Celebration of Life

Recently heard from a dear friend in a long time and the icing on the cake, She’s expecting!

Woww… Pregnancy…childbirth….this triggers a memory of sorts in me. Those nine-months were a kaleidoscope of emotions to handle. From pregnancy blues to vanilla cravings, it was perhaps the best ‘period’ of my life!

Funniest was the way I kept telling my hubby how I ‘felt’ pregnant! We bought a home-pregnancy kit barely within days of missing my cycle. I still remember the brand! It was called EPT (stands for Error proof Test!). I had let the ‘deciding fluid’ run on it and was disappointed to see the lack of colour change! (For the benefit of first timers… These pregnancy kits have colored markers. The colour changes from X to Y if one is pregnant!). I threw it in the dustbin and went for dinner. Little did I know that hubby dear had actually retrieved it while I was away and left it on the sink (as if it were a chemistry experiment tube or something!). Returned after dinner only to see the colour change! Woww..finally I had a basis to ‘feeling pregnant’!

Visits to the gynec were fun times. I had read up almost every literature available over the internet about babies, mommies-to-be, so much so that I could be a counselor myself. (he he). I particularly like the midwife’s tales that very often talks about the sex of the unborn child by relating it to the pregnant woman’s behavior. All those indicators pointed towards me having a baby girl! Just took me 9 months to realize it was going to be otherwise!

I had seen/known that activities mommies-to-be normally indulged in – Knitting, Sewing and the like. Man, I was pathetic at these! No wonder I was awarded a C every time every year in my art classes. During these nine months, I used to be an active member at forums discussing pregnancy and child birth topics. It was particularly comforting to hear from fellow-mommies-to-be (woow..i like that term!).

My Birthing story...(Scripted this one days after I delivered my bundle of joy)

I started having early signs of labor on the 14th of feb...(note it was Valentines' day..:P). Was asked to get admitted and from there on, the fetal heart rate was continuously being monitored...it so happened that the heart rate went up at times which was a concern for the docs...

I was given an induction medication at 10.30 pm and from about 1 am on 15th..i went into labor in the full swing...it was painful man...had close to 10 hrs of labour...I had opted for an epidural in the meantime...doc found that i was fully dilated by the time it was 9 am..but the irony was that my brat refused to come down...At the same time the baby's heart rate further peaked up...Hence they thought it wasnt worthwhile taking a chance and opted for a c-section.

I was totally conscious during the surgery and to be honest i was relieved since i knew the end for all this pain was getting closer...R was born at 9.54 am. I just couldnt react when the doc showed me the little one...I remember tears trickle down my eyes...R keeps us busy day and nite...life suddenly seems to b just consisting of nappy changes and feed times.

And the party didn’t end there. My first assignment post-pregnancy was to script a storyboard for a video on pregnancy and childbirth. I still can visualize the expression on my client’s face when I shared with him the storyboard. The concluding statement of my script was – “ Childbirth is a physical exhausting and emotionally draining process!” . Well, that’s the best I could describe the experience after three months of sleep-starvation. Naah, on a more a serious note, I wonder why pregnancy and childbirth doesn’t find a mention in the top-most triangle (titled Self-Actualization) in Maslow’s theory of needs!

Childbirth is the moment of truth when the mother gives in herself in totality all for the cause of well-being of her bundle of joy! Here's wishing my friends expecting their 'little-angels' the very best!