Me: @11:00PM on 18th May 2017 – I feel something is not correct with my health. I think we should meet a doctor. Maybe I’m not well?
He – Yes, lets schedule an appointment
Me: Can you make some milkshake for me?
Meanwhile I was googling what these symptoms would warrant to – Google says, “You can be pregnant”. I started searching for home pregnancy test kit. I found it then I ran to the restroom, did the test, waited for result, 30 secs go by and then TWO red lines. I read instructions again and again – "If two red lines appear then you are pregnant", and then i shouted –
Biren, does this mean I’m Pregnant???????
He – Yes… We are Pregnant :)
With a happy face, he hugs me, while I was still trying to digest what just happened.
We clicked our first pic of “We are pregnant” right after all this scene. Thousands of questions in my mind, mixed feelings, happy to be in the new phase and scared to think about accepting all the changes that it would bring in our lives and relation. While I am trying to sleep, I suddenly started telling him “How can I do snorkeling holding your hand now? And I’m still going to give you a good night, good morning, hi, bye kiss” He gave a smile and said “don’t think too much”, kissed and wished good night..
Next day, we did the lab test to confirm and then met the doctor. I was 6+ weeks pregnant when we discovered. Three weeks before this day – I used to get very tired, might have cooked less than 4-5 times in 15 days, had bloating post meals and was eating a full chipotle bowl, foot-long subway for the first time in my life. My colleagues were like “Looks like you are pregnant, we never saw you eating so so much”. I was like – “NO, it’s just that I ate less last night”. Now I could relate to what was happening.
All excited, I called my dad, asked all my siblings to be around and then gave them the good news. My parents, specially my mom was waiting to hear this from the day I got married :P… His parents were in the US staying with his brother. We went to meet them in the evening and gifted a frame and mug with things written about grandparents. They slowly opened the gifts but could not figure it out. Then a note popped from the gift bag in Mom’s hand where we wrote “You are going to become grandparents AGAIN”. Mom was super happy and started congratulating and everyone followed…
Now talking about the first trimester, it was not really pleasing as said by everyone. Heart was happy with the thought of our baby but the pain in the whole body was making me miserable. I used to tell Biren that if this continues for nine more months, I think I will end up scratching all his hair. I used to start my day with tears because of morning sickness and puking while brushing. I had heartburn all through the day and more when I used to sleep. Pain in the calves and tiredness while cooking was a routine. People said we have gone through more which made me feel my suffering was less. Pain is pain. You cry it on other’s shoulders or you bear it with a smile not showing it to anyone, it’s a choice. I chose the latter.
Suddenly with the start of second trimester, I was all jumpy and no grumpy. It felt like all the sickness was gone; there was no feeling in the stomach, except that it was slowly growing. We shared the news with all our friends and extended family members with puzzles in fortune cookies and in messages to solve. Joy all around and so many hugs. People started caring more. I got the best place to sit in parties. This was the most energetic phase. I learnt some new recipes and started making fresh rotis. Every weekend was busy hunting for houses. I also went for a 3-day outing on an island with my girlies. We had our 20 weeks ultrasound to know about baby’s health and gender. We revealed the gender to our friends with playing a question-answer game. Biren wanted a boy and I wished for a girl. He won, and I felt happy for him. There was an addition to our happiness with winning the bid and getting our dream home signed. I wish this time stayed forever.
Things started changing with the start of third trimester. The bloating came back with full vigor, body started getting heavy and tired, appetite was going low, steps slowed down, and I needed Biren to help me tie my shoe. :). My stomach started popping out like a football. Ladies around kept touching my stomach, even the ones whom I didn’t know. This made me blush. In the 7th month, we had the traditional baby shower with some relatives. In the 8th month, we celebrated with our friends and in the 9th month, I got a surprise shower in my office. All these events and pampering from everyone around made me feel blessed and forget all the pain. The best part was my baby’s kicks, and his somersaults. It was hurting at times, but I still wanted them more and more.
We completed all the classes about pregnancy, labor and newborn care at out hospital. Knowledge is important but this one also started getting us tensed. The day I got to know how it would be when the labor starts and till the baby is out, scared me thinking if I will be able to handle it. I wanted the clock to pause; begging for some more time till I make up my mind. Two weeks before my due date my mom-like aunt (mom’s sister) came from India to help, followed by my eldest sister and just then I was diagnosed with cholestasis which was harmful for my baby. The doctor told me with a smiling face “you are on your term, let’s bring the baby to this world”. I told her if we can wait for another two days. I want a 2018 baby and she winked with a shake signaling “no”.
The morning of December 30th, 2017, at 7:00am I got admitted to the hospital. They induced around 9:00am. Labor had started but I was not able to feel much. There were like 2 hours which were unbearable when the bag of water was broken, and the earlier nurse could not sedate me soon enough. I can still remember my shouts asking for pain relief and anesthesia. My second nurse Tammy was awesome. She positioned me well to stop my pain. With my baby dropping his heartbeat, we even thought of getting him out through vacuum. Tammy helped me to push my baby with correct positions and ways and taught me to put all my energy where required. 45mins and finally I could push it correctly and he was on my chest at 4:45PM. Tears rolled down my cheeks when we were skin to skin, I caressed his head and kissed lightly. I can’t explain in words what that feeling was!
We named him ABIR (derived from Aparna and BIRen).
Everything just changed from this day. I was not aware that babies need to be fed every 2-3 hours (I thought they sleep through the night from day1 :P). One suggestion that everyone was passing – “Sleep when the baby sleeps”. Slowly I got used to it - wake up, feed him, change the diaper and sleep again in a way that my sleep was not disturbed at all. The first couple of weeks were stressful adjusting to this new schedule, recovering my body, learning to breastfeed and overcoming all the issues that came with it. I can never forget the hours of crying that I had when my breasts were engorged on the third day of his life and he could not drink due to oversupply. Come on!! How can oversupply be a problem? My lactation consultant was knowledgeable. All her advices helped me get back the baby’s weight to his birth weight on 7th day of his life. I can’t forget the help that I got from my sisters-in-law here.
Things started getting better once Abir turned 2-months old. He is our laughing buddha. He wants to talk and laugh all the time. His smiling face, innocent eyes, melodious chirps makes us feel blessed and happy always. When the end is so cute, it’s easy to forget what you have gone through to reach here. I feel more respectful for my mom now for bringing me and my siblings (4) to this world, loving us so much, handling all our tantrums, feeding us well, teaching us all the good and passing their experiences to us. Mom-Dad I love you so much, you are the best and we are privileged to have you as our parents.
A lot more about Aaru (Abir’s nick name) in future posts :)
At times I miss Aaru inside me, his kicks, the smile that I used to have thinking of him while touching my stomach, the attention, the pamper and just everything about pregnancy except the frequent walks to the restroom :P.
My husband was with me in this journey at all the steps. I would have not been able to handle it without him. He handled my terrible mood swings, my cry for no reasons, my requests for food at 2:00am. We dreamt together about holding our baby, we smiled together thinking of this blissful future, he used to feel our baby touching my belly, kissing my stomach, opened car doors for me, gave his hand while we walked, fulfilled all my silly asks. And why - because We were pregnant.
PS. Abir’s recent update – My koala bear is one year now. He can get an award for entertainer of the year. Super energetic, started walking, loves to laugh and throw tantrums. He is a big boy now. Everyone calls him “Happy Baby”
PSS Appu’s recent update – Back to the pre pregnancy weight :P
PSSS Life’s update – A lot has happened in life in the end of 2018. A change which is difficult to accept. My heart can’t stop weeping thinking about it, but my eyes have learnt to be strong. This is that time in life when suddenly you get a feeling that there is no one to tell you to eat properly, drive safely, be careful, sleep well, don’t over exhaust, come soon and so on... All is going to be well.
Let me end this post which was in progress from last 6 months. Take care of yourselves and your health. Wear helmet while riding a bike since only Ganesha was lucky enough to get a replacement. Loads of love, hugs and kisses.. Muaah…. :)
He – Yes, lets schedule an appointment
Me: Can you make some milkshake for me?
Meanwhile I was googling what these symptoms would warrant to – Google says, “You can be pregnant”. I started searching for home pregnancy test kit. I found it then I ran to the restroom, did the test, waited for result, 30 secs go by and then TWO red lines. I read instructions again and again – "If two red lines appear then you are pregnant", and then i shouted –
Biren, does this mean I’m Pregnant???????
He – Yes… We are Pregnant :)
With a happy face, he hugs me, while I was still trying to digest what just happened.
We clicked our first pic of “We are pregnant” right after all this scene. Thousands of questions in my mind, mixed feelings, happy to be in the new phase and scared to think about accepting all the changes that it would bring in our lives and relation. While I am trying to sleep, I suddenly started telling him “How can I do snorkeling holding your hand now? And I’m still going to give you a good night, good morning, hi, bye kiss” He gave a smile and said “don’t think too much”, kissed and wished good night..
Next day, we did the lab test to confirm and then met the doctor. I was 6+ weeks pregnant when we discovered. Three weeks before this day – I used to get very tired, might have cooked less than 4-5 times in 15 days, had bloating post meals and was eating a full chipotle bowl, foot-long subway for the first time in my life. My colleagues were like “Looks like you are pregnant, we never saw you eating so so much”. I was like – “NO, it’s just that I ate less last night”. Now I could relate to what was happening.
All excited, I called my dad, asked all my siblings to be around and then gave them the good news. My parents, specially my mom was waiting to hear this from the day I got married :P… His parents were in the US staying with his brother. We went to meet them in the evening and gifted a frame and mug with things written about grandparents. They slowly opened the gifts but could not figure it out. Then a note popped from the gift bag in Mom’s hand where we wrote “You are going to become grandparents AGAIN”. Mom was super happy and started congratulating and everyone followed…
Now talking about the first trimester, it was not really pleasing as said by everyone. Heart was happy with the thought of our baby but the pain in the whole body was making me miserable. I used to tell Biren that if this continues for nine more months, I think I will end up scratching all his hair. I used to start my day with tears because of morning sickness and puking while brushing. I had heartburn all through the day and more when I used to sleep. Pain in the calves and tiredness while cooking was a routine. People said we have gone through more which made me feel my suffering was less. Pain is pain. You cry it on other’s shoulders or you bear it with a smile not showing it to anyone, it’s a choice. I chose the latter.
Suddenly with the start of second trimester, I was all jumpy and no grumpy. It felt like all the sickness was gone; there was no feeling in the stomach, except that it was slowly growing. We shared the news with all our friends and extended family members with puzzles in fortune cookies and in messages to solve. Joy all around and so many hugs. People started caring more. I got the best place to sit in parties. This was the most energetic phase. I learnt some new recipes and started making fresh rotis. Every weekend was busy hunting for houses. I also went for a 3-day outing on an island with my girlies. We had our 20 weeks ultrasound to know about baby’s health and gender. We revealed the gender to our friends with playing a question-answer game. Biren wanted a boy and I wished for a girl. He won, and I felt happy for him. There was an addition to our happiness with winning the bid and getting our dream home signed. I wish this time stayed forever.
Pumping the balloon!!!
Things started changing with the start of third trimester. The bloating came back with full vigor, body started getting heavy and tired, appetite was going low, steps slowed down, and I needed Biren to help me tie my shoe. :). My stomach started popping out like a football. Ladies around kept touching my stomach, even the ones whom I didn’t know. This made me blush. In the 7th month, we had the traditional baby shower with some relatives. In the 8th month, we celebrated with our friends and in the 9th month, I got a surprise shower in my office. All these events and pampering from everyone around made me feel blessed and forget all the pain. The best part was my baby’s kicks, and his somersaults. It was hurting at times, but I still wanted them more and more.
We completed all the classes about pregnancy, labor and newborn care at out hospital. Knowledge is important but this one also started getting us tensed. The day I got to know how it would be when the labor starts and till the baby is out, scared me thinking if I will be able to handle it. I wanted the clock to pause; begging for some more time till I make up my mind. Two weeks before my due date my mom-like aunt (mom’s sister) came from India to help, followed by my eldest sister and just then I was diagnosed with cholestasis which was harmful for my baby. The doctor told me with a smiling face “you are on your term, let’s bring the baby to this world”. I told her if we can wait for another two days. I want a 2018 baby and she winked with a shake signaling “no”.
The morning of December 30th, 2017, at 7:00am I got admitted to the hospital. They induced around 9:00am. Labor had started but I was not able to feel much. There were like 2 hours which were unbearable when the bag of water was broken, and the earlier nurse could not sedate me soon enough. I can still remember my shouts asking for pain relief and anesthesia. My second nurse Tammy was awesome. She positioned me well to stop my pain. With my baby dropping his heartbeat, we even thought of getting him out through vacuum. Tammy helped me to push my baby with correct positions and ways and taught me to put all my energy where required. 45mins and finally I could push it correctly and he was on my chest at 4:45PM. Tears rolled down my cheeks when we were skin to skin, I caressed his head and kissed lightly. I can’t explain in words what that feeling was!
We named him ABIR (derived from Aparna and BIRen).
My lil pumpkin is a big boy now!!
Everything just changed from this day. I was not aware that babies need to be fed every 2-3 hours (I thought they sleep through the night from day1 :P). One suggestion that everyone was passing – “Sleep when the baby sleeps”. Slowly I got used to it - wake up, feed him, change the diaper and sleep again in a way that my sleep was not disturbed at all. The first couple of weeks were stressful adjusting to this new schedule, recovering my body, learning to breastfeed and overcoming all the issues that came with it. I can never forget the hours of crying that I had when my breasts were engorged on the third day of his life and he could not drink due to oversupply. Come on!! How can oversupply be a problem? My lactation consultant was knowledgeable. All her advices helped me get back the baby’s weight to his birth weight on 7th day of his life. I can’t forget the help that I got from my sisters-in-law here.
Things started getting better once Abir turned 2-months old. He is our laughing buddha. He wants to talk and laugh all the time. His smiling face, innocent eyes, melodious chirps makes us feel blessed and happy always. When the end is so cute, it’s easy to forget what you have gone through to reach here. I feel more respectful for my mom now for bringing me and my siblings (4) to this world, loving us so much, handling all our tantrums, feeding us well, teaching us all the good and passing their experiences to us. Mom-Dad I love you so much, you are the best and we are privileged to have you as our parents.
A lot more about Aaru (Abir’s nick name) in future posts :)
At times I miss Aaru inside me, his kicks, the smile that I used to have thinking of him while touching my stomach, the attention, the pamper and just everything about pregnancy except the frequent walks to the restroom :P.
My husband was with me in this journey at all the steps. I would have not been able to handle it without him. He handled my terrible mood swings, my cry for no reasons, my requests for food at 2:00am. We dreamt together about holding our baby, we smiled together thinking of this blissful future, he used to feel our baby touching my belly, kissing my stomach, opened car doors for me, gave his hand while we walked, fulfilled all my silly asks. And why - because We were pregnant.
PS. Abir’s recent update – My koala bear is one year now. He can get an award for entertainer of the year. Super energetic, started walking, loves to laugh and throw tantrums. He is a big boy now. Everyone calls him “Happy Baby”
PSS Appu’s recent update – Back to the pre pregnancy weight :P
Clicked on Brother's wedding!!
PSSS Life’s update – A lot has happened in life in the end of 2018. A change which is difficult to accept. My heart can’t stop weeping thinking about it, but my eyes have learnt to be strong. This is that time in life when suddenly you get a feeling that there is no one to tell you to eat properly, drive safely, be careful, sleep well, don’t over exhaust, come soon and so on... All is going to be well.
Let me end this post which was in progress from last 6 months. Take care of yourselves and your health. Wear helmet while riding a bike since only Ganesha was lucky enough to get a replacement. Loads of love, hugs and kisses.. Muaah…. :)
