I've been reading birth stories this morning... and I just realized how gripping they can be. They took me back to my own labor time... and when I finished reading, I was surprised to find myself at work.. with people going about their routine tasks around me. The feeling was totally surreal. This is why I love reading.. Being absorbed in a good story works magic like nothing else.
I must make a small confession here - I love reading in the bath... and now when I manage to do it for a few minutes... it's a real pleasure. A guilty pleasure because for those few minutes, I forget the whole world outside, including my little daughter who is so dependent on me. I'm reading a book that promises a lot now - it's called 'Gently falls the bakula' by Sudha Murty.
Ok got to go now... must do some work for the pay i receive ;-)
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Monday, May 24, 2010
28 years 2 days ago
I turned 28 years old the day before yesterday. It made me wonder of how the twenties have been my most happening decade. I found my best friends, my husband and became a mother in my twenties. I've found a career and financial independence. Hmmmmm.. so much left undone :-) but still some important stuff done :-)
Dancing the night way
The last weekend was a whirlwind of feverish activity... as most of my weekends are. R's cousin was getting married and my in-laws arrived early on Saturday morning. They had brunch and left in mid-morning around 11 to the mandap to stay there for the wedding and return on Monday afternoon.
Every one was eager to see Sammu. But Sammu's fear of strangers held strong and she wailed inconsolably if anybody other than her mother and father dared to lay a finger on her. She had beetroot this weekend.. That was the newest addition to her growing repertoire of foods. We pressure-cooked the beetroot (grated) with some moong dal and then mashed the whole thing up to a thick creamy (little lumpy) consistency.
Last night was the wedding reception. R is quite the dancer and has quite a name for dancing at all relatives' weddings. R's cousin requested that he dance yesterday as well. So he did - to some music played on violins and mridangams!!!! R made me dance as well.. he just held me and moved my limbs - I was as usual two left legged. Then was the best dance of all... R danced with Sammu.. he held her in his arms and swung her to the music. She was so happy and was dimpled and smiling all through the proceedings. R's cousin A has also had a son recently (he's all of 4 months old) and A also danced with his son. It was a very happy moment. I was so proud of my daughter. She looked so beautiful and happy! :-)
Every one was eager to see Sammu. But Sammu's fear of strangers held strong and she wailed inconsolably if anybody other than her mother and father dared to lay a finger on her. She had beetroot this weekend.. That was the newest addition to her growing repertoire of foods. We pressure-cooked the beetroot (grated) with some moong dal and then mashed the whole thing up to a thick creamy (little lumpy) consistency.
Last night was the wedding reception. R is quite the dancer and has quite a name for dancing at all relatives' weddings. R's cousin requested that he dance yesterday as well. So he did - to some music played on violins and mridangams!!!! R made me dance as well.. he just held me and moved my limbs - I was as usual two left legged. Then was the best dance of all... R danced with Sammu.. he held her in his arms and swung her to the music. She was so happy and was dimpled and smiling all through the proceedings. R's cousin A has also had a son recently (he's all of 4 months old) and A also danced with his son. It was a very happy moment. I was so proud of my daughter. She looked so beautiful and happy! :-)
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Lifestyle Diseases
We received a rude shock at work in the past one week. There was a health camp conducted at my company where they did a battery of blood tests, measured blood pressure, height, weight etc.
R and I work for the same company. To our utter disappointment, R has now been diagnosed with mild hypertension. We visited a cardiologist yesterday and did a proper evaluation. He is to begin medication starting with only half a tablet. But still... hypertension is not something he or I had associated with his age. We always imagined that it would take more than a dozen gray hairs before he or I would develop this sort of a problem.
But that's not just all... A number of R's peers have been diagnosed with such problems as well, mild hypertension, borderline sugar problems - many of them are well on their way to developing lifestyle diseases which means they may need to take medication or control their diets for the rest of their lifetime.
What does this mean? Is the quality of our life so poor that we develop such diseases at such an early age? My grandmother wasn't diabetic until I was 12 or 13 years old. My mother is a diabetic now - when my daughter is just 7 months old. And my grandparents did not have hypertension - my still surviving lone grandmother still doesn't have it. But my daughter has a parent with hypertension - mild or not.
I read a lot of books, but i generally dismiss the books that talk about slowing down, taking life easy... But maybe there's some truth in it? I always think of people talking about poor health in IT as doing stereotyping and being cliched... but is there something to it after all?
Isn't it time to rethink the weird work life balances we have in IT? Why isn't there a union for IT workers? I think the industry has matured in so many different ways. Isn't it time for this kind of a maturity as well?
Ok time to go back to work... Needed to say all this somewhere and what's better than here...
R and I work for the same company. To our utter disappointment, R has now been diagnosed with mild hypertension. We visited a cardiologist yesterday and did a proper evaluation. He is to begin medication starting with only half a tablet. But still... hypertension is not something he or I had associated with his age. We always imagined that it would take more than a dozen gray hairs before he or I would develop this sort of a problem.
But that's not just all... A number of R's peers have been diagnosed with such problems as well, mild hypertension, borderline sugar problems - many of them are well on their way to developing lifestyle diseases which means they may need to take medication or control their diets for the rest of their lifetime.
What does this mean? Is the quality of our life so poor that we develop such diseases at such an early age? My grandmother wasn't diabetic until I was 12 or 13 years old. My mother is a diabetic now - when my daughter is just 7 months old. And my grandparents did not have hypertension - my still surviving lone grandmother still doesn't have it. But my daughter has a parent with hypertension - mild or not.
I read a lot of books, but i generally dismiss the books that talk about slowing down, taking life easy... But maybe there's some truth in it? I always think of people talking about poor health in IT as doing stereotyping and being cliched... but is there something to it after all?
Isn't it time to rethink the weird work life balances we have in IT? Why isn't there a union for IT workers? I think the industry has matured in so many different ways. Isn't it time for this kind of a maturity as well?
Ok time to go back to work... Needed to say all this somewhere and what's better than here...
Thursday, May 13, 2010
My birth story
Shouldn't this be called Sammu's birth story? Well anyway, I thought i should write this down at least 7 months after the event :-). Just so I don't have different expectations next time (if there is a next time!)
I was on leave from 21-Sep-09, eagerly anticipating (or so I thought at the time) Sammu's birth... I couldn't wait for her to be born, to actually hold and cuddle a newborn baby seemed so unreal. And it felt as if the pregnancy would never end. I was so tired of hauling my huge self everywhere, even sitting down and getting up seemed like an excercise by itself. I fully expected pains to appear all of a sudden each night and imagined myself on the way to hospital screaming and holding my husband for support in the middle of the night! I could never have imagined that what would happen would actually be so mundane.
It was early evening on 2-Oct-09. I started to feel that I was having mild pains on the left side of my stomach, not dissimilar to what i generally get during ovulation time. Note the phrase, 'started to feel'. I wasn't really sure of how i felt and I couldn't be sure that I wasn't making the pains up. I am very imaginative, especially when it comes to inventing bodily aches and groans.
As it was a Saturday evening, R was also at home and he was very excited. He was more eager than i was to have the baby and he was also a bit scared for me
and how i would come through all of this. He suggested going to the hospital, if i was sure I was in labor. I wasn't so sure. I suggested that we wait a while.
That night I ate a light meal (just in case :;-)) and we decided to wait and see. Around 12ish, I thought i felt the pains increasing (notice: 'thought'). R had already spoken with a call driver to come in at a short notice, so we could go by our car to the hospital. R was not yet sure he could drive then - so we were still using a regular driver and call drivers for other times. By 1 AM i was convinced that the pains were getting stronger and that I needed to get to the hospital, fast.
R immediately got the call driver in and we were all ready and set to go to the hospital by 3 AM. I even got my sis V to take photos of me before the delivery. Now is the right time for you to ask this question: 'If you were really in labor, would you be able to think of taking photos?' We reached the hospital in less than 15 minutes. It was not at all what i pictured happening, except for the fact that it happened in the middle of the night. I remember thinking that I was so calm - how calmly i was bearing my pain :-) This must be what motherhood is all about- bearing pain stoically and silently. We reached the hospital's triage area. There was an attending nurse and doctor. The doctor started to note all my details down, giving me a glare when i said i had 'PCOS', 'Say Polcystic Ovary Syndrome - don't use short forms', she berated me, but not unkindly. The nurse took one look at me and said, she is not in any hurry to deliver. She doesn't seem to be having more than the mildest of pains. If she did, then she would not look like this!!! This was my introduction to the pain that's expected during delivery. The duty doctor examined me. To me, this is the most painful part of delivery. The examination -
ugh.. few things have ever felt so uncomfortable to me. She said that i was maybe dilated a tiny inch and not much more.
They called up my doctor, who immediately advised that i be admitted, although I was only in early labor. My doctor's not one to take many chances. She decided to admit me even though the whole world felt i was not in active labor yet.
Part 2 will follow tomorrow. I can't write so much in a single day!!! And as you will learn, it's a long long way to go before you meet Sammu!
I was on leave from 21-Sep-09, eagerly anticipating (or so I thought at the time) Sammu's birth... I couldn't wait for her to be born, to actually hold and cuddle a newborn baby seemed so unreal. And it felt as if the pregnancy would never end. I was so tired of hauling my huge self everywhere, even sitting down and getting up seemed like an excercise by itself. I fully expected pains to appear all of a sudden each night and imagined myself on the way to hospital screaming and holding my husband for support in the middle of the night! I could never have imagined that what would happen would actually be so mundane.
It was early evening on 2-Oct-09. I started to feel that I was having mild pains on the left side of my stomach, not dissimilar to what i generally get during ovulation time. Note the phrase, 'started to feel'. I wasn't really sure of how i felt and I couldn't be sure that I wasn't making the pains up. I am very imaginative, especially when it comes to inventing bodily aches and groans.
As it was a Saturday evening, R was also at home and he was very excited. He was more eager than i was to have the baby and he was also a bit scared for me
and how i would come through all of this. He suggested going to the hospital, if i was sure I was in labor. I wasn't so sure. I suggested that we wait a while.
That night I ate a light meal (just in case :;-)) and we decided to wait and see. Around 12ish, I thought i felt the pains increasing (notice: 'thought'). R had already spoken with a call driver to come in at a short notice, so we could go by our car to the hospital. R was not yet sure he could drive then - so we were still using a regular driver and call drivers for other times. By 1 AM i was convinced that the pains were getting stronger and that I needed to get to the hospital, fast.
R immediately got the call driver in and we were all ready and set to go to the hospital by 3 AM. I even got my sis V to take photos of me before the delivery. Now is the right time for you to ask this question: 'If you were really in labor, would you be able to think of taking photos?' We reached the hospital in less than 15 minutes. It was not at all what i pictured happening, except for the fact that it happened in the middle of the night. I remember thinking that I was so calm - how calmly i was bearing my pain :-) This must be what motherhood is all about- bearing pain stoically and silently. We reached the hospital's triage area. There was an attending nurse and doctor. The doctor started to note all my details down, giving me a glare when i said i had 'PCOS', 'Say Polcystic Ovary Syndrome - don't use short forms', she berated me, but not unkindly. The nurse took one look at me and said, she is not in any hurry to deliver. She doesn't seem to be having more than the mildest of pains. If she did, then she would not look like this!!! This was my introduction to the pain that's expected during delivery. The duty doctor examined me. To me, this is the most painful part of delivery. The examination -
ugh.. few things have ever felt so uncomfortable to me. She said that i was maybe dilated a tiny inch and not much more.
They called up my doctor, who immediately advised that i be admitted, although I was only in early labor. My doctor's not one to take many chances. She decided to admit me even though the whole world felt i was not in active labor yet.
Part 2 will follow tomorrow. I can't write so much in a single day!!! And as you will learn, it's a long long way to go before you meet Sammu!
Friday, May 07, 2010
Thursday, May 06, 2010
A Super Dad Day
I realize that in all of these posts, I have never once mentioned my husband. I've mentioned before that i felt like a super mom for making breakfast and lunch and making it to work on time. But really, I would be unable to do any of this if not for the support provided by my husband and my mom.
He lets me relax the whole evening. I play with the baby and feed her on demand the whole evening. I often don't lift even a tiny finger to help with dinner or the cleaning up afterward. He also cleans all the baby's bottles and cups, my breast pump parts and sterilizes them at night. If baby seems too cranky or does not allow me to put her down and eat.. he even feeds me dinner!!!
I'm trying to make the mornings his time with baby. He takes care of her the whole time while I cook and keeps her amused and happy. I am a cribber by nature, i crib when things work, i crib when things don't. He listens to all my crap with a patient look and tries to solve whatever things he can. Even today, i can't believe the luck that joined my life with his :-)
He's a Super Dad and a Super Super Husband !!
He lets me relax the whole evening. I play with the baby and feed her on demand the whole evening. I often don't lift even a tiny finger to help with dinner or the cleaning up afterward. He also cleans all the baby's bottles and cups, my breast pump parts and sterilizes them at night. If baby seems too cranky or does not allow me to put her down and eat.. he even feeds me dinner!!!
I'm trying to make the mornings his time with baby. He takes care of her the whole time while I cook and keeps her amused and happy. I am a cribber by nature, i crib when things work, i crib when things don't. He listens to all my crap with a patient look and tries to solve whatever things he can. Even today, i can't believe the luck that joined my life with his :-)
He's a Super Dad and a Super Super Husband !!
Wednesday, May 05, 2010
Sitting Sammu
Sammu has started to sit up by herself now. It's funny how she sits up - she first 'almost' rolls over but not quite, she holds herself on her side and then rests that hand on the surface firmly, with the other hand she manages to pull and sort of push herself up. For just a few seconds, she looks like she will fall down, but then she straightens her hand (the one that's resting) again and sits up firmly, pressing her bum and thighs to the floor :-)
Now she refuses to lie down even for nappy or diaper changes. We would need to put the diaper on when she's sitting or more conveniently when she's standing. She also pulls herself (rarely) into a standing position.
She had a bit of sweet potato today and rejected it. Need to try it again soon but for now, I'm more keen to try her on some juice.
Now she refuses to lie down even for nappy or diaper changes. We would need to put the diaper on when she's sitting or more conveniently when she's standing. She also pulls herself (rarely) into a standing position.
She had a bit of sweet potato today and rejected it. Need to try it again soon but for now, I'm more keen to try her on some juice.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)