This is our entry to the #kbcADayWithDaddy Contest
“Parents and Children are born on the same day.”
This sentence sparks a thought in me, for I was born as a father the day my wife announced her pregnancy to me. No! We weren’t expecting to be pregnant, it just happened. I wouldn’t call it anything else, but a beautiful destiny.
When the woman announces her pregnancy, the air is filled with joy for the couple. No one asks the father-to-be this question “how are you doing?” He’s only asked, “Are you excited? Oh yes!! I am excited, but, I am also anxious, nervous and preparing myself for the new role, is what I wanted to say.
The doctor we met was genuinely a humble and wonderful lady. I could bond with my unborn baby because she insisted I be there at every visit no matter what. Because I grew more curious to know how was the baby doing, in our every visit it excited me to be able to listen to the tiny heart racing like an express. Every scan made me feel more closer to this little life growing in her womb.
It’s my baby!! I wanted to jump in excitement but I maintained my poise. The firsts are always special, the first time I heard the heart beat, the first time I saw the baby’s visual in the scan, the first time I put my hand on her belly to feel those footballer kicks.
It was the night of July 31st 2016, let’s say early, very very early on 1st Aug 2016, 3:20am, she woke me up. It’s time, I was confused how can it happen in the middle of the night. I was sleepy headed, but within seconds, I realized, it’s nature and it was time indeed.
We prepped up, got changed and rushed to the hospital – along with us were her parents. All of us nervous, anxious and me – I was scared too. A lot of thoughts, mixed emotions and feelings racing through like everywhere in my body! She was being checked upon, her doctor was informed, they were running tests on her and then they announced – she’s in active labor, oh my!! I was finally gonna meet my baby and hold it.
The doctor asked me to stay with her, I wanted to as well, but I couldn’t see her in pain too. She got an epidural finally and it eased me a bit seeing her feel better. Yes! I was right next to her in the labor room, holding her hand, assuring myself from within and her that it’s all fine and waiting for my baby to pop. From 3:20am to 9:40am everything seemed to go smooth and then things seemed to be getting tense. Mahima got tired, she couldn’t push anymore, she was losing her bp. The baby was stuck because it had the cord around its neck and was being choked, it was losing heartbeat too.
Something needed to be done, all I wanted at that point was a miracle and it happened. What unfolded in the next few minutes is something I can never forget all my life. The doctor was a very experienced lady, she did it, she worked her magic (if that’s what it is) and both baby and mother were good. 9:48am 1st of August, 2016 there he was, after giving us all jitters and chills down our spine he popped out.
It’s a boy !!! The doctor called out to us, “but he will need to be observed so we are shifting him to the NICU.” He was here, but I still couldn’t hold him, he was struggling to breathe because of the choke so it was best for him to be shifted there. After every hour I went in to check on him, how was he doing? I looked through the glass and the pediatrician assured he was getting better. Finally after waiting for a day and a half, he was brought back to us. Finally I was able to hold him, finally he was in my arms. He was so tiny, so fragile, so delicate that I was scared to hold him. But the father in me knew how much I craved to hold him. All those 9 months how much I waited to touch and feel him.
It was love at first sight for me️. The tiny wiggle, waggle, those farty potties to changing diapers. The burping sessions and paying keen attention to hear the burp. The journey has been epic and beautiful, I watched him sleep, outgrow those tiny clothes, heard him babble and always waited to return home to spend time with him. When he was about 13 months old and my wife called me at office to tell me he said his first word. I wasn’t sure what to expect. But when I heard what it was, I felt a deep pit because I missed it, he said “papa”. And since the time his babbling has become talking it’s become so difficult to stop him!
He’s gonna be 5yrs old soon, but that morning of his birth changed my life forever in a lot of ways. I watched my wife go through all of it and give birth to the tiny life. It felt at that point, life is so beautiful and so much more. He added that spark to our life, he made us realise that we loved each other more than anything else. He makes my day complete in a whole lot of ways.
