Ovya's birth

My last appointment with the doc was on Friday, the 19th. I was 2 cms dilated and the baby was at -1 station when she conducted the internal exam. So the doc predicted that I will deliver anywhere in the next 4 days. It was a relief to see the light at the end of the tunnel :). We landed up at a Mediterranean restaurant for some falafels and our friends joined us as well. Started to feel a bit uncomfortable though, and hence we finished up fast and started to drive to our place.

I think that's when the adventure began! Our car ended up being punctured, thankfully close to home. So I hopped into my friend's car and drove home, while the guys tried to repair the car, and found that the backup tyre was punctured as well! So they drove home slowly, and that's how we ended up retaining our friend's car that night. I didn't stay up long and went to bed, as my friends and Rajesh stayed up late talking.

Soon I started to feel all crampy in my tummy. I racked it up to the doc exam in the evening and didn't pay much attention. Having some gelusil did not help either. The cramps lasted all night, and I started to feel hungry early in the morning. As Rajesh made some sandwich for me, I started to time my cramps for the first time. They lasted anywhere from 10-30 secs and were occurring 3-5 mins apart. Instinctively, I wanted to get it checked out, although I still thought it was owing to the very uncomfortable internal exam the previous evening. So Rajesh and I just picked up my already packed bag and drove to the hospital just before 6am (thanks to the Simhans for forcing us to retain their car that night!). Kav was at my moms that night since I was sure that I would not deliver over the weekend!

At the hospital, Dr Akhila first examined me and said there was no change in my condition since last night. Just as I thought I would be discharged, Dr Shanthi came in, checked me and observed that the contractions seem to have started. Even before I could ask her what that meant, she broke my water bag and asked the nurse to start me on picotin! So that was it!! Soon the anaestheologist came to get me hooked onto epidural. I was enormously tensed since the epidural had hit my spinal during Kav's delivery. This time it went fine though, but just moments after the epidural I developed a monstrous headache, the like of which I never knew existed!! This was around 6.30 am.

Rajesh joined me in the labor room now after completing the admission formalities. The contractions were getting stronger I believe, but I didn't feel a thing. I was hooked to a fetal monitor and the nurse kept monitoring the baby's heart beat during every contraction.

Shanthi came in around 8.30am and I assumed it was to just check on me. I was wrong again! She said I was ready to deliver since the baby's heart rate was dropping during every contraction, sometimes upto 80%. She asked me to push at her signal, and she kept her vaccuum pump and forceps ready to take the baby out if needed. With the worst pounding headache of my life and an anaesthesia that was on overdrive, I just nodded away. With Rajesh holding my head up and some 5-6 nurses around me assisting the birth, I just had to push 2 times and the baby was out.

Shanthi just smiled and cheekily asked us 'What did you say was the name of your daughter??'. It was such a sweet moment that brought me to tears, and the next second, she placed my daughter on my tummy and started to clean up. The time was 8.42 am. A quick labor, thankfully.

Rajesh was one happy daddy and kept clicking away photos of his daughter. She cried during the cleanup, but was bright eyed and quiet when done. She had big, beautiful eyes with which she kept staring and mesmerising everybody. My mom was the first visitor pacing outside to catch a glimpse of her. After I was stitched up, I was wheeled to my room where we (hubby, mom, mom-in-law, Kav and the Simhans) awaited our daugher, Ovya, to be brought from the nursery.