Saturday, November 20, 2010

The first few days - Part II

June 1st - I used to be a back sleeper. All my life I slept on the floor or on very firm mattress. The only pillow I used was my mom's cotton sari folded and crudely stitched into a square by me when I was in 3rd class or so. 
Now, I am not supposed to sleep on my back. Only on my left side. Which means no floor or hard mattress. So I moved on to a 18 inch spring mattress. Since my left shoulder hurts a lot, had to help it by stacking 2 big pillows under my head. Baby girl….you are changing my life already. 

June 10th - Heart burn is not a joke. Esp when you have it every night and cannot sleep peacefully because of it. Tums is keeping me alive.

June 17th - 34 to 38. Size S to M and now at L. Stop growing. Please.

June 30th - Bad backache today. Its almost killing. And but heart burn on top of this…not easy. Hari massages my back with 'moov' any time it gets really bad. Thank you Hari :) 

July 3rd - The crib, mattress, bedding,stroller, infant car seat, bouncer, feeding pillow, high chair, bath tub toys….. man..the bedroom is getting filled up in no time. The crib is the biggest piece of furniture in our house :) 

July 5th - Lots of movement today. She has been kicking at any chance given .i.e any time I sit down she kicks in ! 

July 10 - Glucose screening test today. Keeping fingers crossed. And madhu finally believes that its gonna be a girl :) 

July 14th - Second ultrasound to check position of my placenta. First time the technician takes pics of the ultrasound images and doctor is called to look at them. He was not satisfied and I had to go in again for a thorough check up. This time the doc put pressure on my baby and moved her so he could get better pictures and it was good news. Relieved! (My first ultrasound had indicated that my placenta was not in the right place. (Low lying placenta) But in time, it moved which meant I could have a normal delivery. btw..did I just use brackets within brackets?? hmm...)

July 15th - Doc calls up and tell me she is pleased with the ultrasound results but my blood glucose level is high. I have gestational diabetes. 

July 22nd - We take the diabetes class. It sounds horrible :(  All the calorie counting and controlled diet. 

July 24th - The diet is not too bad. I am getting used to not having a full stomach all day. Heart burn still is making things difficult but this is the least of the issues pregnant women face. And since Tums has 2g of sugar in it, its not in my radar anymore. Damn you heart burn. 

July 25th - Mom and dad make it to the USA! Baby is gonna be hearing voices other than hari's and mine.

Aug 3rd - Prabhu politely refuses to be involved in the naming-of-the-baby game.

Aug 10th - Painting toe nails is getting tougher. Looks like its time to pamper myself with a  pedicure :P

Aug 11th - To hell with the diet. I am enjoying mom-in-law's and papa's dishes nicely.

Aug 13th - Baby shower at Vijaya's place. Mom-in-law has arranged a very beautiful function. Amma has sent a green silk sari and i am wearing it. Nalangu, food, music and dance. It was a fun day!

Aug 18th - 4 of us cannot accept on a single name. God! This is difficult.

Aug 21st - Vijaya tells us all the baby shower pics are lost :( Heart breaking news. I have a good for nothing10 sec video of the day. Got about 2 photos by taking screenshots of the video. That is all we have of the day. 

Sep 3rd - Appa and amma have sent a list of nakshtras for each day from sept 15 to 23rd. They have also picked a few names. Choosing a name is a million times tougher than it seems. 

Sep 8th - Hari decorates the nursery and fills the crib with soft toys, even though she is not gonna be enjoying it till she is one year old at least.  I dunno what's with men and soft toys! 

Sep 15th - This is the day Hari had bet the baby would be born. We went to the clinic for a check up. Hari's prediction goes down the drain and my days of house arrest begin.

Sep 18th - The name game is fully on. My dad is running like a headless chicken and driving all of us crazy with the whole "nakshatram" thing. 

Sep 22nd - One more check up at the clinic and I am not yet ready. It is as though she knows we dont even have a name picked for her and so she is refusing to come out.

Sep 23rd - The D-day has arrived and nothing yet. Doc takes another non-stress test and everything is fine. 

Sep 27th - Another check up and doc advices us to get admitted the next day for an induced labor. Its been raining heavily since morning. Hari suggests the name "Vrishti" and everybody likes it.
                    6.00 pm - Got admitted at Morristown Memorial Maternity Center
                    7.00 pm - Harmones were administered to induce contractions. 
Sep 28th -    
                    12.30 am - Water breaks.
                     2.00 am - Contractions begin. As time goes, each contraction gets more painful and I soon ask for epidural.
                     6.00 am - Have slept for the past approx 3.5 hrs. Epidural works like magic for me and I have basically slept through my contractions. Poor hari did not have the luxury. Now its time to PUSH!
                     Baby changes position many times and pushing is getting exhausting after one hour. Doc considers C-section as her heart beat rate touches 0 every time I push.
                     She gives us hope after about 2 hrs for a normal delivery. 
                     Doc decides to use a vacuum pump after about 3 hrs to pull baby out. Does not work.
                     He decides to use forceps instead. 
                     Now is when the pain starts in its truest sense. Screaming, pushing … crying. 
                     9.34 am - After pushing pushing and pushing, (and some pulling using the forceps) she arrives. 
                     Adrenaline rush overpowers the herculean pains. All I want to do is look at her and hold her as soon as possible.
                     I can hear Hari with the nurses and PDs while cleaning her up and he is cutting her umbilical cord. 
                     I see her in the PDs hands for the first time. There she is; my new found reason to live - VRISHTI. 

7 comments:

Unknown said...

"my new found reason to live" - that was beautiful. You made me choke!

Naarya said...

:)

Simran said...

u made me re-live my pregnancy! i had gestational diabetes too, but it was a fun fun pregnancy :) and the momemnt Neil was born - i understood the true meaning of "relief" and "happiness". Enjoy!

SB said...

So she really waited for the name.. Awesome..

Nalini said...

Bindii!! reading this felt like "Deja Vu":) I had getstaional diabetes too, but pregnancy and aashu's birth was the most beautiful time of my lifetime... and to top it, each moment with aashu is heavenly:)

Each thing in life has a new value now...I respect my parents more, because I can relate to how they feel about me:)

Naarya said...

Thanks everybody. Yeah she has added new meaning and so much more to my life.

Anonymous said...

Women experience both the hardest and happiest moments in a single day - birth of their child! Salute to you and all mothers(including mine)!