What better subject for my first blog post than the incredible little person who has turned my world upside down these past 9 months (actually 18, if you count the time she spent in me) and made me view everything in a different light.
My daughter, my angel, my little blessing from God, Sarah Rekha. I dedicate this blog to you because you have inspired me to become a better person.
I am grateful that I had a smooth pregnancy. Everything about it felt right and throughout the nine months my body felt like it was finally serving its purpose - to house and nurture a little being until she was ready to face the world. Sure, I did have swollen ankles, backaches, bleeding gums, a bacterial infection and my feet went up a size larger (something they don't tell you about), but in all I was able to keep active. In addition to weekly yoga and aqua fit classes, I even took part in the annual Shape Run, albeit by walking 5km instead of running the usual 10km route. Still, I was 7.5 months preggers then and hubby was mighty proud of me.
In fact, I kept up my usual daily routine and continued working right up to the delivery day. That was the only drama I encountered during the 9 months and it should have foretold her feisty character. Sarah came one week early at 36 weeks and 2 days, she was a few days shy of full-term. But boy, did she make a grand entrance!
It was our 2nd wedding anniversary and the husband and I had planned to go out for a nice dinner that evening to celebrate our last anniversary as a couple before baby came along but she had other plans.
I was busy working in the office that morning when my water bag burst. Luckily, my sister works in the same company and was able to send me to the hospital immediately although even then, I was in denial about the impending delivery. On the way, we called my husband who rushed to meet us there.
On the journey to the hospital and right up to the admission counter, water kept leaking out of me and I felt a constant urge to pee, which in hindsight could have been the initial contractions. The nurses and admissions clerks insisted that I be wheeled in a wheelchair to the delivery suite even though I felt perfectly fine and was able to walk. But onto the wheelchair I went and once I reached the suite, I was strapped to some contraption to monitor my contractions, which I still could not feel.
The husband came along shortly, followed by my gynae. She confirmed that I was going to deliver that day and told me that I was already 4 cm dilated and it would be a matter of hours - she predicted 3 - before I was able to push. She was right!
I threw my 'no-drug' birthplan out the window and demanded epidural when I finally was able to feel the contractions. They are the most painful and uncomfortable feeling I had ever experienced in my life. It felt as though someone was crushing my bladder until it was about to burst. Man, despair did not even begin to describe my feeling when I was told I was unable to use epidural and I questioned fleetingly the wisdom of having a child if the pain was so bad - yes, my pain threshold is low, I know now.
Anyway, after 45 minutes of pushing, our baby still refused to meet us so I had to undergo an emergency c-section. The relief from the spinal anesthesia was immediate and I know I want drugs if I'm ever blessed with more babies. After cutting me open, the doctor literally got up onto the operating table and pressed down on my tummy to pop her out. And lo, at 4:58 pm our daughter noisily entered our world.
Covered in blood and some cheese-like substance that I've forgotten the name for, she was the most beautiful sight I've ever set eyes upon in my life. They brought her to me once she was cleaned up for a kiss and I was even more in love than I had been when I first felt her moving around in my tummy. Since then, she has transformed my worldview, and I am filled with wonder at every little smile and milestone by this tiny person with a big personality.
Sarah is truly my pride and joy, and I feel blessed to have her in my life. Sometimes, especially during the colicky and sick periods when she keeps us up at unearthly hours, the husband and I would joke that we wished babies came with a return and refund policy, but we never do mean it. We won't have it any other way and are indeed grateful to be given the privilege of becoming parents. We vow and endeavor to do our best to provide for her and we hope that she will turn out to be a wonderful, caring human being.
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