Bébé, bambino or just baby

I've been away for the longest while.

I'm now a brand new mommy with a brand new baby, who likes to sleep in his rocking basket (Thanks, Menakshi and Mudit) and giggles when he sees the Mickey Mouse cut-out we picked up from a roadside shack in Delhi. He hates to be put in a pram or a baby carrier.

Saumil* was born on 19 May 2009, and Hubby and I are delighted to have him in our life. He has always slept through the night, doesn’t throw tantrums while being fed and enjoys conversations, even if he doesn’t understand a word of it.

Parenthood is the best thing that has happened to me (Hubby is a close second). It is rewarding in ways that cannot be explained. I plan to return to work in a few weeks' time, and my heart explodes at the thought of leaving my li'l bunny at home with the caretaker. The thought of taking a sabbatical has crossed my mind a couple of times, but I'm not up to it. I'd like Somi to be indpendent. In any case, I'll be a nutcase if I stay at home for more than a few months.

When I was young(er), I used to get bored of people who'd talk about their kids forever, stopping only to have water. Therefore, we're off this topic for now, unless you want it otherwise!

* We didn’t want to have an unusual name, but here we are. Just like our honeymoon. I didn’t want a destination where every second girl would flash chuda. We went to Manali (duh!) and every second girl did flash chuda!

Thus spake the one who is still unborn

I had to get a few blood tests done last Saturday. It was around 7.30pm and we were sitting in a huge, but empty waiting hall, waiting for the reports. At one point, we heard the chuckle of an infant and Hubby jumped, "Did you hear that? The baby made a sound." I turned to look at him. He was sitting with his finger pointing to my 28-week pregnant belly and a look on his face that can only be described as a mix of amazement, surprise, happiness and similar emotions.

"Yeah, but not our baby" was all I could manage to say before breaking into fits of uncontrollable laughter. Hubby didn't react. 

A few seconds later, two toddlers sauntered into the hall, all happy and playful. 

I cannot even begin to tell how cute Hubby looked then. Meet the guy who, as per my mother, will most definitely be a Dad, not just a father.

I went home and allowed Ma to pamper me

Trips to Ma's place (and by necessary implication, Delhi) have always been fun, except this time, when I was too tired and pregnant to enjoy myself or offer an enjoyable company. However, I did enjoy a brief dinner encounter with the neighourhood aunties and Bhabhis, who wasted no time in sharing their experiences and telling me what to do, not do, eat, not eat etc. That was the only time since we got pregnant that I enjoyed being pregnant, and although I was feeling tired and sick, I quite enjoyed the experience. Maybe because this may never happen again to me as we stay in Bangalore, with only two (currently childless) couples for company.

My three-week break from being a career woman and a wife was spent mostly eating and sleeping and feeling sick and crying and watching live coverage of the attacks on Mumbai and feeling sad and angry, but I was happy (those who've been here, done that know what I'm talking about).

I've never been the sentimental types, but I felt so guilty about leaving Ma that I cried my heart out at the airport and continued till I reached Bangalore, where I was very unceremoniously greeted by a bout of influenza (or common cold. Choose whichever you prefer. It makes no difference). This indeed was the last time I visited Ma 'alone'. The next time (and thereafter) I'll carry my 'bundle of joy' with me. I miss Ma.

I'm back in Bangalore and feel miserable and have become quiet (which is of much concern to Hubby because I have gone Q U I E T).

Sorry people, I cannot think of anything more interesting than mundane pregnancy talk as that's the only thing happening in my life. Rest all has taken a backseat.

We have started looking for names, and have finalised one, should a baby girl make her debut. If you have a nice name for a boy, please write in. Nice, BTW, does not mean names like Hritik and Hrohan (yuck) and also does not include names with any, however remote, religious connotation.

It was my Happy B'day day

Yours truly is now 31.

The night of 8/9 November was spent partying and playing cards and the day (birth-DAY) was spent recovering (pregnancy changes more things than non-pregnant people can imagine), sleeping, missing all phone calls etc, and feeling irritated and groggy for no reason (thank you pregnancy harmones). Thus was celebrted my most non-happening and boring b'day.

Spoke only to Ma, Li’l and elder, and was made to speak to mother-in-law. Humph.

A funny thing from the past just popped up in my memory

We had been married just a few weeks, and spent most of our time, well, setting up the house, getting to know more of each other, checking out furniture in every store in town etc. Soon after the house was all set up and nice and sexy, we had a free weekend. Hubby went to work for a few hours and I decided to clean the house, cook and have a bath (much against my no-bath-on-weekends principle).

Just as I was done with the work, Hubby arrived with a bunch of lovely gerberas, which he gave to me, along with a sexy kiss and a hug.

I asked, waiving my arm across the super clean, shiny living room, “Notice something?”

Hubby, “Got a haircut?”

Men!

I'm back on my feet. Yey!

I woke before 7 am today (it's Sunday!) to say bye etc to some guests (who had long overstayed their welcome), with a foolproof plan of getting back into my pajamas and hitting the sack for at least three more hours. But, people, I'm so excited at finally being on my own in my own house, being able to wear my pajamas and walk all over, being able to feel and enjoy the quietness around the house, not having to engage in random, boring coughbelowparcough conversations that I'm not able to sleep. I'm checking out my favourite blogs and announcing the news of our pregnancy to those who've been hiding under 100-ton rocks, with the sound of the (new, shiny, FULLY AUTOMATIC) washing machine washing the guestroom's bed sheet and towels in the background. I can now actually eat whatever I want to, so to celebrate my new-found freedom, I've already had a custard apple for breakfast. Oh I love my day already! It's a bright, sunny, happy day. Maybe I should get out of the house.

I've been up for over an hour and have already eaten something and there's NO sign of morning sickness. Savitha was right, maybe all this sickness was an outcome of stress.

Bonus, people, bonus...I'm going home. I mean, Mom's place, where I can allow myself to rot, not move a finger, command Ma and Li'l and the maids to do anything for me, and catch up with friends, go to Dilli Haat, Sector 6 Market, Nirula's (HCF ahh...mini orgasm here), Cafe 100 (CP), Corriander Leaf (Gurgaon) and Noida and meet up with ex-colleague-cum-friends and ignore ex-boss. And...experience another season, winter. Delhi has seasons. One more point for meri Dilli, meri jaan.

La la la. I love my life, and will love your's too, if it were as nice as mine today. Love, hugs and kisses :)

May not digress today

Remember my last post in which I wrote about either being pregnant or having worms crawling inside me? As it turns out, we are pregnant. So, yeah, life is indeed taking shape in my belly. I 'saw' the heartbeat today, and cannot believe there's actually someone, a person (OK, a tadpole-like thing, which will most definitely grow up to be a cute, healthy baby) inside me. Pregnancy, however, has not been all that kind to me. Morning sickness (which BTW lasts ALL day) and shortness of breath make me want to kill myself every few hours. And why do women not talk about scans more often? The least they can do is hang banners in each city warning new moms about the scans, and also the fact that an ulrascan is actually carried out in TWO parts, external (the kind we all know about) AND internal! Moms...you owe it to new moms and women planning a family.
Love Hubby even more when he sits with me helplessly, watching me fight the urge to throw up. Love him for all the smallest things he does to ensure I'm feeling ok. Makes me want to give him hickeys all over his face.
So people, I didn't digress today. Am I going to be an obssessed mother?