I underwent an elective LSCS in view of the previous myomectomy. Due to the spinal anaesthesia... I was able to hear and observe everything... even though a little drowsy. Only a bit, that is. I couldn't feel my legs and had no idea when the operation commenced... since a drape was put up before me. Else I would have seen the entire operation with my own eyes... and then would have required smelling salt, gulab ke phool, shoes, even buckets/mugs/jugs of water!! Perhaps... all of them and more!! Or... may have met with Chitragupta... for a li'l face-to-face chat. Not very appealing... what say??
Within 5-10 minutes I heard the anaesthetist say that I had a cute looking boy baby and that everything was fine. He congratulated me... and I heard the cry of a newborn baby. My baby! My little miracle! Then the drape was lowered temporarily and my baby... my own flesh and blood... was held up before me by the doc. He was crying full throttle... while I was staring at him totally fascinated! The nurses said... they will clean him up and bring him back... so that I could get a better view of him. He reappeared after a few minutes... all cleaned up and wrapped in a white towel... and the nurses held him close to my face. I kissed him and said: "Baby... welcome to earth." He just kept looking at me! And no... he did not resemble a prawn (!)... thats what I used to think all newborn babies look like *Hee hee*
Those were moments I will never forget... ever in my life. Nothing whatsoever... no achievements, rewards, awards... nothing at all... ever or will ever compare/match up to the feeling I experienced and still do. Of seeing my baby and hearing his cries for the very first time. And I said so to my doc as well. She just smiled. Having helped deliver thousands of babies for so many years... 3 decades to be precise... she is a veteran... and has witnessed this scene or heard this line... many times over. I'm sure.
Thereafter the rest of the surgery was completed... and I was wheeled into an 'observation room' inside the OT. After half an hour or so... I was taken to my room... where M and other family members were waiting... eagerly. The doc had already met them... and reassured that everything went on well... and that both mommy (yours truly) and baby were doing fine. Baby was already there... being carried/held by everyone... in turns. He must have been a little (or is it totally?) bewildered with all the sights, sounds and fussing over. A far cry from the compact and quiet world of the mother's womb... that he was so used to until a few minutes ago.
Even dad (M's father) had come... despite having undergone a cataract operation a couple of days ago. I told him... he was looking like a matinee hero of yore... courtesy his new glasses. He laughed... his usual boisterous laugh.
Now to chronicle M's experience: When our (newborn) baby was taken outside the OT (to be cleaned up)... he saw his 'papa'... looked at him and then slowly licked his lips with a languid grace. M says he doesn't know what happened to him thereafter. He just ran behind the nurse... following baby. Even though the nurse said she'll clean baby up and bring him back... he followed her and baby all the way and back. That's how the new 'papa' in him reacted. He too will never forget this experience. For sure! Truly priceless... our 'baby shona'. But... there was no couch-jumping for the new daddy. Sorry... Tom Cruize!
In keeping with the south Indian tradition of "auspicious time"/"muhurtams" we avoided "amavas" (amavasya) and got our discharge accordingly. We left the hospital in time to get home well before 1.30 pm... since 1.30 pm (on that day) was the deadline (under the "auspicious time") for baby's homecoming... after a short puja, that is. It is so exciting to bring your brand new baby home from the hospital! You want everything to go just perfectly. The cradle had already been bought the previous day... while the fumigation and a bit of carpentary work (fixing mosquito nets on the windows, etc) were completed a couple of days before. Courtesy baby's papa! Had it not been for the sudden and stressful dash to the finishing line (to quote Deepa)... things would never have been so rushed.
Sleepless nights, changing diapers or feeding him... nothing seems to be a chore. For all those out there... in the blogosphere and elsewhere... who are 'scared' of parenthood... I say that it is truly an amazing experience. And very enriching too. Not at all scary... unless you listen to Mel B of course!
We are savouring every moment spent with our 'baby shona'. His naming ceremony is yet to happen... so thats his name... for now. We are enjoying this experience of nurturing our baby... his cries and smiles mean the world to us. He still goes 'la-la-la-la-la' when he wants to be fed. Methinks... since 'L' is the word that comes right before 'M'... that magical word 'Ma' is not far away. What say... ??? *I'm beaming already*
He loves to pull my nose, tries to reach out for me or wraps his little fingers around mine... and I melt totally... everytime he smiles... when I kiss those tiny fingers and toes. Just a couple of days ago... I was rewarded with a kiss... 'baby shona style'. In response to my "give mummy a kiss"... he gently rubbed his lips against my cheeks! And... I still have no words to describe the feeling! Its just three inches short of heaven... or perhaps this is heaven. I am reminded of Amir Khusro's poetry (in Persian): "Agar firdaus bar roo-e zameen ast, Hameen ast-o hameen ast-o hameen ast." Meaning: If there is any paradise on the face of the earth, It is this, it is this, it is this. (He was referring to the unmatched beauty of the 'Paradise on Earth'... Kashmir.) I recollect this poem... with suitable customization of course! Baby's excitement and wonder at every new thing... a sound, a new movement that he has just learnt (self taught)... has to be seen to be believed. I can spend all my time just looking at him...
Mom and dad (M's parents) say that 'baby shona' is their 'li'l daddy' as well. I agree... and have told dad that baby is most certainly his 'li'l daddy'... since both do not have teeth! My nephew... all of four-and-a-half years... is very keen to cook - biriyani - for baby. He was the youngest in the family... until the arrival of 'baby shona' that is... and is keen to move up the ladder, so to speak. He makes it a point to go near baby's cradle several times a day to say, "see baby your big brother is here". More so if baby is crying! As for the biriyani... I have asked dad to lend his dentures (to baby) once Y succeeds in his culinary aspirations!
Though much of our time goes in feeding him, changing nappies and trying to get some sleep (the first 3 weeks or so... we hardly slept) we love spending a lot of time just watching our li'l son. He has started making different sounds (must be 'baby language')... and loves to move his hands and legs. I guess that has to do with this being the cricket and football season! Somehow... we are missing nothing else... not even sleep. I never knew... having a baby is such a joy!
Note: Bollywood isn't educational... it takes its own (patented/copyrighted) theatrical liberties. An OT (operation theatre) is usually a large room with multiple operations happening simultaneously. The relatives/friends/attenders of patients are never allowed to stand/sit/walk up and down the corridor outside the OT/or peep into the OT. They have to do all that... at a distance (quite far away)... from the OT. Nobody is allowed to assemble outside the OT. The doc does not meet anybody (relatives or attenders of patients) outside the OT. Get that...?!! '3 Idiots' is another matter altogether.
Caesarean section: Etymology: The name for the procedure is said to have been derived from a Roman legal code called "Lex Caesarea", which allegedly contained a law prescribing that the baby be cut out of its mother's womb in the case that she dies before giving birth. The derivation of the name is also often attributed to an ancient story, told in the first century A.D. by Pliny the Elder, which claims that an ancestor of the Roman Emperor - Julius Caesar - was delivered in this manner. An alternative etymology suggests that the procedure's name derives from the Latin verb caedere (supine stem caesum), "to cut," in which case the term "Caesarean section" is redundant. Proponents of this view consider the traditional derivation to be a false etymology, though the supposed link with Julius Caesar has clearly influenced the spelling.
Bindusara (Born c. 320 BC, ruled: 298 - c.272 BC), the second Mauryan emperor of India after Chandragupta Maurya the Great, is said to be the first child born via surgery. According to a legend, (which is a later jaina invention) it is believed that while Chanakya served as the Prime Minister of Emperor Chandragupta Maurya, he started adding small quantities of poison in Chandragupta's food - so that he would get used to it and develop resistance to poison. The aim for such an action was to prevent the Emperor from being poisoned by enemies. One day the Queen, Durdha, shared the food with the Emperor (the Queen was in the family way then). Since she was not used to eating poisoned food, she died. Chanakya was determined that the baby should not die; therefore, he cut open the belly of the dead Queen and took out the baby. A drop ('bindu' in Sanskrit) of the poisoned blood had by then touched the baby's head, and hence Chanakya named him 'Bindusara'. Bindusara later went on to become a great Emperor in his own right and also fathered the greatest Mauryan Emperor since Chandragupta - Emperor Asoka.
Caesarean section usually resulted in the death of the mother; the first recorded incidence of a woman surviving a Caesarean section was in 1500, in Siegershausen, Switzerland: Jakob Nufer, a pig gelder, is supposed to have performed the operation on his wife after a prolonged labour. For most of the time since the sixteenth century, the procedure had a high mortality. However, it was long considered an extreme measure, performed only when the mother was already dead or considered to be beyond help.
Y2K miracle: On March 5, 2000, Inés Ramírez performed a caesarean section on herself and survived, as did her son, Orlando Ruiz Ramírez. She is believed to be the only woman to have performed a successful Caesarean section on herself. The lady certainly walked on water! She was born to. If you're going to walk on water, you better feel it in every fiber of your being... and prepare yourself for the pain. You better be born to do it too! After all, flying is harder than walking on water (I think) and we've already achieved that.
I think she deserves a 'platinum medal' for unmatched and unmatchable bravery as well as craziness! Homo sapiens sapiens are surely the greatest wonder of the universe and beyond! Don't you agree??
(Concluded...)
P.S. My IndiRank had taken a tumble from 82 to 69... courtesy my long hibernation from the bloggersville. But... is now back at 81 *a big smile*
Photograph:
Tiny little feet (Pic courtesy: link)
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