18th December, 2015.
It was a long half day. I had to wait for hours before I could leave for home. She needed me, even more at that crucial time. Her messages kept me both nervous and happy at the same time. As I entered my coach, I heaved a sigh of relief. One more time, I was going to visit her, hopefully for the good news we all had been waiting for.
Second half of December was colder than I had thought, more so in the hill-near area my train was destined to. In three and a half hours, I tucked my shirt and came out to the exit gate of the coach. My feeling then was probably an amalgamation of happiness, nervousness, excitement, shyness, fear, anticipation and what not.
Before I alighted, the sun had sunk. My father-in-law was waiting for me. I touched his feet and jumped into the front seat of the car. We had a small chat. The hospital was not quite far. Yet we took half an hour to reach there, as he had to stop by at a shop. That half an hour looked longer than the first half of the day I had been through.
As the car stopped at the entrance of the hospital, I rushed in. She sat on her bed- restless and nervous. Eyes met, I touched her hand and said, "Look, I am here." Love floated in her eyes again, and one more time I had drowned in those lakes.
The news was not as good as we had expected since the day one. Everything was alright except that the baby was not coming down and the alternative to the natural method was all we could go for. We had the time of hardly a day or at the most two. My wife, my in-laws, other family members and I- we all passed the night in eyes. All hands were folded.
19th December, 2015
The next morning, relatives-the close ones started to pay visits. As they say "too many cooks spoil the broth", by the afternoon, we all were tired of listening and nodding . We were running out of time, and the doctor - an acquaintance of my father-law, had alowed us to wait till the evening. Not later than 8 pm. Regular checks at the hospital, however, had again confirmed things were alright. But we had to decide quickly.
When all other methods to bring down the baby had been used up, there was no way but surgery. With a lot of deliberation on pros and cons, we made up our mind to go for it, though the decision was not unanimous. My only concern at that time was my wife. I wanted her to come out safe. She was the only saving and treasure of my life thus far. That evening, I had wished some celestial power came to me and whisper in my ears the right path to choose.
Even a small cut on finger can make us dizzy, sight of blood can make us vomit; and she had happily agreed to it. At 7 pm, I was sent out, I still don't remember why. To drop someone home or to buy something? I went out reluctantly.
When I was back, I hurriedly entered the premises and came to know she was in the labor room. I exhaled, the countdown had begun. We all outside wore worried faces, timid looks and shoulders burdened with stress. Words cannot express what we felt outside. I personally did not want to imagine what she would have been going through.
I was told that we all could have the first glimpse of the baby through the glass pane in a room attached with the labor room. We all sat in the hall gazing at the pane.
5.
10.
15.
20.
Just a few minutes had passed since I had her last sight. To us, this was like hours. Time can at times be dead slow. It was 07.35 pm, IST (Indian Standard Time), 19th December, 2015 when I first saw him from the pane. They had hanged him upside down for cleaning purpose. He cried loudly as fluids gushed out of his mouth.
I smiled and turned to my father, "Look, there it is."
"Is it ours?", was all I could here and "Yes" was all I could offer in a hurried response. My heart beat fast with joy. I rushed into the room and broke the news to those inside. We were all joyous. All congratulated me. I was so happy. :) In a few minutes, the doctor came out and said, "Both are fine. It's a baby boy."
Soon, the baby was in my hands. Softer than the soft, light pink lips and cheeks, tiny but closed eyes, little fingers. Some feelings are above words. It was one more blessing God had bestowed upon me.
After 8 pm, she came out on a stretcher, fully covered, only the face was visible. My heart missed a beat. What a sacrifice she had made! How much pain she had endured! What a risk she had taken! Just in order to give me the best gift of nature I held in my hands- my son.
It was a long half day. I had to wait for hours before I could leave for home. She needed me, even more at that crucial time. Her messages kept me both nervous and happy at the same time. As I entered my coach, I heaved a sigh of relief. One more time, I was going to visit her, hopefully for the good news we all had been waiting for.
Second half of December was colder than I had thought, more so in the hill-near area my train was destined to. In three and a half hours, I tucked my shirt and came out to the exit gate of the coach. My feeling then was probably an amalgamation of happiness, nervousness, excitement, shyness, fear, anticipation and what not.
Before I alighted, the sun had sunk. My father-in-law was waiting for me. I touched his feet and jumped into the front seat of the car. We had a small chat. The hospital was not quite far. Yet we took half an hour to reach there, as he had to stop by at a shop. That half an hour looked longer than the first half of the day I had been through.
As the car stopped at the entrance of the hospital, I rushed in. She sat on her bed- restless and nervous. Eyes met, I touched her hand and said, "Look, I am here." Love floated in her eyes again, and one more time I had drowned in those lakes.
The news was not as good as we had expected since the day one. Everything was alright except that the baby was not coming down and the alternative to the natural method was all we could go for. We had the time of hardly a day or at the most two. My wife, my in-laws, other family members and I- we all passed the night in eyes. All hands were folded.
19th December, 2015
The next morning, relatives-the close ones started to pay visits. As they say "too many cooks spoil the broth", by the afternoon, we all were tired of listening and nodding . We were running out of time, and the doctor - an acquaintance of my father-law, had alowed us to wait till the evening. Not later than 8 pm. Regular checks at the hospital, however, had again confirmed things were alright. But we had to decide quickly.
When all other methods to bring down the baby had been used up, there was no way but surgery. With a lot of deliberation on pros and cons, we made up our mind to go for it, though the decision was not unanimous. My only concern at that time was my wife. I wanted her to come out safe. She was the only saving and treasure of my life thus far. That evening, I had wished some celestial power came to me and whisper in my ears the right path to choose.
Even a small cut on finger can make us dizzy, sight of blood can make us vomit; and she had happily agreed to it. At 7 pm, I was sent out, I still don't remember why. To drop someone home or to buy something? I went out reluctantly.
When I was back, I hurriedly entered the premises and came to know she was in the labor room. I exhaled, the countdown had begun. We all outside wore worried faces, timid looks and shoulders burdened with stress. Words cannot express what we felt outside. I personally did not want to imagine what she would have been going through.
I was told that we all could have the first glimpse of the baby through the glass pane in a room attached with the labor room. We all sat in the hall gazing at the pane.
5.
10.
15.
20.
Just a few minutes had passed since I had her last sight. To us, this was like hours. Time can at times be dead slow. It was 07.35 pm, IST (Indian Standard Time), 19th December, 2015 when I first saw him from the pane. They had hanged him upside down for cleaning purpose. He cried loudly as fluids gushed out of his mouth.
I smiled and turned to my father, "Look, there it is."
"Is it ours?", was all I could here and "Yes" was all I could offer in a hurried response. My heart beat fast with joy. I rushed into the room and broke the news to those inside. We were all joyous. All congratulated me. I was so happy. :) In a few minutes, the doctor came out and said, "Both are fine. It's a baby boy."
Soon, the baby was in my hands. Softer than the soft, light pink lips and cheeks, tiny but closed eyes, little fingers. Some feelings are above words. It was one more blessing God had bestowed upon me.
After 8 pm, she came out on a stretcher, fully covered, only the face was visible. My heart missed a beat. What a sacrifice she had made! How much pain she had endured! What a risk she had taken! Just in order to give me the best gift of nature I held in my hands- my son.
