Lilypie Fourth Birthday tickers

Monday 31 December 2007

Reflections 2007

As every new year dawns, we tend to reflect on the year gone by. The year 2007 was filled with both happy moments to share and lonely/stressful times too. This year started with lots of anticipation and excitement of becoming a new parent. We waited day after day for the arrival of our little bundle of joy and she made her grand appearance on a snowy,windy day in the first week of February. The early days after her birth being particularly troublesome, the constant debates on bottle-feeding before 6 months, the sleepless nights seemed for ever. But things changed for the better after 3 months and the little princess slept blissfully through the night. Fast forward 32x to now and we have a hyperactive kid learning to explore the world around her, surprising us by a new activity each day.
As she approaches her first birthday, I cannot but wonder how days flew by and she grew up so fast. Her favorite game is to play rolling the ball. Well ,she does not know to roll the ball ,but can throw it towards me and I have to roll it back to her. Sometimes papa joins us and we play on and on until she's has had enough.
When we are busy with other jobs, she keeps herself occupied by pushing the dining chairs from one end to the other. At first, it is trying to get under the dining table to displace the chair from its position. then she carefully stands up holding on to the chair for support and walks by pushing the chair to the other end of the room. She then crawls back to bring the other chair.
We keep certain bedrooms closed in order to prevent her little hands from getting onto something that's not baby safe. But Aditi is so determined to get into that room. She pushes the door and gets into the room, while the door shuts behind her. After looking around in the room for a little while, she calls out for help to open the door and walks out of the room with pride. During these happy and proud moments for her, she claps vigorously to let us know of a job well done. Clapping usually happens when shes very happy - after a meal or when papa returns home, for he can give her undivided attention.
She tends to put her head to one side and smile at us when shes been naughty. Especially when she pulls the blinds or does something that she knows she should not be doing, she pulls her head to one side and gives a naughty smile.

She can now reach and press the buttons on the washing machine, try to turn the knob on the oven and tries to play with the buttons on the CD player.Its been a wonderful journey the past 10 odd months with her and wish that the new year brings many more joyous moments for her and us. I am excited about our trip to India in the first week of January to celebrate Aditi's first birthday and hence this blog may remain inactive for 6 weeks until we return.

Wishing you all a happy and funfilled New Year 2008.

Friday 21 December 2007

A trip to Paris

Last week, we went on a 4 day holiday to Paris. There were many firsts for Aditi in this trip- her first trip abroad, her first journey on an airplane, her first visa and immigration stamp, her first actual holiday...For a baby, she did adapt pretty well to the new surrounding and enjoyed the sight seeing bits.
Now for a peep into the past, I had been dreaming of visiting Paris since 2003 and for some reason or the other, it never materialized until November 2007. The decision this time was made in an instant and things fell in place very soon. We packed our bags and retired early the previous night as we were on an early morning flight. Aditi slept during the flight though there were 3 other babies giving enough trouble to their parents that morning. We had booked a self- catering apartment as opposed to the traditional Bread & Breakfast, so it would give us some additional space and Aditi enjoyed crawling all over the apartment - being extremely active during her meal times.
Day 1 - We took the Open Top Bus Tour and went on a sight seeing spree from atop the bus. Alighted at the Eiffel Tower and spent the rest of the evening there going up to the top of the tower and enjoying the classic views over the city. The tower is especially beautiful in the night with the golden and silver lights twinkling up to the top. I had prepared some quick meal for lunch and our tummies were growling by then. We trusted the Lonely Planet guide to take us to an Indian restaurant near the apartment we were renting. Unfortunately, there stood a Brazilian restaurant in its place, but we found another restaurant nearby, which was packed and hence we settled for a takeaway. Aditi's meals were served on time wherever we were, so she slept as usual.
Day 2 - After a much needed rest, we visited the Notre Dame, the Louvre museum and Monalisa, Champs-Elysses and a few other monuments. We were directed to the 'Eastham' of Paris bya friendly gentleman and were happy to taste South Indian food near Gare-du-Nord station.
Day 3 - We were advised against visiting Disney Land on a weekend, but could fit in at no other time and left early only to be disappointed by the endless queues. However we did manage some rides and watched the Diney Bus Parade and 'Once upon a Time' Dreams parade. DisneyLand was very very crowded and Aditi grew grumpy by the end of the day. The endless waiting in the queues made her restless and we decided to head home early. After a quick bite at another Indian restaurant follwed by shopping we headed home.
Day 4 - It was Sunday ad we lazed around althoug the original plan was to visit an icerink nearby. We packed our bags and checked twice before we left the apartment. We were happy to be back home and get back into our own beds. On the whole, the trip was enjoyable.
However, there were a few incidents that I record here so we might learn from them in the future.
Eiffel Tower is full of people trying to sell you goods at more than double the price and you can bag a bargain especially if it is evening/closing time.
Prashanth who is usually very careful about everything kept the mobile phone in his bag. I usually keep Aditis water flask with me, but had asked him to pour water into her bottle that evening. The cap had not been fully locked and the flask was in his bag. The phone got soaked in the water and has become unuseable. It has now been sent for repair, but will take a good 4 weeks to get back.
At the museum, he left the Debit card on the Chip and Pin device after paying for the tickets and realized that the card was not in his purse at the restaurant 6 hours later . Thankfully the musuem was open until 10 that night and we found it there to our relief.
At DisneyLand, he accidentally spilt coffee on the camera !
And to top it all, this is my favorite, as I played my part too. We stayed on the top floor and the owner had kindly given us the store room keys on the ground floor to leave Aditi's pushchair there. When we were to vacate the apartment, we checked many times that we had packed all our stuff, except that we forgot about the pushchair. The door was a self locking one and the owner had asked us to leave the keys inside when we vacated the premises. As I shut the door, we remembered that we had not taken the pushchair and the keys were already locked inside.
I should say that the French are extremely friendly and helpful. We knocked many doors in the complex, but none of them had the keys. One young gentleman suggested that we ask the bakery next door and agreed to come down and explain to them in French about our position. When we were turned down by them, we rang our owner who agreed to get there in an hour's time. In a despearate attempt,we decided to knock on more doors and luckily one of them did have the keys to the store room. We finally got the pram out. But the pram was not to be with us that night. Air France had forgotten to load it in our flight. We waited until all baggage arrived and yet there was no sight of the pushchair. Reluctantly we filled in the 'Lost Baggage' form and it was delivered to us the next evening.
Aditi enjoyed most part of the visit and my 4-year long dream was finally fulfilled.
(Please note that I have been unable to load pictures from the camera into this laptop as our new laptop broke down recently and the old one has a broken battery.We cant use the power adaptor and the memory card reader in the old one at the same time.Will load some pictures later when we've downloaded some)

Monday 10 December 2007

Tagged

Timepass has tagged me to write 7 quirks about myself

And here are the rules
1.Link to the person that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog.
2.Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.
3.Tag 7 random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.
4.Let each person know that they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

* I like watching re-runs of Friends. It used to be our way of de-stressing and relaxing, especially after a long 3.5 hour journey to and from work everyday.

* I like to walk rather than take the bus/train or drive the car. Its refreshing and the uphill/downhill walking in this city along with pushing Aditi's pram acts as a workout too.

* I prefer a long journey by train to the bus. I would listen intently to every announcement made by the driver irrespective of them being repeated at every station. Some of the best decisions in life have been taken on the train.

* I try to keep fit by working out at home with the help of fitness DVD's. I am not against the Gym, but it is easier for me to work out from the comfort of my home.

* Sudoku is my favorite puzzle/passtime during travel or at home. That was the solution to my boredom during those lonely nights when Prashanth would be on night duties.

* I prefer to have a bath first thing in the morning before tea/cofee. With great difficulty, I had to change this after Aditi's birth to be during her nap times.

* I always want a clean kitchen sink, without any utensils/coffee mugs lying in it. I cant stand it in other's kitchens as well and will offer to clear their sink off any dirty items.

Now I'd like to get the following heads thinking: 2B's mommy,Mona and Geetha

Thursday 6 December 2007

Aditi's Birth Story


Each birth story is unique just as we all are and has always fascinated me. I think I had done enough of reading and put many many questions to Prashanth, that I was pretty sure that I knew what the birth would be like(except that I never really imagined how painful it would be). It was the 15th of January and I was extremely excited that morning for 2 reasons. My maternity leave had finally begun and my dear mother would be with me to help me out for the next 3 months. It was a windy and stormy day and it was decided that I would not be going to the airport to receive mom.
I remember giving lots of instructions to Prashanth - to walk slowly, to buy her refreshments and not to lose mummy(Yes, he has lost himself in Jammu at the age of 2 and lost his sister in London last spring and lost me many times in 3.5 years). I was to prepare my moms favorite dish - bisibelabath after the plane lands in Manchester (We lived about 70 miles from Manchester airport and the journey lasted 1.5 hours). After the initial exchange of hugs, I laid the table for us, had a few helpings and mom went to sleep early. The next 3 weeks were the best part for mom and I had almost never spent 3 consecutive weeks at home together in a long time. It was also during this time that we attended Parent Craft classes which were really helpful and also the Hospital tour.
Mom and I would go regularly for long walks and enjoy talking about the past. Time quickly flew by until it was end of January.We were informed that one of Prashanth's colleagues had deliverd a baby, one of his friends' friend had a baby boy and another newborn in the neighbourhood - all their EDD's were same as mine around 13th Feb. The waiting stretch continued and it was Sunday 4th February. Mom predicted that I would deliver on the Monday, but something deep inside told me that it would be the Thursday.
(A quick note: Thursdays are special to me. I met Prashanth for the first time on a thursday, we got married on a thursday, we found out that I was carrying on a thursday and all these happened most unexpectedly)
Monday came and went and I only had some really strong BHC's - Braxton Hicks Contractions. They lasted for 30 seconds and came in regular intervals. Prashanth was working that night and the next. So we decided to go to the triage and get checked. The nurse told us that it was common for first time pregnancies and not to worry, but go home and sleep well. Tuesday came and went and all I had were some more BHc'sand I stopped keeping track of them.The next day I could wait no longer and made a 2 mile walk to the local grocers to buy some fresh pineapple. I wanted to speed things up and I started with the easiest way of eating fresh pineapple. Then I read that mopping helps and so cleaned the kitchen and bathroom floors.
Not sure if they had any effects, but we went to sleep by 10 that night. About 11:30PM, I went to use the bathroom and realized that my waters had broken. We called the hospital and they asked us to come in straight away. We took nothing with us although my hospital bag was carefully packed 4 weeks earlier. The midwife performed an internal examination and told us that I would be induced if labour did not start within 24 hours. It was about 2 AM when we reached home and mom gave all of us a much needed cup of Horlicks. We all slept until 8 AM the next morning. It was Thursday, the 8th of February and I was sure that my little girl would make her grand appearance on that day. I had a nice bath followed by breakfast and mom & I started preparing rotis. As I rolled out the first one, my actual contractions had begun. It was 10:30 AM and there was a thin white layer of snow outside. I was feeling refreshed after a warm soak and was not too keen to track the timing. By noon, they were getting stronger and I noted the timings. Prashanth called the hospital at 1 PM and we were told to come in by 2PM as it was shift changing time and we would have to wait if we came sooner. We made a silent prayer and left home to reach the hospital triage by 1:30PM. It was on the 3rd floor and I managed to climb the 3 floors. I was checked by the midwife who said that I was 3cm dilated. Phew! It was almost 2:30PM and I was hooked on to the monitor. They gave me paracetemol for pain relief and mom and I started discussing for the nth time about my birth, while Prashanth killed time by reading a magazine. The crazy thing about the monitor was that it would come off each time I had a contraction and tried to sit up or change position on my bed. I really wish they come up with some other way to monitor the baby's heartbeat.
I was finally moved to the Delivery suite on the 4th floor by 3:45 PM. I had 2 long contractions in the lift and my midwife was sure that I was more than 3cm dilated. Now the delivery wards are like 5 start hotel rooms - really fantastic with CD players, TVs and nice lake views through the window. We were really happy to be moved into this place. Prashanth also found that one of the senior anesthetic registrars on call was well known to him. My cousin is a singer and we had chosen to take her CD along to pep me up during those tough moments of pain. By now my contractions were coming every few minutes and lasted 70 - 90 seconds. Andthe pain in the small of my back was terrible. My mom rubbed IODEX overy my back every time the ocntractions came and Prashanth took care of asking me to relax and keep breathing. By nature, I am not too vocal, but this was getting really difficult ot keep quiet and I was loudly moaning 'I can't do it any more', while the midwife kept me encouraging with her constant chatter. I dont remember much what we talked, but I think it helped a bit to distract me away form the pain.
It was about 4:30PM and I was in bad shape.
Prashanth was waiting for this moment and asked me if I wanted an epidural. I always wanted a natural birth and I was honestly scared of instrumental delivery. After a while he talked me into taking an epidural and informed the midwife. Meanwhile, an internal examination was conducted and the midwife told me that I was 9cm dialted. To be dilated from 3cm to 9cm in 2 hours was unbelievable. I was so happy that she teasingly asked me if I still wanted an epidural. She also asked me if I would allow a medical student to watch the delivery. I was already told about this in the prentcraft classes and also informed that I could refuse if I wanted to. But having another person to support me in this time of need was helpful and I waved her in. My midwife asked me to push when I was ready and frankly I did not know how to push. This was at 5:30PM
The gyne doctor on call was informed and he came over to say that I would deliver wihtin the next 15 minutes. I was so happy to hear this. And I kept pushing hard. Each time the contractions came I tried to push and my poor baby went in and out many times. She was a natural kicker and gave me many sleepless nights with her kicks and she continued it on her birthday. It was past 6PM and the midwife started telling that she could see the hair on the baby's head. Mom and Prashanth peeped in to have a look and started saying that just one more push and she would be out. This continued till 6:30PM and still she was reluctant to leave the warmth of my body and drop in to the world. The doctor would come in every 15 min to say that the baby would be out, but nothing eventually would happen. At the parentcraft classes, we were told that the pushing would happen within 30 minutes and for me 90 minutes later, I was totally exhausted. All I received was a third degree tear. My little girl was born at 7:32 PM on a Thursday, much to the relief of one and all. As one of the midwives later remarked, I was literally pampered on either side by mom and Prashanth.I could not have done it without their strong support.
All was not well after her birth. She cried and her inital assessments were good. She latched on straight away and had 2 helpings before I decided to take some rest. By this time our midwife brought us wonderful bread toast dipping with butter and hot tea for the 3 of us. Mom enjoyed it and it was one of the best toasts I had had. There was again the change of shifts and the midwife who had seen me the earlier night when my waters had broken was again on duty. She came to suture my tear, but found that it was a deep one and needed a surgeon's assistance. I quickly asked Prashanth to explain to me what would happen next as I was quite scared of going to the theathre. The anesthetist and surgeon came an explained the procedures and I was wheeled into the OT at 12:30AM. I was given spinal and I slept a good 40 minutes throughout the surgery. The medical student was around and so it was not all new faces at the theatre. Also the anesthetist was Prashanth's colleague and it helped a bit. The worst was the recovery room which was too cold and the 10 minutes there seemed like ages. My teeth were chattering and in the light cotton hospital gown, it was extremely cold.
I came into my room at the postnatal ward at about 2:45 AM after which Prashanth and mom left. As I had a spinal anesthesia, my legs were numb and I would have to feed Aditi in the lying position. There was an Indian midwife who was so very helpful the whole night and kept Aditi beside me so she could feed as oftne as she wanted. I think the anesthesia and exhaustion made me sleep well. In the morning, Aditi was given a nice hot bath and the miwife remarked that she nejoyed it completely. Right from the very beginning, Aditi loved her baths. She would enjoy them so much that even today, her eyes lit up when I lower her into her bath tub. We came home on the Sunday and were so relived to be back home. Mom cooked up some lovely dinner and we enjoyed her cooking for the next 2 months, unti lI had to take over the home and kitchen, albeit reluctantly. 10 months later, I can say that I enjoyed every minute in the last 10 months although there were some ups and downs in the initial months.

Daily Musings

Picture perfect innocence:
Meadowhall is one of the biggest shopping centres here with all the high street shops under one roof. Termed 'The Land of Shoppertunity', it has cinema halls and boasts of a variety of entertainment and events all year through. It typically resembles the Trafford Centre in Manchester for its dome shaped structure and shops, but is within the city. What makes it a getaway for us is that the tram takes us from our doorstep to Meadowhall in less than half an hour.


I had done a bit of the usual shopping and was using the self-service tills at M & S when one of the staff peeped into the pushchair where Aditi was asleep and remarked 'Picture perfect innocence. She looks absolutely gorgeous'. I managed a meek Thank you and walked out.

Its true that they look like angels when asleep, but I like it when Aditi is awake, demanding that I give her all my time and energy. How they learn to do little things continues to amuse me for my little girl has graduated from walking to climbing. She tries to climb over the sofa, over the bedside table from the bed, does an above turn on her highchair and stands up if I forget to strap her as soon as I put her down and refuses her food if I strap her.

We recently had a leaking window and someone had come to fix it. Aditi who is usually sticky to me was found sitting near his toolbox with a look that said 'Can I play with these long and short, round and square metal stuff?'. Probably they seemed so much more interesting than her child-friendly plastic toys. Though she never touched the ites on the tool box, she stayed there for full 20 minutes watching the man at work and talking to him in her own baby language.


She has also taken a keen interest on books and can be found looking deeply into each picture. This one pictured on the left can make different noises like a buzzer, sipping through a staw, trumpet, dog barking and some musical tunes. She loves to press each one and listen to the music. This keeps her engaged for a good half an hour. The other books she loves to play with are the cloth books which make diferent sounds. Her favorite though is the ones with different textures on them that resemble animal skins. She can stroke the feathers of a bird, the velvety fur on a tiger, the smooth,shiny skin of a frog and the knobbly,scaly skin on a fish. I am not sure if these books were around when we were younger, but it does help to keep my little one occupied, while I can get done with the rest of the chores around the house.


Another thing she enjoys doing is cleaning the sofa of any item including cushions, remotes, mobile phones or anything found on the sofas. The other day I had piled all the clothes to be folded onthe sofa and within seconds, they were all on the floor. and this was in the 30 seconds that I had slipped into the kitchen to make a cup of tea.

We are off to a much awaited holiday next week and I am eagerly looking forward to it. There would be many firsts in it for Aditi and I welcome any tips on travel with infants from other experienced moms.