at December 2, 2004 1:56 PMPeople give you lots of advice when you get pregnant and have a baby - take care of yourself, eat good, sleep good (whenever you can), yadda yadda yadda. The one thing most people will either not tell you or you are too miserable to notice is how important it is to live in the moment. I know it sounds very cliched, but it is very true. There are so many moments in the past 18 months that I wish I could remember a little more about…I wish I could relive again.
It starts off with the pregnancy, of course! Sure, it sucks when your daily food intake consists of 15 grapes, 2 whipped yoghurts, 3 pieces of sour candy and 10 marinated olives (don’t ask!). You are constantly hungry, nauseous or both and you are still trying to get your act together trying to be all motherly while wondering what the hell you have gotten yourself into. You find yourself wondering if you are doing the right thing - is it all worth it - weren’t you happy just by yourself - being responsible for another human being is such a scary thing!
Now when I think back to it, I wish I had remembered a little more about what it was like the first time I felt my baby move (at 12 weeks) - the first time I saw the tiny lump in my womb that would soon grow an extremely fast-beating heart that would move me to tears when I saw it on the grainy black-and-white screen - the first time I felt something else other than pure selfishness of being - the first time I fell in love with someone I had never seen in person - the first time I fell in love with a person I knew absolutely nothing about.
It is true - you hear about the constant backache, the difficulty you have with sleeping, the heartburn, all the myriad problems that are part and parcel of the pregnancy. Once it is over though, you wish you could remember a little better that first time you saw the huge head in the sonogram - when you found out it would be a boy or a girl and all of a sudden it is “my boy/girl!” when you think about the baby now - when you heard the racing heartbeat and wondered what the baby was up to - the kicks in the stomach and the tiny punches that would bulge out of you when the tiny one got excited - those times when all you had to do to find your baby was to look down at your tummy - you could speak to your baby, sing to him any time you felt like it since the baby is with you all the time!
Oh, all that extra attention you get when you are pregnant? You will miss it way more than you would imagine once it is over. Have fun while you can :)
Posted by shanti at December 1, 2004 11:05 AMTrackBack URL for this entry:
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And what prompted this post, O Damsel Mother? Am I wrong that it was the sight of your baby as seen in the photos you uploaded in an earlier entry?
New mothers and their ways! :)
BTW, did I mention that it was touching?
Posted by: Sandeep at December 2, 2004 1:01 AM
I have been reading your blog for a while and find it interesting, but I also find it strange that there is no mention of how you manage to work with such a young baby and swing the whole work-life balance thing. No mention of your feelings on going back to work, the sleepless nights, the changes that having a baby can bring. I have two children of my own and work, so I spend most of my time trying to get enough sleep while still trying to stay alert at work and worrying about my childcarer. I can’t remember the last time I gave a passing thought to Kofi Annan or Arundhati Roy. :) How do you do it?
Posted by: kavitha at December 2, 2004 3:39 AM
Thanks, Sandeep - there is a reason why I keep this blog open all day at work…I love seeing his laughing face - it gives me new energy when I feel down :)
Kavitha, I will definitely write about all that soon - I am thinking of this being a series :)
Posted by: Shanti at December 2, 2004 6:17 AM
Excellent post. We are going through this stage now, so all this makes perfect sense.
Posted by: JK at December 2, 2004 1:56 PM
Congratulations, JK! I am so happy for you and the missus! :beam:
Thanks too :)
Posted by: Shanti at December 2, 2004 1:58 PM