The Second News!

Okay am late in posting about my first cupcake - all those little snippets & stories that have enthralled us for all these four years. And while I've just begun writing about her little world of four years, there's news in the current time!

We're excited to welcome our second little cupcake in our world that's already swelling with love that Aanya has filled us up with! I'm expecting again & this time the due date is around May 10th 2015!

Its already 6 weeks for me and I'd like to jot down how I'm feeling!

1) Around 5th week I began feeling queasy & now the nausea seems to be brewing within me like a volcano waiting to erupt! 

2) Sleep is good.

3) Feel disconnected through the entire day - firstly my daily dose of tea is totally off my life! And secondly I don't know why but I feel quite low and uneasy to be able to do anything exciting. Nevertheless, Aanya brings smiles to my otherwise dull and boring status. 

4) Cravings are there, sometimes. Not too strong, but some like citrus fruits, fresh veggies, mint, tomato soup etc.

And of course, the baby is size of a lentil! 

So that's for my current status. It will be now past & present in all posts from here on! 

And a pic I thought I should click & save for future!

The Birth Story

While we excitedly awaited the baby's arrival all along November 2009, it got just too frustrating around the due date when I just would not get any hints of pains/cramps etc. And I kept wondering when is it that we'd get to hold the baby!

So after a week of eating stuff that according to old wive's tales helps get the pains started... nothing really happened. No pains. But on the night (or I'd say early morning of 8th December 2009) at around 3 am, I went to the toilet & noticed spotting. This was one symptom to report to the hospital and I excitedly woke up my husband. He then woke up his parents & we all made our hurried trip to the hospital. 

We reached the hospital and I was quickly admitted to the designated room. A quick change of clothes and I was already tucked in a bed, albeit in waiting. As it was early morning (I am averse to early mornings, I develop terrible nausea) and I was quite apprehensive & excited, I kind of instantly vomited right there while waiting on that makeshift bed. The nurse cleaned up and later I was made to shift to one of the beds that was third or fourth in line of the beds in that preparation/waiting room. 

Next I know is that I was strapped all around with those straps/needles & god knows what not. On and off the doctors would come and check. I still did not develop any pains and was just whiling away time. My doctor did not show up even until 1 pm on 8th December. Her assistant doctor visited and checked. She was the most impudent & insensitive doctor I'd ever met. She checked me and thought I was quite stiff for all those internal checks & in turn called up my doctor to tell her that I kicked her while she checked me! I actually lost a lot of my confidence or rather my patience right there. As it is the family was not allowed inside (just one member at a time, for just about 2-3 minutes, at intervals of half an hour). On top of being alone in that room listening to other expecting girls howling their guts out, the doctor's behavior just sapped out all my positive & happy feelings of being there to receive my baby!

Well, later another assistant doctor came visiting and made her intervention to release the water bag. And after all these unnecessary medical antics, my doctor visited at 2 pm. And she declared that the baby has released meconium inside (preliminary excretion) & that is harmful if ingested during a normal delivery. So she announced we go for a cesarean!!!

I was told by family members to brave myself for a good normal delivery and avoid a cesarean at all cost. And here I was being geared up for cesarean (those scary declaration forms etc). I burst into a flood of tears, crying inconsolably & worried about how things were going to go.

Nevertheless, I braved myself & was towed away to the OT in a wheelchair. Again, there was a waiting time of about one or two hours in the OT waiting area. Only around 4 pm my doctors took me inside the OT and gave the anesthesia on my back. 

At 4.33 pm, I heard her first cry!

Later, one of the doctors came to show me my daughter & rudely claimed I have not eaten well enough and so she was quite thin and tiny! Fine... I'll take that too. More brickbats than wishes!

She was taken to the nursery and kept there for a day as the pediatrician wanted to keep the necessary check on her for those  crucial first hours. So I actually did not get to see her for a day. 

While all this was going on, I was recovering in my room with terrible headache & a stiff, unnatural body that was still under anesthetic effect.

The next day when they brought her into the room, it was a precious moment seeing her for the first time. I could not lift myself completely to see her, but again, those tiny glimpses were too cute. 

After 3-4 days of recovery in hospital, we got discharged finally and made our way back home. So this is how our Little Cupcake came in our lives & our world. 

I was so elated as I always loved baby girls. And she was the purest little thing I had ever seen. Thank you for coming into our lives. You're the biggest and purest joy we'll ever experience! 

8th December 2009 - Its a Girl ! Hurray!

So after all those grueling nine months (include the bouts of nausea, leg pain, irregular sleep, check up reluctance & so on) ... Our first baby finally entered this beautiful world!

08.12.2009, 4.20 pm: This pretty little angel came into our lives & made our world prettier. 
Won't clutter this post with too many words... Just a few pics that show how much beauty she spread around us...

The First, the Second & Third

If you're getting bored reading this blog without any pictures so far, I just have to say that the morning sickness bug bit me too hard to be able to click any pictures during my first Trimester. Cooking had become torturous as any kind of strong smell would get me rushing back to vomit. Onions specially had some weird effect. My hubby loves onion & every Indian recipe requires an onion! So just the thought or mention of it would get me going. Oh yes, one fine day I had eight consecutive bouts of vomits. I kind of broke records with that. And broke my body strength too! 
I just have to say that all this while my hubby was extremely caring & supportive. He cared for me like a mother and ensured I remained happy & peaceful even with that uninterrupted lava flowing out of me like a super active volcano! I still wonder how he treated me like a baby all through those months. I did thank him & still do so every time I wonder about those days. But all's well that ends well, right?
Hmm... so end of first three months made me slightly happy. The nausea bouts had decreased, I began feeling better. My mom visited us to take care of me. It was going good. 

The fourth month checkup was a real delight & a surprise. We visited the clinic with my Hubby & Mom. The long waiting time got me hungry & slightly giddy. So my hubby went out to get a chocolate bar for me. Just as he left, within five minutes the doctor called me for sonography. My Mom waited outside just in case hubby returns & then they both would come in. However, when I went inside, the doctor began moving that machine & showed me the first glimpse of our tiny cupcake. And this was the most delightful sight ever - this little babe was sucking her thumb! Even the doctor was surprised & said to me that perhaps I don't eat well and so the babe is hungrily sucking on her thumb.

And all this happened too quickly. Neither my Hubby & Mom could enter in time, nor the scene captured by the doctor. I had no idea about insisting on a picture from that session & we returned back with just a delightful memory of what out tiny babe looks like - and of course, we still did not know whether its a girl or boy! Surprises are good indeed.

All this joy lasted a few weeks until me & hubby visited one of our friends. We were going somewhere in his car & thanks to his rough driving, I ended up having constant nausea again! My mother had just left on a happy note & here I was - back to square one.

Days later, when the second trimester was about to end, I finally began eating like a normal person. And just when the third trimester began, we decided to get the delivery done in Delhi. So we both left for Delhi & began staying with my in laws. After a few days Hubby left to join office back in Pune and I stayed back. 

All this while I had no cravings whatsoever. I remember, only once in Pune I really craved for Sambhar Vada (A South Indian dish). Apart from that I never had any cravings, which was kind of weird as that's one strong symptom of preganancy, isn't it?

Okay, never mind. I still gorged on various foods before we headed to the hospital. And here's one of the few pictures which I managed to capture before the baby made appearance. 

Baby is Coming?

Hmm... the tougher part was done easier than I could have thought - being first time lucky in trying to conceive! Okay... 
And... I wasn't aware of my success rate until I began vomiting. I truly felt like some waterfall began gushing out of my mouth...it just wouldn't stop. At first I thought it was some gastro-infection & had no idea of being the lucky winner of morning sickness! Hello pregnancy, howdy?

So after draining myself out with those incessant bouts of vomiting & later missing on period, I dragged myself to the doctor.

Of course, to say the least, first appointment with the doctor was kind of a shock for me (for those who'd know this). But in the end, it was all fine. I returned back home with loads of vitamin tabs (folic acid, iron, calcium etc) & a confirmed thought that I was indeed expecting. 

I could just not feel like a mother. And I wondered why? Apart from being tired of morning sickness, tiredness & lack of that mommy feeling, I had apprehensions at times.

I used to wonder if I would ever be able to step out once the baby is here. If I would ever be able to carry out my creative pursuits (painting, writing & more) once am completely in-charge of the little one. Hubby & I were living in Pune at that time, so I used to get ample of free & lonely time to worry unnecessarily. I guess the morning sickness just made it all so uneasy. Not sure if this apprehensive thought is universal for other first time Mommies too.

Well, apart from these unreasonable thoughts, one thought surprised me every single day - 'What? A Baby is coming?'

That's first time motherhood I guess... it doesn't sink till it really happens. 

Making it Three!

I’m four years late! I should have begun earlier. And yet I could not.

But today, as I finally start writing about my life changing event, I feel its better late than never!

In the month of March 2009, I decided to create & bring into this world a tiny little Sugar Cupcake! And its nothing to do with bakery. A tiny little energy, that was perhaps floating around somewhere in this world, finally came to take shape within me & entered this world as our first bundle of joy!

She’s Aanya. My sugar cupcake. Piece of my heart. My smile, my joy, my happiness – my Life!

And I’d love to say that I was born as a mother, when she was born. And she continues to give me lessons I’d never ever learn from anyone else, no matter what!

Loads to write on our four year journey so far… Gotta wander in the memory lanes … And dig out those precious moments I never wish to forget or let fade.