Pregnancy to Motherhood; the thought itself knits thousands of emotions. In my case, it was more than a pregnancy, carrying a child or becoming a parent. 2020 came as an unfortunate year for a lot in the world. However, it proved as a boon to me. After 15 years of being in a lovely institution of marriage, the eternal spirit sitting above knocked my door and gave me a golden chance to see those two pink lines on the pregnancy strip. The first test didn't make me believe happening this to us so I decided to go for the second test.... And boom!!! Those two pink lines appeared again. For a moment, I just got still and revealed this news to my husband pretending to be very normal just to see his reaction. He just couldn't believe it either.
After gathering all the senses that we are blessed with, we shared the news with our respective families. It goes without saying, they were happy beyond imagination. We went to see the doctor and here started the journey of nausea, loss of appetite, nutritional supplements, injections, dizziness and our first level of sonography. I just couldn't help myself from crying when I first heard the sound of my baby's heartbeat because that's the first thing u get to experience in your first trimester. The first trimester was no less than a roller coaster ride of Disneyland: scary yet worth riding on. With all the morning sickness and the health complications, there was a best part too... My husband was working from home!!!Days went by, weeks went by, fortnights went by, months went by... I entered in my second trimester. Aaahhhhh!!! The situation was amazingly better. I started feeling happy, healthy, cheerful and hungry like anything. I used to hog and hog and hog and hog anything and everything. Waking up at nights and opening up the fridge, snacks containers became a part of my routine. The situation got little better in the world too but I was still being extra cautious. The days went by watching Netflix, Prime and all the series that I heard of. The nights went by listening to all the spiritual things and meditation. During this time of the year, I heard all the affirmations that YouTube had to offer. The best trimester of my pregnancy was about to end when I went through my Level 2 of sonography. The sonography lasted for almost 45 minutes and my radiologist advised to meet my doctor as soon as possible. That distance of 10 minutes from the lab to my doctor's clinic gave umpteen number of negative thoughts in my mind. And the negative thought of mine proved to be victorious. The doctor told me that my AFI( Amniotic Fluid Index) has risen to 25cm. The normal is 8cm. I was advised COMPLETE bedrest until delivery. As there were chances of getting water bag burst before time and then lesser chances of baby survival. Those last 3 months seemed like hanging between the swords. Each and every second was as dreadful as death. Folks in my family and my husband stood like saving guards for me. I was given the smallest of things in hand on bed. I was only allowed to keep my foot down to pee and have shower. That's it. My belly was bigger than the elephant's belly and turning sides while sleeping became like a Bigg Boss task for me. I can't tell you how badly I wanted this trimester to finish and hold my little world in my arms. On every visit to the doctor, I was told to get through the 37th week of pregnancy's anyhow. The festivals like karwachauth, diwali, bhaidooj during this period lost all its charm.
I was asked to go through RT-PCR and last sonography on the second last visit to the doctor. Now came another terror, going for a swab test for Covid-19. Unlike others, the test was painful and full of irritation for me. I somehow managed to keep my calm and went through the wait for the reports to hit my inbox. In the meanwhile, I went for the last sonography. As per the radiologist, the doctor could call me anytime for the delivery. Here, it brought mixed emotions. I was scared yet excited. The weight was heavier on the scary side. My RT-PCR reports came and for the first time, I was happy being NEGATIVE. On 28th November 2020, I went to my doctor's clinic with all my reports. She went through it, sat peacefully and asked me to get admitted the very next day and get prepared for the C-sec the following day. We came back home, informed our respective families. The families were equally tensed as we were and we're praying for everything to go smooth and fine. My husband who is a die heart follower of 'Guruji' was pretty confident of everything to be super fine as the surgery was happening on Monday (Guruji's Day) and it was Guru Poornima too. I was excited as I was about to deliver my baby on the same day my niece( no less than my daughter) was born. I couldn't be happier than this. I was about to share my baby's birthday with my soul daughter( my niece, baatu that's what I call her with love).
The D day arrived. I was taken to the Operation theatre at 7:20 in morning. Was given anesthesia at 7:30 and gave the birth to a baby boy weighing 3.5 kgs at 7:41. My life stood still when the doctor made his cheeks touched mine. I could see the glitters in my husband's eyes while being shifted from OT to the recovery room. That glitter in his eyes and my baby's first touch made me forget all the pains and fears that I went through. And then the rounds of people visiting us started. And as soon as I saw my Mom coming towards me, I couldn't help myself bursting into tears as we both were remembering my Dad, who went to the heaven with a desire being unfulfilled in his heart to see me becoming a mother.
And then journey of my motherhood started and it is going wonderful yet challenging by every passing day. My baby is going to be 7 months old now and from waking up in the nights to changing his diapers to see him smiling at us to rolling over the bed has made my life worth living.
MY LIFE NOW HAS A NAME....VIRAJ