So much has happened in the
last month, since the arrival of Maya.
In the Netherlands, when a mother comes home with a new baby, the state
sends a kind of care taker for a few days.
Not that the state does it free, they charge the insurance company, who
in turn charges the mother. A nice way
to create employment for more people.
The day, we got home
which was the 3rd of September was hectic.
On the 4th, at 9 AM, there was Ms.Dandy Long Legs at out door. She was the caretaker for the coming 3 days. All I saw were these legs shooting off to
the sun. I still cannot put a face to her image; all I see are
legs! Thin long legs. She was a no-nonsense kind of person. Which
was good. Apparently, they are supposed
to help in the house hold chores. Which I am not sure she did. Still, she was
not too bad. She did give us a lot of hints on baby care, which I honestly
thought were a bit questionable. For
example, she came with a vague theory that on the 5th day, Maya must drink 50cc of breast milk at every feed. Or 60cc on the 6th day and 70cc on the 7th
day etc.
And then she also did tell us, that each day a baby must get 150cc per
kg of body weight. Now, Maya was born a
little over 3 Kgs. In 2 months, she
would double her weight. That would mean we have to give her something like
900cc of milk a day. Nearly, a bloody litre!!! I am thinking,
Lactose Intoxication!!!! Clearly,
Ms.Dandy Long Legs must have miserably failed in maths and common sense. Still, I must say, Ms.Dandy was a decent
person. She was busy doing her thing and making notes on the register. Very
kindly she did fill it in English. Just
this evening I did have a read on the journal. Which said,
Go to the toilet with the
pie! That was the story of Ms.
Dandy Long Legs.
3 days, and then we had
another lady. Gujarathi India from
Surinam, a muslim, a single mother of 6.
She needs to be in the record books. She talks of India, as if she has
been there recently. The fact is, the
lady is still to set her foot in India. She is over 50 years of age. Well,
what do I say about her. She was
the kind of person that my grandmother would have loved to have around in the
kitchen to assist in chopping vegetables. Everything Maya did she claimed to have some special
insight. That we had no clue of. If
Maya openned her mouth, she would go,
''Ah! See...she wants the
breast!'
or, if Maya looked in my direction,
'She wants her father!''
Poor Maya, just a few
days old and cannot see more than 3 inches in front of her has to live up to
this. Anyway, she was gone after a few
days. The next day, we had another person. What can I say about her? Nothing!
Besides the fact that I was busy serving her.
In my opinion, these
people are absolutely useless. Each of them come up with their own baseless
theories. I am almost certain this job
has been created to give people some self worth and employment.
3 weeks down now, Maya is
well. Besides that she farts for the whole of the Netherlands. She is becoming as good as the hill-billies I knew in Sweden. The poor girl seems to be
constantly having colic pain, then screams and farts...and then all is
well. Apparently that is rather normal, as their digestive systems are still developing to maturity. Still, we are going to get this check tomorrow. It is painful to watch her scream in pain.
From birth, something
that worried me was the fact that her right eye was a bit sore. When I inquired, I was told it is
normal. Well, it was going on for too
long, hence we made an appointment with the doctor.
We are at the consultation office and the
doctor is pregnant herself. Nice! Obviously, I feel she might take some serious
interest out of curiosity. Well, No. She
looked at her eyes, and said we will test the mucus. Samples taken. And then no news for days. We
called the doctors office, and they said there was no trace of STD or anything contagious. They seem happy. But what about Maya’s eyes? Welcome to Healthcare in the Netherlands.
The eye has not improved. We make another appointment with
the hospital where she was born. The
doctor this time was more senior and mature and said it was an infection and
prescribed an eye cream.
I asked, 'Is it an
antibiotic?''
'No! It is not!' The doctor said.'
'Thank you!' I say politely.
We get the medicine, and we read the paper inside that describes the content. IT IS AN ANTIBIOTIC! I am getting rather tired of the system here.
We used the cream anyway
and things did NOT clear. Between both
of us, we soon realised that if we are able to keep her hands down when she
sleeps, maybe it will help. Maya is the
kind of person who does the wave in her sleep and while awake. Maybe, the farting makes her do that. Hence, we
realise that we must swaddle her. And we
do. The eye infection seems to be
gone. And she sleeps better. We have to wait and see. If our assumption is right, then it might be that she is poking her own eye in her sleep.
Just yesterday, we went
and took Maya’s pictures for the passport. Again, not the easiest of things to
do with a girl who wants to do waves all the time. Still we managed. And today, her application was submitted.
The irony of it all. The poor girl is just a month old, but
according to the rules, she must present herself to apply for her
passport!! Yes! For what, I do not know. Not like the clerk at the office will be
interviewing her. And even if she did, I
am sure Maya would have just waved and farted at her face. Application was done, and Maya’passport will
be ready in a week. But her is the ridiculous thing. Maya has to go to
collect it too. What are they worried about identity theft? And what exactly can someone do
by stealing a month old infants identity? The madness of the system, I say.
The day after, I leave
fro Sweden. Just for a week. I have to. To get my non-impediment certificate so
that the dutch athorities can marry Ingrid and me. And when I get that, I am sure they will come
up with something else to hinder our attempt to move on with life.
I am not happy to leave
Maya and Ingrid back. But then, things that must be done, must be done.
As for our little Maya,
everyday is a new story. She is beginning to make sounds and I often catch her
throwing a smile. Which makes me utterly emotional. She surely is a marvel of nature. Everyday with her makes our lives richer in leaps and bounds...
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