I would like to say it didn’t take long and you were here almost immediately but that would be incorrect.
Due to your own stubbornness, your desire to stay in Mama’s tummy and the hospital’s inefficiency, you ended up taking longer than your brother (and we actually thought Kian’s 17-hour labour was long).
I guess 60 hours beats those 17 by a long way and as uncle Harsh suggested, it might beat some other serious records too. As I said though, not all of it was your fault; it almost felt like the hospital didn’t want you out either as much as you didn’t want to come out.
So, while Mama woke up with a start and woke everyone up in a frenzy on the morning of Monday, June 24th little did she (or we) know that it wouldn’t be for another two days till you actually made your grand appearance. But hey, we had to get you checked up and ensure we were doing all the needful, so we went off to the hospital that morning to get Mama checked and the response was,
“there’s time – go home and come back in a few hours when ready. But the baby is healthy and everything is fine”.
So, back we went home knowing that it would be a long day… just like your brother!
Monday goes by and you’ve barely made any movements, the contractions are hardly being felt and we are wondering what your plans are. Mama, Papa and Kian take several walks around the block and even see Jonny Bairstow (the English wicketkeeper) sneak out of the nearby hotel on one of our rounds. (You were supposed to be born on the day of the WC finals, but even that sighting of Bairstow gives me assurance that you and cricket will have a connection. (Papa is happy!)
4 AM and Mama was having pains – Off we go to the hospital with bags et al. Still no… you’re not ready yet and so back we come home knowing that by 8.30 AM if you’re not making your way out, then Mama needs to be induced and you need to be forced out.
So back we are at the hospital later that morning and we get shunted from one room to the other, and then another and after that another. With one midwife after another changing shift but no one really taking any action to make sure you pop out.
But that ended Tuesday, June 25th.
Now Papa usually doesn’t get worried or stressed and lets things take their course. But since you have already surpassed your brother in terms of arrival time, and are starting to make everyone anxious, Papa is beginning to wonder too. Thanks to the blessing that is WhatsApp, Papa is now also getting messages from family and friends around the world asking what’s happening – some funny, some not so funny.
People are wondering if we have lost our mind, if the docs don’t know what they are doing, or if we can just find other alternatives. After all, everyone said, you’re the second child, and so your birth should be ‘easier and quicker’. Ha! Little do they know that you are papa’s little girl and so you must prove everyone wrong.
It is early Wednesday morning and we are transferred to the labour ward (the first hurdle cleared to delivery). That’s it, we think. But no, now the hospital plays shenanigans and says they need to attend to emergencies.
It won’t be until about 3.40 PM that they start the inducement with Mama and then voila, within a couple of hours, you’re out. Little cutie patootie you! You’re finally here. Mama and papa are excited. You have arrived safely and soundly, to a grand entrance, making sure you kept everyone on their toes.
But we are delighted you are here; as usual, after the delivery papa gets emotional and is proud of mama and what she has achieved (she really was super-mom through all of this).
All safe and sound, we bring you home on Friday the 28th of June (again, after a bit of drama and delay at the hospital). As I sit here and contemplate the entire journey, I am just happy that you and mama are safe, sound and healthy. I also then think to myself, that it is only natural that you arrive late. After all, you are the daughter of a Filipina and an Indian – the two communities who believe in ‘fashionably late’.
Welcome to the world, Trisha!