G is born!!!
November 16, 2006 was a very special day. Early in the morning, I had to report to the hospital maternity ward for my elective c-section. My mother was here with me, for much needed support and reassurance. I knew my life was going to change, forever, in ways I could then not have foreseen. Every action somehow had a tinge of this is the last time..............next time on, things will be very different.
With a bag packed with essentials - for baby and me, we set out to the hospital. From thereon, everything was kind of pre-ordained. No normal labour was in progress, which meant I could go in, and things like getting into hospital clothes, epidural, anaesthetics, arrival of doctor, commencement of the c-section was a blur, within a few minutes, I heard the shrill-sweet cry of my baby. I had a brief glimpse her, picked out of me, up in the air and she was in my arms for a wee minute, before she was whisked away to be cleaned. Surprisingly, even in that single second, I felt a deep sense of loss.
My husband and my mom spent the first 2 hours with baby while I was wheeled away to a hall where they kept checking every 20 minutes if the epidural was wearing off. After what seemed an eternity I was wheeled into my room, and at last, I had my baby to myself.
Hospitals are the least restful of places, and there was a swarm of medical professionals - nurse, midwife, pediatrician, gynaecologist on their rounds. I looked at my baby, and my thoughts were 'what next'? She was peacefully sleeping in my arms. But I was so unsure suddenly about everything. Nothing had prepared me for the trials of round-the-clock demand feeding, pooh clean-ups, bath times, colic pains........
Foolishly, I had brought a book to read with me at the hospital!!! Needless to say, it was returned unread to the library. I somwhow managed to get through 6 days of indifferent hospital stay and return to the comforts of home.
When her constant spit-ups were diagnosed as GERD, we were very disturbed and concerned. I spent the first 6 months sitting upright and sleeping through the night with G on me. Of course, when my Mother was here, she shared more than half of this nightime chore. Feeding bitter Zantac was another challenge but little G soon started loving this bitter stuff.
Baby milestones - a smile, a wink, focussing eyes only on dear Daddy, rolling over, crawling, pulling herself up, clapping, walking, putting her toe in the mouth, transition from breast milk to formula and solid foods, two tiny teeth making a hesitant apperance, we went through all of those. Now G walks all over the place, trots away with pilfered goodies, gets busy scattering toys and papers all over the place, can open cupboards and throw down things, likes to jump in the middle of my sweeping the floor, loves to clap and dance at the sound of music, can point at things and say 'this is?' and answer 'this' when asked to show things.........
The year has flown................Nov 16, 2007 and my little G is a year old. We had decorated the living room with colorful balloons and floaters. Sadly though, we did not make a big party out of her first birthday. We do not know too many people here, and the few we did were busy. We had a cake cutting ceremony at home, the only guests present were her soft-toys. When I told one of my acquaintances here that this is how we celebrated, she said it was sad that there were no people around.
Maybe so, G likes people around, though she certainly takes her time and does not like to be crowded. I am looking forward to see G grow up to a toddler, we have miles to go...........as parents and child........and see how Nov 16, 2008 shapes up for us.
With a bag packed with essentials - for baby and me, we set out to the hospital. From thereon, everything was kind of pre-ordained. No normal labour was in progress, which meant I could go in, and things like getting into hospital clothes, epidural, anaesthetics, arrival of doctor, commencement of the c-section was a blur, within a few minutes, I heard the shrill-sweet cry of my baby. I had a brief glimpse her, picked out of me, up in the air and she was in my arms for a wee minute, before she was whisked away to be cleaned. Surprisingly, even in that single second, I felt a deep sense of loss.
My husband and my mom spent the first 2 hours with baby while I was wheeled away to a hall where they kept checking every 20 minutes if the epidural was wearing off. After what seemed an eternity I was wheeled into my room, and at last, I had my baby to myself.
Hospitals are the least restful of places, and there was a swarm of medical professionals - nurse, midwife, pediatrician, gynaecologist on their rounds. I looked at my baby, and my thoughts were 'what next'? She was peacefully sleeping in my arms. But I was so unsure suddenly about everything. Nothing had prepared me for the trials of round-the-clock demand feeding, pooh clean-ups, bath times, colic pains........
Foolishly, I had brought a book to read with me at the hospital!!! Needless to say, it was returned unread to the library. I somwhow managed to get through 6 days of indifferent hospital stay and return to the comforts of home.
When her constant spit-ups were diagnosed as GERD, we were very disturbed and concerned. I spent the first 6 months sitting upright and sleeping through the night with G on me. Of course, when my Mother was here, she shared more than half of this nightime chore. Feeding bitter Zantac was another challenge but little G soon started loving this bitter stuff.
Baby milestones - a smile, a wink, focussing eyes only on dear Daddy, rolling over, crawling, pulling herself up, clapping, walking, putting her toe in the mouth, transition from breast milk to formula and solid foods, two tiny teeth making a hesitant apperance, we went through all of those. Now G walks all over the place, trots away with pilfered goodies, gets busy scattering toys and papers all over the place, can open cupboards and throw down things, likes to jump in the middle of my sweeping the floor, loves to clap and dance at the sound of music, can point at things and say 'this is?' and answer 'this' when asked to show things.........
The year has flown................Nov 16, 2007 and my little G is a year old. We had decorated the living room with colorful balloons and floaters. Sadly though, we did not make a big party out of her first birthday. We do not know too many people here, and the few we did were busy. We had a cake cutting ceremony at home, the only guests present were her soft-toys. When I told one of my acquaintances here that this is how we celebrated, she said it was sad that there were no people around.
Maybe so, G likes people around, though she certainly takes her time and does not like to be crowded. I am looking forward to see G grow up to a toddler, we have miles to go...........as parents and child........and see how Nov 16, 2008 shapes up for us.
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Good post.
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