Part 4
You continued to grow in me, with a growing tummy and a heart full of anticipation I awaited my D-day!
‘For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord , “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ‘ Jeremiah 29:11
Yes, we were starting our third trimester and pretty excited. So we were just bursting with excitement and looking forward to your every next kick or movement within me. In meanwhile, in the office, my manager asked me to go into my maternity leave early, as my project was closed 3 weeks before the expected end date. She wanted me to get on maternity by the end of July, but then when I tried to initiate, I was informed that paid maternity leave could only be started some 2 months before the expected due date, which was August 20. So then we decided to wait it out cause we couldn’t afford to have a loss of pay right before the delivery. So that was decided, I was going to start my maternity leave August 21st, which coincidentally was just before paati’s birthday.
We had also just found a house for thatha to move in with us. Now came the hard part, actually moving! We decided to move on the 27th and 28th of July and we knew we had a good week before that happened. I fell sick sometime around the 22nd of July, amma got fever, cough and body pain! Amma had not only over-exerted when Ashnil anna came home, but she also sat and ate a bowl full of ice cream, thus the cough and fever. I had to go into emergency and get checked when my temperature stayed high for too long, and appa and I were so tensed and worried about your safety. The doctor checked me, we were in emergency for almost 4 hours, and they finally said that it was a UTI which had caused everything and that I should take some meds and be careful about using public restrooms. Thank God for protecting you in my womb every day and in every way.
Friends are such a blessing always!
‘Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of a friend springs from their heartfelt advice. ‘ Proverbs 27:9
Soon it was moving day, and we had loads of friends who were kind enough to help us with the whole moving process. On the first day, the 27th, we moved our one bedroom house with the help of movers and packers and super awesome friends like Harsha and Nishanth. The whole move took the entire day, was super tedious and tiring, and we hardly ate anything. When we were finally done evening and everyone left, we started arranging our clothes in our cupboard and we realised that we, appa and I, had completely lost our appetites. Appa said he wouldn’t eat anything, but I had to eat something to ensure you were okay, so I ended up ordering a vanilla milkshake for dinner!
We slept knowing that the next day would be worse. Thatha was reaching in the early morning, and a few hours after that, all of my Chennai home was arriving, to be arranged in the new house!
Wow the thought of all that stuff coming in just terrified us but we just prayed and slept, asking God for strength to face the next day. The next morning, thatha came and slept for a few hours. Appa and I woke up starving and went out to eat some hot idlis. We brought some back for thatha and by the time he was done eating, the packers and movers reached with the stuff from Chennai. And that is when it began! The entire day went in organising, identifying and distributing all the stuff: as what we want, what Sneha periamma wants and what Lachi periamma wants. Wow, it was A LOT OF WORK! But it felt good going through all this stuff from home, sorting through to see who wants what.
Amma got shouted at a lot because I tried to do a lot even though I wasn’t supposed to! But you can’t really blame me for wanting to help, cause that’s just part of who I am. We closed the day exhausted and knowing that we weren’t anywhere close to done. That would take us a couple of weeks, and it did! Over the next 2 weeks, we managed to unpack and arrange everything at our own pace. By now, you were kicking and moving around a lot. Your most active time was right before I sept in the night. But you were weirdly camera-shy, every time we brought our mobile out to capture your movements and kicks, you would just stop moving. This made it impossible to capture these special moments to show Harini athai and Vinu athai.
We celebrated Geetha paati’s birthday, in remembrance of her!
‘Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of a friend springs from their heartfelt advice. ‘ Proverbs 27:9
We decided to celebrate Geetha paati’s birthday and call everyone over. On August 22nd we had a small get together and it was so much fun. Paati was missed so much and we all wished that she would have been with us. Here is a glimpse of you during one of our last scans:
We realised that this was the perfect house for get-togethers and parties because of space and the overall area.
Now came the time for appa to plan my baby shower (I told him I want one no matter what). It was planned to happen mid-September and it was such a success, here are some pictures from my special day:
Ready for you, I waited in anticipation of the day I would get to hold you in my arms!
‘When the wicked advance against me to devour me, it is my enemies and my foes who will stumble and fall. Wait for the Lord ; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord .’ Psalms 27:2,14
Post the baby shower, a week later, I was full-term and ready to deliver anytime. Now all I had to do is sit around and wait. This was the best time, I sat at home doing, eating well, watching TV and taking random long naps (though sleeping was becoming harder every day).
Sugandhy paati took such good care of your amma all through the pregnancy, cooking all her favorite food, and just being there; that amma never felt that Geetha paati wasn’t around (even though she was missed a lot). 2 weeks before my due date, we celebrate Rahul anna’s birthday at home, and just before everyone came home, amma had a false alarm. We all thought I was going to go into labor, but Lachi periamma asked me to lie down and drink water and wait to see if it continued, and it didn’t. So we immediately knew it was false contractions.
We waited every day with bated breath, keeping our eyes open for any sign that I may be ready. Dr. Rajnish asked us to get admitted on Oct 14 (my due date), if I did not go into labor naturally. Appa took the last week of my pregnancy off! He could not handle sitting at office when all he had on his mind was me, and what will happen if I went into labour when he was in office and he was not reachable (Bangalore network!)
Finally, it was October 13, and we were getting admitted the next evening. Dr. Rajnish asked us to come into emergency 14th evening. Our bags were packed and we were ready and still hopeful that I might go into labour naturally before that. But alas, that was not God’s plan for me. I was admitted on 14th and what happened after that, that is something I will tell you in my next letter, Thia!
Fun fact: Do you know what was my meal the night before I got admitted to the hospital? Maggi and fried sausages! Sausages are something that I didn’t eat through my pregnancy, because we totally avoided all processed food. Ok so now let me close with this, and we will continue soon with the miraculous story of your birth.
