My Birth Story

When I had Chubbocks, we had no idea he was going to arrive so far ahead of schedule. I checked into hospital for a BP problem and a week later, a good month before he was due, he was being yanked out of me. With Puddi we knew about 3-4 days before when the surgery might take place. With Bojjandi, we got to choose the date, since it was going to be a Csec for sure.


A took the Friday and Monday before the surgery off, since we also wanted to try and re-settle our under-renovation house. Well, we didn't make too much headway, given how tired I was feeling. The day before the surgery was weird. We went to see the Ob-Gyn in the morning, suitcases in the car boot, and were told that everything was proceeding as per schedule, and that we could check in right away if we wanted or do so in the evening. Not wanting to spend any extra time in hospital, we came right back home so we could hang out with Puddi and Chubbocks some more.


Just before leaving for hospital, we witnessed a beautiful sibling moment between Chubbocks and Puddi which made us feel even better about the new baby to come. Puddi has been wanting to go to school for some time, and as soon as Chubbocks came home from school that afternoon, she hoisted his backpack on her back, wore his black school shoes and wanted to set off. Our maid, who's somewhat hard of hearing and consequently speaks at the volume of a drill sergeant, followed her as she marched to the gate and was loudly telling her that school was closed for the day. Puddi burst into tears and Chubbocks came flying into our room to report that the maid was 'scolding Puddi'. Then he flew right out to the gate, put his arm around Puddi and told her, "Don't cry, Puddi, I'll take you to school. It's open for you." He then fixed us with a gimlet eye and commanded A to take them for a ride around the colony, so Puddi would think she had gone to school and back.


We then dropped her to my mom's place, him to a birthday party and proceeded to the hospital. As usual, it took close to an hour before we could get into the room ( for a hospital review, check We Are Like This Only tomorrow). The room was quite nice, as they go, and A and I settled in for a quiet evening. We'd brought along our laptop and a selection of DVDs so Romancing the Stone set the tone or our evening.



The surgery was scheduled quite early the next morning, at 7:30 a.m., so I had been woken up at 5 a.m. to have a bath and the rest of the proceedings. A went in for his bath and he literally came out a bare second before they hauled me off to surgery. For some reason, the attendant told him he was only allowed to come as far as the elevator on our floor so that was it. But on the OT floor, I spotted a couple of people not looking like attendants hovering near the gurney behind me in the corridor, and let's just say I wasn't too happy, what with my al-fresco condition and the fact that various attendants were non-chalantly shuffling the lone sheet that covered me off and on. I know giving birth isn't the most dignified of processes but does it have to be this crude? It turned out that visitors were allowed down to the OT so I shot the attendant my best dirty look as they wheeled me in.


I was prety apprehensive about the spinal anaesthetic which my Ob-gyn had insisted on, especially since it hadn't worked the last time and caused all kinds of problems. However, thankfully it worked this time around and I couldn't feel a thing though I was conscious. I didn't want to even accidentally see anything reflected in the large, shiny light above my head, so I kept my eyes closed, mostly, and alternated between reciting a prayer "Namah Shataaya", planning out the decor for our book room and fantasising about our planned holiday next year in Tuscany, with my sister's family and my parents. Of course, little did I know that this part would be a true fantasy since our savings and investments were about to melt down to almost nothing in the next few days. I did see the baby about an hour into the process, though all I registered was a pink face and lots of downy hair.


The surgery seemed to take surprisingly little time, and soon the doc was calling A from the phone in the OT to say everything was fine and that she'd be up in a few minutes to brief him. I wanted to speak to A myself and reassure him. Poor A had had to go through the waiting period alone, since his parents hadn't come into town and my folks who were supposed to join him at the hospital that morning had gotten delayed by our tantrum-throwing kids. Not to mention, I had been very scared of something going wrong during surgery and spooked A by recording a mushy and morbid message for everyone on the video-camera the previous evening. A technician behind me lent me his cellphone and I called A, and promptly made a booboo. I told A some technician had lent me the cellphone, and the technician leaned over me and informed me coldly hat he was no technician, he was the anaesthetist. I was sure glad the surgery was over and I was out of his hands.


They moved me into a recovery area, where I was overtaken by a fit of shivering as if I was on an ice-slab. I could barely summon up the energy o speak but managed to signal the nurse that I was cold and about half an hour later, they finally brought me some 4 woollen blankets. About 3 hours since the process started, I was wheeled into my room, chatting with A and my folks and waiting for the baby, and feeling mighty glad for the spinal anesthesia process. Sometimes the doctor is right, after all!