The Nine Months

“The Nine Months”, quite a title, isn’t it? Well I’ve always been known to add a little spice and drama to everything. So, the title matches too! Well, hmm…., actually…., I mean….. I am sure these are the often used line openers when a lady breaks “The News”. But as with everything else, I was different with this one too! Not that I wanted to be, but I just couldn’t harbor the anxiety and had to blurt it out even before I knew it for certain (only to by hubby dearest of course). And to top it up, Sree managed to convey the message to all our colleagues that night at a party without even opening his mouth. What person with something between his two ears wouldn’t guess with Sree’s non-stop grinning and my refusing to have anything but fruit juice! (And to think of all the lecture my mom-in-law had given him before leaving for the party that night! Whew!) My hubby dearest put an end to my driving and even cancelled a planned weekend shopping trip to Hyderabad coz he was against my travelling “in this condition”…..all this even before we confirmed it! (I thoroughly loved the pampering though. Hope he is not listening….he he) So finally by the time we did confirm it, there were hardly any raised eyebrows, coz everybody was so sure by then.
I should say I had a pretty easy pregnancy, what with no morning sickness, no aversion to smells et al…… I was pretty agile and despite several “Dos and Don’ts”, I had my own way. Some people would be surprised at the kind of things I did! To tick off the list, I danced to the tune of “Om Shanti Om” for an annual day event when I was 18 weeks (and this meant a lot of practice prior to the event), went for a team outing when I was 24 weeks pregnant, participated in a daylong management team outdoor workshop when I was 28 weeks and even went to a pub when I was 35 weeks pregnant! (Ah! No fancy ideas plz….I dropped in for an hour to pep my team). But of course, none of this would have been possible without the care of my colleagues and family. And thanks to their pampering, I gained a whole 16 kilos taking me from a slim 52 kilos to a wholesome 68 kilos! Luckily for me, I seem to have shed the weight as quickly as I had put it on. I can name a whole list of people who’d love to lose 12 kgs in 4 months flat and without any extra efforts too! (Wanna join the list?? He he)
While I would love to say that the entire journey was a cakewalk, it was unfortunately not to be. I got admitted on the morning of 27th Sep’09 and at around 10:30pm that night the baby’s pulse started weakening and dropped from a steady 160 to a wobbly 60 till we lost it altogether. And the doc just couldn’t find the pulse for close to 45 mins! We thought we had lost him there. Sree and I just kept staring at each other crying and praying silently, afraid to utter out worst fears as if speaking aloud may make it come true and after what felt like an eternity, his pulse jumped back to a normal 120 and stabilized. Till that moment, everything was fun and the sudden turn of events made us realize what the baby meant to both of us! Although the rude shock did leave us shaken to the core, it made his arrival all the more special! And when he did arrive at 2:59 am on the morning of 28th Sep’08…….a healthy child weighing 3.31 kilos everyone went ecstatic. Guess, “all’s well that ends well”, after all!!!