The Arrival -Feb 19,2016

Life is one big stage and all of us have our bit to play in it. My life is full of drama and surprises and without a doubt there had to be enough drama during my labour too. I had a very easy pregnancy and through out the period, my father would plan the D Day. He made 4 checklists and Plan A,B,C and incase required D. Cousins who lived nearby were reminded time and again and he would make sure the car was perfect incase of an emergency. When I was formally bought home, we decided to do pest control so that the house is ready for the babies. I had secretly made tons of plans to enjoy my last leg of freedom. Feb 18th,2016 I felt a little queasy not sure why. Maybe it was the smell of the pest control tonic or my food, I was tired and wanted to sleep the whole day. Since we had to lock up the whole house for 24hrs, I was shifted to my cousins house. As soon as I entered the house, my father joked with my sister in law saying ' See there are 4 cars incase we have to take Revathi to the hospital '. The clock struck 12 and when I climbed the bed, my water broke. I rushed into the bathroom thinking I have urinated on the bed. I was extremely uncomfortable and felt sorry for my uncle thinking I ruined his new mattress.

R had just left to our house. He was supposed to drop his parents to the railway station in the morning and come over. After minutes of deliberation, I was rushed to the hospital at 3am in full filmy style. 3 cars drove back to back to the hospital emergency section with my brothers screaming at the doctor ' Her water broke and she is in labour '. I was petrified thinking that there was time and honestly I didn't want to deliver so soon. I was praying that the doctor sends me home. But I was 3cm dilated. An emergency C-Sec was planned at 6am since my doctor was in middle of a delivery. It was further pushed to 8 AM. R rushed to the hospital with his parents and I had no clue why people around me were getting excited. I was given a baby monitor and asked to keep a check on it.

Again I was prepped and ready by 7am but the doctors asked R to step out of OT. Today in hindsight, I wish he was there to hold my hands and boost my spirit. I was wheeled in to the OT and there were fleet of doctors inside. The anesthesiologist was very polite. He held my hands and explained me the whole procedure which got over in 20 minutes flat. My lill princess made a grand entry into the world crying at 8:31AM and my prince at 8:33AM. When the doctor showed my daughters face to me, I was speechless. It was a moment of sheer bliss and happiness and more than anything contentment. However my son had the umbilical cord around his neck due to which he was blue. The doctors were not confident on his survival since he didn't cry so they shifted him to NICU and kept him on ventilator for 2 weeks. My son weighed 1.6 kgs and my daughter was 1.48 kgs but both were in NICU for a month.
February 19th 2016 - the day which changed mine and R's life forever. We turned into a family of 4 from 2 and completed us.

BTW - We named our princess as Aarohi and prince as Angad. Aarohi turned on her own today which was quite an achievement for us. Angad turned over last month twice and this month on August 19th, he turned again.

August 15,2015 - The D Day !

Though the day today is August 17th, I fondly remember August 15th which changed my life for better. I discovered that my long cherished dream of becoming a mother came true but it was confirmed 2 days later. Today after a year, I look back at my nervous self sitting at the clinic. I prayed to all possible gods but what surprised me was that the doctor told me I am going to be mum to 2 instead of one. I went through series of emotions - hope, nervousness, despair etc. I didn't know what to emote since I was prepared only for one child. God probably heard me twice and granted me my most precious gifts in pair. My father who dropped me at the clinic had equally shocked reaction. All that he could muster is ' Lets go and eat something '. We had coffee in MTR and thought of strategy on how to break the news to the family. All our strategies went kaput coz dad could not control his emotion. But my mom and brother took time to understand our reactions. After 15 minutes of explaining, she finally squealed in happiness. My brother who is quiet and reserved jumped to hug me and it felt wonderful to see the joy on their faces.

This is something which I will always miss. I thought of waiting for R to come and share this news in person but it was too much of a wait. I could not wait that long and I just typed 3 words ' Good morning Dad '. Over skype we had to share this happiness which had eluded us this long. Though both of us wanted to be happy and share it with the world, we were being cautious also for many reasons -

a) Its twins and no one is sure till 3months go along

b) Its first time for us and we didn't want anything to go wrong.

Inlaws were next to know and as expected they were over the moon. MIL kept shedding happy tears hearing the news. My whole pregnancy was a delight. I had zero sickness, no cravings and absolutely healthy outlook. It was a dream pregnancy which included my dream photoshoot and baby showers etc. But manybe I got a little over excited and forgot to rest during my last trimester. my 8th month saw a lot of functions - baby shower- mum side and inlaw side and right after a week, my water broke. I was just 32 weeks and 4 days along.

Man Proposes God also proposes..

For people who know me and R, know now clearly that we are sort of borderline atheists. I am not saying that there is no God but I feel some super power guiding us. It so happened that I had to travel to Mumbai for work and R to Calcutta immediately after shifting our house. R was to join me post his work. I finished my work a day early and set off on Mumbai darshan. Top of my list was the Siddhi Vinayak temple also since it houses many eating joints nearby. Monsoon had just set in and it was pouring like crazy when I got down Dadar station. I got my token for darshan but as soon as I entered the sanctum, there was a mob of 100 people screaming 'ganpati bappa mourya'. I was pushed and cornered to a side and was about to get back, when a pandit lounged forward, took my offering and placed it in front of the idol. I didn't pay much attention since I was lost in my own thoughts and more importantly on how to get to the hotel safe and sound.

We finished our Mumbai tour and almost missing our return flight, made it to Bangalore. R left to US immediately after our return and I got busy in setting up our new home. It was gruelling running after labourers and finishing remaining work. I was completely occupied in construction of our house and finishing my work commitments. Never once I thought of my periods though I was late. A chat with a close friend reminded me on checking ...you know just incase.... Its all crystal clear - August 15th 2015...a day etched in my memory. Early morning 5am I nervously peed on a stick anticipating tears and heartache once again. One faint pink line and my stomach was to the floor. I was about to discard the stick and cry my lungs out when something prompted me to wait. A faint second line appeared and suddenly my hands were shivering....I could not believe my eyes and the negative self in me screamed '' Go check again. It must be a mistake.'' After 5 checks, I finally found myself grinning and smiling at the 2 strong pink lines which completed me.