About Mommy Center

About Mommy Center

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Birth story - Vijaya

Well, all of you can afford not to write even after that threatening post from Deepti but unfortunately I cannot take the risk. I am meeting Deepti this weekend and I thought I better write in something I have been meaning to write my birth story before I forget the details and so here it goes. Krish is now 14 months but as I am trying to recollect the events of the day, it seems like such a long time.


My husband works in New York and it is a 3 hour drive from our place, one way. So, it was lucky that I woke up at 4 in the morning with a slight pain. It was very slight but it was enough for my husband to decide to not go to work that day. Now my motto in life is ‘Do not do something now that can be postponed and done latter’ and so accordingly my hospital bag was not packed and along the same line, I had some work that I had to complete before I went and delivered a baby. By 6 in the morning, the pain intensity had increased but the interval was still long. So, in this interval I sat with the laptop trying to finish work that unfortunately could not be postponed anymore, all the while giving instructions to my husband about what to put into my hospital bag (but honestly, the only thing I finally needed and used were my bathroom slippers and the dress to come back home in).

The interval kind of shortened and then we left to the hospital around 10 (there was also some bad time that we had to cross, my in-laws were there and so you see no arguing there). It’s around a 40 minute drive to the hospital and as were driving, I kept thinking how the next time I am on this road, the baby would be out and with me. So anyhow, we reach the hospital and I go walking in and seeing me the nurse predicted that it could be false pain. Sign, I should have come in a wheel chair. They monitored and checked me and since I had not dilated much, they decided that the baby was not coming anytime soon and that I should go home. And so went back home on the very same streets I thought I would be coming with a baby the next time I remember speaking to my mom on the way back home and she was quite shocked that they wouldn’t admit me in. The concept of limited hospital beds, insurance etc. did not mean much to her. However, on the way back I realized that my pain was increasing in intensity. Now, the doctor in the hospital had told us that I may take from a couple of days(minimum) to a couple of weeks(my due date was anyway a couple of weeks away) and they also told us not to come back until the pain interval was less than 4 minutes apart . My brother-in-law and sister-in-law had also arrived by the time we reached home. My pain slowly started getting worse and unbearable in the afternoon. But we did not want to go back to the hospital because the doctor was so confident about it not happening anytime soon and obviously the doctors know it better!

I can still picture my bedroom, I am trying to sit, walk, sleep, anything to make the pain a little better, my husband and BIL timing my pain, my MIL and SIL massaging my back and walking with me. Given a choice, ladies, please have an epidural. I wanted to have one! I could and still cannot understand when people say they do not want to have one. I am still so cheesed off by the fact that in this 21st century, having the option of not having to go through the excruciating pain of childbirth, I went through it!:) The previous day, I had my appointment with my gynic and she had told me that my effacement was more than 90%. My guess is they only considered my dilation and did not take my effacement into the picture when I went to the hospital. From what I understood in the birthing class, both the dilation and effacement have to happen. A lot of times the dilation happens and it takes a while to reach the 100% effacement. But in my case, I think I started dilating pretty quickly in the afternoon and since I had completed 100% effacement, I was directly into the pushing stage.

By 4 in the evening, the pain had passed and I was at the pushing stage. We then rushed to the hospital. I asked my BIl to drive the car and asked my husband to sit with me in the back in case I delivered! As I had mentioned earlier, it is a 40 minute drive to the hospital and I did not think I could last that long. I should thank my BIL for getting me to the hospital in a record time by breaking all speed limits and skipping a couple of traffic signals! My water broke in the car. Krish was born 10 minutes after we reached the hospital! He was almost a car baby.

I remember the nurse in the birthing class telling all of us, mostly first time moms how the delivery is the easy part, what comes latter is the challenging phase. And fourteen months into this roller-coaster ride, where no two days are the same, I so agree with her.

I end this post with a picture of Krish on his first birthday.


Birthday Party Ideas


I was heartbroken when Deepti said she may shut down Mommy Center...so I decided to push myself a bit and make this post. Would be awesome to hear everyone's stories too!

1st Birthday Celebration Ideas
Courtesy: Friends/family/self

If the big day is almost upon you(or upon you yet again if your kid's older than 1!), then here's a little help with planning!

Theme parties

Very popular and as much fun to organize as they are for the lil ones.

Popular themes seem to be:
1. Zoo/Jungle/Farm theme - since most 1 year olds are fascinated by animals. M loves butterflies so her party HAD to have a butterfly theme!

2. Cartoon character theme - works well for kids who're hooked on a character from a book, a soft toy or game. Popular ones include Pooh/Mickey Mouse/Disney characters


3. Flowers/Pretty garden theme - works well for girls or metrosexual boys!
4. Water theme - lends itself to great outdoor party with splash pool/water based games, but needs more supervision. Attempt only if all the kids are escorted by parents!


CAKE: The big advantage with theme parties is the cakes are simple to plan since you already have a basic theme. The only decision is - bake at home or buy? Tip**: I combined both and bought a basic chocolate truffle cake and did the decorating at home. FOOD: Cookies in line with the theme. You could make cut-outs in the shape of the theme characters/flowers etc. OR make basic round ones and ice them with easy to pipe royal icing.

DECORATIONS: Buy ready giant size posters/cut outs in the theme, pick out pretty paper plates and paper tissue with prints to match the theme. Balloons are always a delight! Tip**: We used thin fish wire to string up cut outs of animals all along the ceiling of the house so whenever M looked up she would see an animal.

FAVOURS: Pick up party favours with some elements of the theme on them, make your own personalized gift bags(or buy them ready) with thank you tags with a little printed image of the birthday boy/girl and some element of the theme. Tip**: For the grown ups, its easiest to just get some sinful filled chocolates, we got a mix of truffles, liquer centres and nutty dark chocs. Pop them into a pretty gift bag with some theme related confetti(lots of teeny silver butterflies in our case) and you're good to go!

Picnic in the Park

Nice if you have a great spot to unpack a lovely picnic meal for a small group(or if you have a park with BBQ stands/lots of play areas then works for a big group too).

CAKE: The cake won't last long if this is a summer party, so cut it first and then get on with the games!

FOOD: Keep it simple but tasty. If its going to be a 'cold' picnic then pack things that taste just as good cold. Sandwiches(make sure you buy really good bread and only the very best butter for the base), Salads(Potato/Thai/Chaat/Fruit), Cheeses, Vietnamese rice paper rolls are crunchy and fresh, wraps that you assemble just before eating. If you have a BBQ that opens up a whole world of options! From basic burgers, to tandoori food to satay and grilled meats! Baked potatoes work well and you can make some 3-4 different fillings and let people pile on their fave flavors(chili, cheese, butter, hung curd with greens/capers...)

DECORATIONS: Nothing really, just remember to carry lots of rugs/mats, paper tissues and plenty of garbage bags to clear up after you're done!

FAVOURS: Keeping with the picnicky theme, give away the favours in miniature cane woven baskets that resemble picnic hampers. Or give the kids frisbees or other outdoorsy game stuff with a red and white checkered ribbon tied around to match those picnic rugs!

A visit to the zoo/aquarium with just mom n dad

If you'd like to skip all the hype and hoopla and have a simple day out together, then this may be just what your lil one will love too!

Tip**: Watch what your lil one enjoys doing most when you're out together to help you plan. If its meeting other kids, then maybe you should go somewhere he/she can meet other lil kids...even a toy store! If s/he likes reading then spend an hour at a bookstore allowing her/him to pick put some fave books for their birthday. If your kid loves watching little fish swim around in the tank in a restaurant or at a friend's home then plan a trip to the aquarium followed by a snack lunch or tea at the beach. Or hit the zoo! While you don't need to worry about party favours and decorations, a few balloons and a little cake would be nice to remember the day by! And don't forget your camera :)

Make someone else's day special

Take your kid to visit their great grandparents/grandparents or family members who would love to see how big s/he has grown! And from the money saved on the party expenses, sponsor a child's education/healthcare or clothing for a year via World Vision or GiveIndia or similar charities.


Happy Birthday to all the lil ones who turn 1 this year!

Chrs,
Pallavi

PS: Happy Party Planning to all the Mommies :D










Wednesday, August 18, 2010

The Last Call!

Ladies, THIS is it!

Looks like we're all too busy to write even a single word here, let alone a post. So, if you all agree I'd just shut this whole thing down. So much for a slow death, might as well turn it off altogether!

And, it is not just all/any of you but me too who is to be blamed. Life does get hectic with growing kids. So much that even though we mean to write here, we don't! So its fine. Nothing lost!

But, if there is anyone out there who believes this blog can get back to life...write a post. NOW. This is your last chance. Else, I delete it!
 
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