The pain has subsided a little after a wretched night during which my husband has had a tiff with the night-duty nurse who is nowhere to be seen when the next dose of painkiller is to be given. My husband has had a tough night too along with my son sleeping in a 5x2 area. The kid has been peaceful more or less feeding on Lactogen. I've hardly slept a wink and am glad to see the daylight appear. One thing I know the morning will bring is more nurses and some doctors and hopefully we'll also get our bigger room. As it turns out, the room is not vacant yet, the nurses come in but have utter disdain for all my worries. One even reprimands me for my lack of patience. I keep my mouth shut. My doc arrives at 1 p.m and only asks me to move my legs up and I have trouble doing so with the right one. She asks me to move sideways too which is a Herculean task for me considering the fact that it feels as if she left a rock inside my stomach while operating. I somehow manage to feed the baby lying down and wonder how they learn the art of sucking. My sister has taken the day off and spends it with us. She says the baby looks like my son and it reminds me of the time he was born. My father too has arrived from hometown this morning and he comes in to send my husband and son home for a bit of rest. My son leaves reluctantly but promises to come back in the evening. Evening arrives to see me feeling much better though my mouth is dry not having had a drop of water. My son and husband arrive, my father and sister leave for the day. We finally move into the bigger room with a lot of fanfare. My son inspects all the gadgets in the room immediately but its no much use really - The TV doesn't work, we can't use the microwave oven because we don't have containers for it and the cradle is just a box, we can't rock it. There is enough space for all of us to sleep comfortably with our bag and baggage. But today the baby has decided not to sleep much in the night having exhausted all the sleep in the daytime probably. My mother gives her company and my husband helps her in changing the diapers. I look on amused as neither of them has done it last time - using the diapers - and may be the result shows - the nurse who comes in around midnight reprimands them for the shoddy job. I get some sleep thankfully.
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Memoirs from the Maternity Room
I have a daughter now!! :-) She's already 6 weeks today and it's also immunization time. Hope the poor thing will not find it too hard to bear the pain...
Anyways, just so that I can read it later sometime, I want to write an account of my time so far. So here it goes...
December 28, 2010
---------------------
What should've been a routine waiting day has suddenly turned the D-day. When I wake up from my regular rest at 12:30 p.m, I realize that the liquor(when I read this word the first time, I thought it was wrongly typed, but no!!) is leaking. I call up my doctor who says I should get admitted if it repeats.Nothing happens for a while so I go ahead with my lunch. But my mother is cautious and serves me a bit more saying I may not have the dinner at home. To confirm it, the liquor leaks again after the lunch. I'm all set to pack now but my mother is optimistic this time - she says let's wait once more. I say fine but call up my husband at office nevertheless to come home right away. By the time he reaches home half an hour later, my leakage has intensified, my mother is all set to go and I'm at boiling point. We rush with my son to the hospital with me getting labour pains too and definitely not in a good shape as far as liquor is concerned. I'm wheeled into my room as soon as I reach the hospital but much to our disappointment, it is not the room we had asked for and a much smaller one - the other one is still occupied as we are two days early. Anyway, that's hardly my concern at the moment - I don't know what to make of the leakage - is it normal or bad? I ask every nurse that enters the room but they just say it's fine, doctors will know more. Soon an in-house gynac comes and examines me. She calls up my doc right away and says I'm far from the normal delivery yet but the leakage is bad. I talk to her too - she says she's coming right away and it's going to be LSCS again - my second one. I'm only relieved but the OT is occupied even when my doc arrives half an hour later. She reprimands the nurses about not having checked the baby's pulse which worries me a bit too. They do it after a prolonged search during which time my already-high pressure must've gone up definitely. But I do faintly feel the movements inside which relieves me a bit.
It's status-quo as far as OT is concerned till 4:30 p.m and I'm worried that my doc may disappear from the scene. But finally around 5, I'm made to change into the hospital gown and enter the O.T. Anesthesia etc follow and I can almost see my lower tummy being cut and pulled apart like a plastic bag. Some more cutting and pulling and I'm feeling giddy and I tell the assembly of doctors and nurses so. They say it's fine and I continue staring at the overhead bright light which blurs occasionally. The spell is broken when I hear the baby cry as they remove it from my tummy. It's music to my ears and I can't take my eyes off the baby as they place it under the warmer. I can see the face but I can only figure out that it looks healthy so I ask what baby it is. My doc says it's a healthy girl and I'm pleasantly surprised as somehow everyone had made me believe that it was going to be another boy. I can hear the blood gushing with a 'whoosh' while my doc does the sewing. She leaves the room after a while for the nurse to give the final touches and as I move out of the room I see the poor baby still under the warmer wailing sweetly. I ask why it is not coming with me and they say they'll keep it there for a little more time. So I come out alone and as they wheel me up to my room, I meet my mother, husband and son waiting outside, my son looking anxious all over. I wink at him and he gives me a faint smile and we all enter our room.
The baby has not yet arrived even after an hour and my husband has bought the necessary things. My father and in-laws are informed about the baby and my mother is talking to my aunt. I'm wondering when I would feel alright below the waist and my mother out of her call informs me about the death of a lady out of high dosage of anesthesia. Some help that is!
In another 10 minutes the baby comes in, wrapped in white and all fuss over her, my son very excited at her sight. I'm still numb below the waist but after another hour the pain has set in and how! When my sister, brother-in-law and his father step in after a while, I can hardly suppress my moaning and ask some civil questions. Thankfully the nurse comes in after a while and gives me the painkiller and I look at her with reverence when she says there will be more of them for the night.
Anyways, just so that I can read it later sometime, I want to write an account of my time so far. So here it goes...
December 28, 2010
---------------------
What should've been a routine waiting day has suddenly turned the D-day. When I wake up from my regular rest at 12:30 p.m, I realize that the liquor(when I read this word the first time, I thought it was wrongly typed, but no!!) is leaking. I call up my doctor who says I should get admitted if it repeats.Nothing happens for a while so I go ahead with my lunch. But my mother is cautious and serves me a bit more saying I may not have the dinner at home. To confirm it, the liquor leaks again after the lunch. I'm all set to pack now but my mother is optimistic this time - she says let's wait once more. I say fine but call up my husband at office nevertheless to come home right away. By the time he reaches home half an hour later, my leakage has intensified, my mother is all set to go and I'm at boiling point. We rush with my son to the hospital with me getting labour pains too and definitely not in a good shape as far as liquor is concerned. I'm wheeled into my room as soon as I reach the hospital but much to our disappointment, it is not the room we had asked for and a much smaller one - the other one is still occupied as we are two days early. Anyway, that's hardly my concern at the moment - I don't know what to make of the leakage - is it normal or bad? I ask every nurse that enters the room but they just say it's fine, doctors will know more. Soon an in-house gynac comes and examines me. She calls up my doc right away and says I'm far from the normal delivery yet but the leakage is bad. I talk to her too - she says she's coming right away and it's going to be LSCS again - my second one. I'm only relieved but the OT is occupied even when my doc arrives half an hour later. She reprimands the nurses about not having checked the baby's pulse which worries me a bit too. They do it after a prolonged search during which time my already-high pressure must've gone up definitely. But I do faintly feel the movements inside which relieves me a bit.
It's status-quo as far as OT is concerned till 4:30 p.m and I'm worried that my doc may disappear from the scene. But finally around 5, I'm made to change into the hospital gown and enter the O.T. Anesthesia etc follow and I can almost see my lower tummy being cut and pulled apart like a plastic bag. Some more cutting and pulling and I'm feeling giddy and I tell the assembly of doctors and nurses so. They say it's fine and I continue staring at the overhead bright light which blurs occasionally. The spell is broken when I hear the baby cry as they remove it from my tummy. It's music to my ears and I can't take my eyes off the baby as they place it under the warmer. I can see the face but I can only figure out that it looks healthy so I ask what baby it is. My doc says it's a healthy girl and I'm pleasantly surprised as somehow everyone had made me believe that it was going to be another boy. I can hear the blood gushing with a 'whoosh' while my doc does the sewing. She leaves the room after a while for the nurse to give the final touches and as I move out of the room I see the poor baby still under the warmer wailing sweetly. I ask why it is not coming with me and they say they'll keep it there for a little more time. So I come out alone and as they wheel me up to my room, I meet my mother, husband and son waiting outside, my son looking anxious all over. I wink at him and he gives me a faint smile and we all enter our room.
The baby has not yet arrived even after an hour and my husband has bought the necessary things. My father and in-laws are informed about the baby and my mother is talking to my aunt. I'm wondering when I would feel alright below the waist and my mother out of her call informs me about the death of a lady out of high dosage of anesthesia. Some help that is!
In another 10 minutes the baby comes in, wrapped in white and all fuss over her, my son very excited at her sight. I'm still numb below the waist but after another hour the pain has set in and how! When my sister, brother-in-law and his father step in after a while, I can hardly suppress my moaning and ask some civil questions. Thankfully the nurse comes in after a while and gives me the painkiller and I look at her with reverence when she says there will be more of them for the night.
Thursday, December 9, 2010
All about Maids....
One thing that intrigues me about maids - how generous they are with respect to resources in their employers' place. All the maids that I've had with me have come(obviously) from tough conditions at home but I've not had a single one being careful with water. They leave the taps leaking and even reprimands don't get them out of that careless attitude. Another thing that irritates me is their generous usage of the water heater - even if you tell them the water is already hot enough, they will switch it on again and take bath with piping hot water, even in summers. My last maid was alone at home the last one month and my telephone bill this time is unusually high. Ugh! And my new maid within a week of her joining has already given me enough hints that she'll ask me for a loan soon. My husband says that's how most of us do when we checkin into a hotel - make the maximum 'paisa vasool' of what you pay.One thing is for sure - these people will not have any sympathy for us and we on our part will always be condescending towards them.
Yesterday I watched Phantom movie and it's got me craving about the comics all over again. I was a major fan of them always and one summer when I was about 10, one of my father's friends lent me a load of Phantom, Mandrake and Flash Gordon comics. I still remember my joy at seeing them and the bliss with which I dedicated my every bit of free time to them! Reading them in the stillness of the afternoon with the cool breeze of the Kharva open verandah or the shade of the cashew trees is one of the most peaceful things in life for me.
My son's best friend is a girl and yesterday when I went to pick him up from school, she was giving him a fond goodbye. She was pulling his cheeks, cuddling him and me, I didn't know what to do. I looked at her mother for some clue but she was busy looking elsewhere so I looked at my son. He, highly bashful but very happy looking at the adoration, was standing stiff as a pole and saying bye bye. My husband is already joking if he should meet the parents.
Yesterday I watched Phantom movie and it's got me craving about the comics all over again. I was a major fan of them always and one summer when I was about 10, one of my father's friends lent me a load of Phantom, Mandrake and Flash Gordon comics. I still remember my joy at seeing them and the bliss with which I dedicated my every bit of free time to them! Reading them in the stillness of the afternoon with the cool breeze of the Kharva open verandah or the shade of the cashew trees is one of the most peaceful things in life for me.
My son's best friend is a girl and yesterday when I went to pick him up from school, she was giving him a fond goodbye. She was pulling his cheeks, cuddling him and me, I didn't know what to do. I looked at her mother for some clue but she was busy looking elsewhere so I looked at my son. He, highly bashful but very happy looking at the adoration, was standing stiff as a pole and saying bye bye. My husband is already joking if he should meet the parents.
Monday, December 6, 2010
Waiting for the Mahatma...
Another 20 days to go at the max and I want them to get over fast. I know that I have a tougher job after that but I'm having all sorts of trouble in my last month. I'm feeling week all the time, I can't sleep well in the night because my thighs ache sleeping on the same side and I have to keep shifting. And my doctor says I should sleep only for half an hour or so in the daytime! It would've been much easier had I been working but now that I'm at home, I'm finding it extremely difficult not to doze off. I think I should've been better prepared with a new stock of books or something but even there, I cannot have my preferred posture of lying down on my belly and reading. And on top of all this, I don't have the company of my mom like I did last time and my son thinks I'm as energetic as ever!
My young maid left yesterday and I've got an elderly one in her place. After I had given my old maid the notice, I realized that I could talk to her like an equal which I never did before. We talked mostly about various recipes but to my surprise, we talked quite a bit. May be it's just that I've never had the time before, being busy either with work or my son or my husband, in that order. But I've decided that after next one year I don't want resident maids anymore. I feel too conscious of their presence and the fact that they don't have the same hobbies as I do, they don't have the same topics that I prefer makes me keep thinking that they must be getting bored. It's all very easy for my aunt to say I should not leave such a 'high paying' job but she doesn't understand the flip sides of it at all. Who the hell wants to spend all her weekends just getting ready for the next week's grind? And with two children! And it's not that one is going to be jobless if one is at home - there are so many things one can do! I want to read lots, want to be a good cook, want to make my son learn music and finally when I get more time, want to join one NGO and try and clean up this damn stinking city.
My young maid left yesterday and I've got an elderly one in her place. After I had given my old maid the notice, I realized that I could talk to her like an equal which I never did before. We talked mostly about various recipes but to my surprise, we talked quite a bit. May be it's just that I've never had the time before, being busy either with work or my son or my husband, in that order. But I've decided that after next one year I don't want resident maids anymore. I feel too conscious of their presence and the fact that they don't have the same hobbies as I do, they don't have the same topics that I prefer makes me keep thinking that they must be getting bored. It's all very easy for my aunt to say I should not leave such a 'high paying' job but she doesn't understand the flip sides of it at all. Who the hell wants to spend all her weekends just getting ready for the next week's grind? And with two children! And it's not that one is going to be jobless if one is at home - there are so many things one can do! I want to read lots, want to be a good cook, want to make my son learn music and finally when I get more time, want to join one NGO and try and clean up this damn stinking city.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
A New Life...
My maternity leave starts finally and I feel as if I've retired from work. I'm almost certain that I won't go back to my old team when I join back and if the rumours of our shifting are true, I may find it difficult to join back at all. So it was almost a sort of farewell yesterday with both the parties in a confused state as to what exactly to say. Today it's been a strange feeling for me not having to do much till my son comes from school and I think I'll spend most of my limited energies trading online and blogging.
I also sacked my maid today and much to my surprise and relief I'm finding her relieved too. She's a young girl and I'm sure she must've been tired of the work she has to do for 3,500 for a month though for the quality that I get, I always find her overpriced. Anyways, there it is - I'll soon have my 4th maid in 6 years and I'm increasingly discovering that I don't like the resident ones. My aim is to be self sufficient soon but God knows if that can happen anytime soon.
I also sacked my maid today and much to my surprise and relief I'm finding her relieved too. She's a young girl and I'm sure she must've been tired of the work she has to do for 3,500 for a month though for the quality that I get, I always find her overpriced. Anyways, there it is - I'll soon have my 4th maid in 6 years and I'm increasingly discovering that I don't like the resident ones. My aim is to be self sufficient soon but God knows if that can happen anytime soon.
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Tired...
I have a bad cold and am still wondering if I should go late or take the whole day off. The fire drill has given me more time to think and I know that if I think more, I'll choose the latter. Only problem is that I'm supposed to save all these leaves for the rainy day, that is my delivery. But I don't have too much of work in the office either and I can make my kid very happy if I stay back...
Actually I'm tired of this 'saving for the rainy day' exercises of my life. There used to be a time when I was so reckless as to stay back just to watch a movie on TV. It's not that I'm proud of that but of late it feels like I'm doing nothing at all. Keep stacking up all those magazines where they write about beautiful places, near and far...What the hell for? I haven't even seen places which are some 3-4 hours from my native place, shame on me!
The kind of hectic life we spend, we hardly have time for anybody else. Thank God, my sister stays close by and at least once a month I get to see her and my parents have been taking all the pains to come here once in a while. Of course had I not been carrying I would've definitely gone home a couple of times but I need to spend more time there. 8 hours of journey is hardly anything and in a year I spend only a week ever since I've shifted to Bangalore. It is strange that I used to spend at least 25 days when I was in Hyderabad!
It sometimes feels so futile when you meet some relatives and urge them to come home with the least intention of having them. I have many relatives I don't care to see again in my life, especially those who call me only when they want us to take life insurance policy as an agent. Or they want us to donate 'generously' for some function in a temple or some nonsensical thing like that. I know there are many people who treat us purely as a moneybag and won't even believe us if we say we are in need of money.
My mother's sense of fashion is amazing and hasn't changed over the years at all. I know there are many mothers who are just behind their daughters' life to dress up better but my mother has been just the opposite. It's one thing to dress me up in gunnysacks when I was a kid or a teenager and we didn't have the wherewithal to be otherwise but a week ago she got two dresses stitched for me and both of them are of the same size from top to bottom - the size of my 7 month pregnant tummy! I didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. I've never criticized my mother on this so far for the fear of hurting her 'judgment' but this time I will.
Actually I'm tired of this 'saving for the rainy day' exercises of my life. There used to be a time when I was so reckless as to stay back just to watch a movie on TV. It's not that I'm proud of that but of late it feels like I'm doing nothing at all. Keep stacking up all those magazines where they write about beautiful places, near and far...What the hell for? I haven't even seen places which are some 3-4 hours from my native place, shame on me!
The kind of hectic life we spend, we hardly have time for anybody else. Thank God, my sister stays close by and at least once a month I get to see her and my parents have been taking all the pains to come here once in a while. Of course had I not been carrying I would've definitely gone home a couple of times but I need to spend more time there. 8 hours of journey is hardly anything and in a year I spend only a week ever since I've shifted to Bangalore. It is strange that I used to spend at least 25 days when I was in Hyderabad!
It sometimes feels so futile when you meet some relatives and urge them to come home with the least intention of having them. I have many relatives I don't care to see again in my life, especially those who call me only when they want us to take life insurance policy as an agent. Or they want us to donate 'generously' for some function in a temple or some nonsensical thing like that. I know there are many people who treat us purely as a moneybag and won't even believe us if we say we are in need of money.
My mother's sense of fashion is amazing and hasn't changed over the years at all. I know there are many mothers who are just behind their daughters' life to dress up better but my mother has been just the opposite. It's one thing to dress me up in gunnysacks when I was a kid or a teenager and we didn't have the wherewithal to be otherwise but a week ago she got two dresses stitched for me and both of them are of the same size from top to bottom - the size of my 7 month pregnant tummy! I didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. I've never criticized my mother on this so far for the fear of hurting her 'judgment' but this time I will.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Moving On...
The kid has gone to my native for the holidays and I've been thoroughly jobless ever since. He was so irritable about having holidays and not going to his beloved grandmother's place that it had become very difficult to please him in any way. In between came the Ayodhya dispute also and we were a bit nervous not so much about the verdict as the effect any kind of postponement of travel would have on the kid. It's a relief that things are alright so far and the credit should surely go to the Muslims.
Bangalore was tense that day, anybody could see that. The busy old airport road looked like carrying a Sunday crowd in the morning while at 3 in the evening it was packed with anxious workers returning to possible safety. Thanks to my penchant for paying the bills at the last moment, I found myself on CMH Road at 3 and without any auto in sight to get back home. I went to a shop to get some vegetables but the guy had pulled the shutters down and even warned me to get back home quickly as the time was up. What surprised me was that even in my area most of the shops had shut down. I mean, most of them are Hindus and surely would know people around. Would they go and smash others' shops? God knows the mob mentality though.
It still feels as if the kid is having his afternoon nap and may wake up anytime calling me...:-)
Bangalore was tense that day, anybody could see that. The busy old airport road looked like carrying a Sunday crowd in the morning while at 3 in the evening it was packed with anxious workers returning to possible safety. Thanks to my penchant for paying the bills at the last moment, I found myself on CMH Road at 3 and without any auto in sight to get back home. I went to a shop to get some vegetables but the guy had pulled the shutters down and even warned me to get back home quickly as the time was up. What surprised me was that even in my area most of the shops had shut down. I mean, most of them are Hindus and surely would know people around. Would they go and smash others' shops? God knows the mob mentality though.
It still feels as if the kid is having his afternoon nap and may wake up anytime calling me...:-)
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