staying in Penang Island.
She needs to take care of her fashion store during morning market session, so she only available to drop by my house after she closes her store. For her to travel back and forth is costly too but definitely won't as much as a confinement lady. At first I've asked her to stay in with me, but she doesn't want to and prefer to travel everyday.
Hubby asked me to plan as if - my mum is not available to come over what should I do because I can't rely on my mum coming over everyday. So we come up with a plan to find a caterer to cook for me 1 sesame ginger stir fry dish + 1 bowl of rice for lunch and dinner. So in case my mum is busy or cannot come over in time, I still have something to eat.
As I'm living in an apartment, finding someone staying in the same block to cook for me will be easier, as I can ask them to deliver to me (if I find someone outside - I need to go to the guard house to collect my meal each day). I found an aunty staying in the 4th floor, which she said she doesn't do confinement for other people but she did for her own daughter, if I don't choose the food she can help me cook for lunch and dinner, I shall provide all the ingredients for her.
I gave her some time to offer me the price for her service and I myself did a little research on how people will charge and I find average is around RM10 per meal just for the labour charge, so I estimated at the highest she'll offer is RM600.
She finally let me know her price the other day, saying that she'll charge RM1000 for 1 dish + 1 rice (lunch and dinner) exclude ingredients. My jaw drops once I heard the price, as my finger type on the calculator it's RM33 for per day. I didn't reject her right away but I told her that I'll consult my mum first but I plan to reject it already, I don't even feel like bargaining for it.
If I want to pay the RM1000, I might as well get a monthly maid, teach her how to cook that 1 dish + rice yet she can help me with cleaning the house and Kyle may not need to be put with my in law as there will be someone to help look around.
Hubby asked me to find from restaurant, to help me cook my dish, the most is to see if they will do delivery or we need to pick up by ourselves but I told him I don't want to, because it will be more tiring for me to go up and down the lift, walk to the guard house to collect my meal and I have to carry Keith around.
I told him, I would rather cook it myself. It's not difficult, if all the ingredient is well prepared. It's not that my mum won't turn up later in the afternoon, so if I'm hungry in the morning I can cook - it only took me 5 mins or so, or I can put everything in slow cooker. If I needed to wash, I'll wear a glove or he can help me to wash it ^^.
I also told my mum about the aunty's charges and my mum said it's too expensive, and she'll try come over earlier, or she/my sis will cook and her boyfriend will deliver over to me in the morning first. I ask her not to worry that much. It's just a confinement, I'm free to do whatever I want as long as I didn't carry heavy stuff or move around too much. I know what my body can handle and I don't care about 'You'll know when you get old'.
So conclusion - we'll see how it goes, I'll update my daily confinement routine haha ~
so proud of you mummy.
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