My Baby's Arrival

I had always wondered, " if I were to write a blog, what would the first be about?" And now that I am at it, guess it has to be "my baby's arrival". Having experienced it, I can vouch that no amount of preparation, baby books or councelling can prepare you for the actual experience! I was consulting two doctors (one was my mom-in-laws sister, a very famous but now retired gynae. Owing to her ill-health, she wasn't certain she would be with me on the D-Day if it happened at an odd hour and so I had a second UK returned doc too!) Well, so my due date was 28th Sep and I know many jaws would drop if I said I attended work till 22nd Sep (atleast a lot at my workplace did). But surely it wouldn't have been possible without the support of my family and most of all my colleagues at work. I wouldn't be exaggerating if I said I had an extended family at work. And thanks to the pampering at work and home, I gained a whopping 16 kgs through my pregnancy (taking me from a slim 52 kilos to a wholesome 68 kilos). Strangely enough, I never looked heavy (look at my pics and you'll know what I mean) and therefore had everybody lecturing me on eating by the clock, avoiding long hours at work et al.. But for the stubborn mule that I was, I had my own way. I danced to the tune of Om Shanti Om on stage when I was 18 weeks pregnant (as part of the Management Team dance for our Annual Day - what we refer to as the IBM BTO day) and I even went to a pub when I was 35 weeks pregnant! (no fancy ideas plz...as a people's manager I paid a courtesy visit at an office party for about an hour) Not to mention the pub is owned by my husband's school friend..........so yes some more care... Huh, I bet by now you must have guessed how pampered a lady I was...Guess, small towns have their own advantages after all! I surely couldn't have dreamt of such a life back in Delhi ( Oops! I haven't mentioned that we moved to Vizag since we planned to go the family way. Have I? But surely I didn't promise an autobiography at the beginning of the post...:-) ) While I wouldn't say the entire nine months passed like a dream (more about my experiences in my post titled "The Nine Months"), I was certainly very little stressed. I was admitted on the morning of 27th Sep and we received Aarya at 2:59am on 28th Sep'08 through an emergency C-Section. The first glipmse I had of the baby was when the doc removed the drape covering my eyes and said "Look at your baby". The umblical cord was still intact and I looked up at the doc who was holding up an absolutely adorable wriggling tiny two legged creature and exclaimed, "Oh! Its a baby boy". And before I knew it the blind was put back in place and I could only hear my baby wailing at the top of his lungs. After what seemed liked aeons, but apparently only a few minutes (enough to slap him on his buttocks), I asked the doc if I could hold my baby (although I wasn't really sure how I would do it lying on an operation table). She brought him right up to me and placed him on my chest. I just lied there watching in amazement as he looked back at me with a very cute expression making tiny little noises (I wish somebody had clicked a photograph to capture that moment, but I guess cameras are not allowed inside an OT...such rotten luck!) . All this while the docs where busy putting back whatever organs they had pulled out of my stomach and stiching it back up and my family was left waiting eagerly outside the OT, resembling a bunch of flood victims waiting for food packets (Sree's comparision not mine). And finally when the nurse did announce the arrival of a healthy baby boy weighing 3.31 kilos, the entire family went ecstatic. Sree never tires of telling me how Aarya had his eyes closed when he was first brought out and he opened his eyes with a searching glance when Sree called out softly as if having recognized his Papa's voice (Sree is certain that Aarya recognized his voice) and he narrates it with such tenderness that one can actually relive the moment without having been there in person. When the docs where done with me and finally wheeled me out, I saw Sree standing there beaming and I asked, "Did you see........", he silenced me with a kiss and said "Thank you". Those two words and the expression on his face said it all!!!