Let me put it this way – I think both my kiddos prefer my
in-person company over in-my-tummy company.
May 29th
4:45am: It’s all too vague, yet all too distinct. I wouldn't have known the
difference between full-bladder pain and labor pain, if it weren't for my water
breaking five minutes after I felt it for the first time. While I made it to my
35 week 5 day mark this time around, my desired delivery date was more like
July 6th (and if you care, you can do the math to figure out how
much past my due date I wished I had gone). Oh well. In spite of that, we were
quite ready for this to happen so early. We had our bags packed – for the
hospital and for Samaira, neatly arranged in the car, for several days. We had
talked to our friends about the full algorithm that we would follow to figure
out where Samaira would go while we were at the hospital. We had shared
Samaira’s full day schedule with our friends so they know what to expect…kind
of. Logistically, we were ready for this to happen several days
before it was supposed to.
We figured we had at least 5 to 6 hours before our boy would
show up since that’s how long it took from water-breaking to actual-delivery during
Samaira’s birth. We called our friends R
& A, who were going to take care of Sam during our hospital stay and then
we headed to the hospital.
May 29th 5:20am:
We were at the hospital by this time, I think. On the drive to the hospital, I
was already timing my contractions and they were less than 3-4 minutes apart
and about 30 seconds long. Once we were at the hospital, I remember one of the first
things I told them was that if I had a back labor then I want an epidural. I
had started to feel the pain in my back and no way on earth was I prepared to
go through another back labor without any drugs! However, the entire staff at
the hospital was busy checking me into the system and was asking me questions
about my full name, my allergies, last OB appointment, etc., while my
contractions were beginning to get closer and somewhat intense.
May 29th Sometime
between 5:30am and 6am: I don’t remember much of the timeline and the order
in which things happened during this time. But I know that our friend A showed up at the hospital to take
Sammy away for a few days. I also remember that nurses were attempting to give
me an IV for something before they could give me an epidural. The on call
doctor had asked the nurses to call her when the baby was ready to come out.
May 29th Sometime
between 6am and 6:30am: I went from 8 cm dilated 10+1 cm dilated and the on
call doctor wasn’t going to get there on time, although she was trying her
best. The nurses then called an OB from another practice. He decided to stay on
the side until he was really-really
needed, so he wasn’t stepping over the on-call OB’s shoes. Pretty thoughtful I
must say. But not helping me! Needless to say, Siddharth was with me through it
all. Can’t imagine things any other way. As I continued yelling at everyone
around me to get me the epidural, he was focused on giving me some relief in
any way he could. He kept telling me “it
is just a matter of few more minutes…before you know it you will have our son
in your arms…all you will need is one or two pushes.” Such a nice and
thoughtful statement annoyed me a little bit back then and I responded “you keep telling this to me but nothing is
happening…I am still feeling the pain...so just stop saying this again and
again.” Having been there done that, Siddharth knew to expect this kind of
a reaction from me in such circumstances!
May 29th 6:37am:
Our on-call OB hadn't showed up…but our baby boy’s head definitely had. So the
other doctor finally decided to play a more active role as we welcomed our boy
in this world!
Obviously this is my version of what happened and what I remember. Siddharth knows and remembers much more. It happened all too quickly for me to process and digest. The nurses put our boy on my chest right away…and I remember saying, at least 5-6 times, “I delivered a baby”. It was almost a cry for my own accomplishment of getting through the last couple of hours. But then I finally focused on him…and I started to cry. His tender skin, vulnerable cry, beautiful eyes, approachable fingers, beautiful lips, and almost an ET like appearance made me fall in love with him like I didn't think was possible. I wanted to squeeze him tight, except his amniotic fluid covered body would slip out of my hands if I tried that. I did fall in love. I felt so blessed. And I felt so relieved!
Relieved…for feeling the way I did. I have rarely
articulated the fear of having a boy. But I totally had it. It has nothing to
do with the fact that shopping for girls is more fun, or that you can dress
them up in all kinds of fancy ways, or the boys have the stereotype of being
rowdy and callous, which I understand is exactly what it is – a stereotype, and
even if it is true then it is not one of my fears. But it had to do with something
I just cannot put in words. I can relate to girls. My sister has two daughters
whom I LOVE more & more each day. In fact, my nieces are the first set of kids
ever that made me believe that I could really love kids, especially because prior
to that I was never a mushy-gushy-kuchi-ku kind of a person around kids. So a
boy felt like a totally unchartered territory in every sense of the word. Thank
heavens I did not get to choose the gender of my baby. As I stared into his
eyes for the first time and for several seconds…I could see how he is a soul
that just belongs. Belongs to me. I was ecstatic to be falling in love with
him! And to top it all, within the first hour, my little Buddy was already showering
me with smiles. I couldn't have asked for more J.
One thing Siddhu and I struggled (I more than he) with was the name. Siddhu had one name picked out for our son even before Samaira was born. I had never fully accepted the name and kept trying to come up with other options. But nothing ever stuck. It just didn't. I couldn't believe how hard it was to pick a boy name! We did have our own way of referring to him before he showed up, most commonly as our Binku monkey. But in that moment of holding our Buddy for the first time, it just felt right to go with the name that Siddhu had picked for him so long ago! So we named our little Buddy - Rehan. It just felt right.
One truth that is truer than truth is that child birth has
the potential to bring you closer to your spouse. I experienced it during Samaira’s
birth, and I experienced it during Rehan’s birth. I feel like our bond strengthened
a little bit more that day.
Life with two kids is clearly very different. We are much
more sleep deprived. In these early days post-delivery, most of my focus is on
Rehan and getting used to a very elaborate feeding routine several times a day.
Siddharth is left to take care of Samaira and any and all paraphernalia. I am
pretty sure as days go by, we will find some sort of a rhythm in our little
chaotic-world. But that day is not today. There are moments though. Moments
that seem to be perfect with nothing to distract from their purity. A beautiful
site of Samaira and Rehan sleeping next to each other made it feel like it’s
all worth it. Behind my sleepless nights, post-delivery recovery, dark circles,
weird eating schedules, and everything else that follows – I am a content mom.
Welcome, Rehan! My sweetheart! Samaira, Siddharth & I love you.
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