My Teething Troubles

have already started......constant itching in my ears, swollen gums and my consequent insatiable appetite for my fingers, touchy nature and a sudden increase in my diaper bill...for record my mom had to change 4 within a span of 2 hours... ..My doctor had advised use of gum-paint but that advice has been sent to trash bin after my mom read somewhere that it is not advisable to use it. My gum condition was best captured in the three pictures that my papa clicked today at around 8 pm.


Before I end this post, here is something that I would like you to tell me- “what do you think of the following two pictures- the picture in blue is of a 6 month old while the one on the right is me...any resemblance?”
Who do you think is the other kid? Prizes for guessing- is my love and prayers......

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Happy 5th Monthly Birthday

to me as I completed 5 months today. A brief of the month gone by:

1. Learnt to turn on my own; now they can't expect me to lay on bed on my back.....I turn, I raise my head with my entire weight on my stomach. I cry out of frustration when I am unable to move my hand stuck under my stomach but then I rejoice as soon as I manage to do that.

2. Learning to crawl- I pedal my legs and manages few inches of displacement from the original position to feel tired soon afterwards. Drooling off my mouth, I lay my head to rest for few moments and catch hold of my breath to start the process all over again; and continue it until I am completely exhausted. As a result, I manage to cover quite a distance- my achievement for the effort. With that, one more self learning exercise in my pursuit towards full scale crawling gets over......Next one will start at my will as per my convenience.

3. After they call my name, their wait for an eye contact with me equals the time that I take to be face to face with them........I follow their voice, move my neck to be able to look into their face and smile.....they forget whatever is worrying them.

4. As soon as I see my milk-bottle, I reach out for it; hold it to drink the milk off it. Not only this, I also reach out for the objects lying around me; if I manage to hold them, I rejoice in my achievement but if I am unsuccessful I cry zillions.

5. It is normal to see me use my fingers (or knuckles at times) in my fight against my hardened gums- all my fingers inside my mouth is a common sight these days.

6. I fully recognise my family members; but a stranger to me is bound to get a cold stare initially. And, when I see recognisable faces, my arms reach out for their embrace with a smile on my face.

7. I see off my papa every morning with a smile to return it again in the evening as soon as he is back.

8. When at my playful best, I often imitate the sounds that I hear.

9. I now have my own pram and a big green bath tub.

10. Last but not the least, my first hand to move is always the right one.....so unlike my father who is a natural lefthander. He still has hopes that I will be a lefty too.

All these achievements of mine were celebrated by cutting a cake. My mom ordered it and my Rudra bhai helped me slice it down the middle. The chocolate cake was surrounded by 6 jelly filled coloured candles. My mummy, papa, chacha, chachee, Tinku chacha and Rudra bhai were present there while my dada and dadee joined in over phone. My papa will upload the pictures later as he is unable to locate the chord.

As I said earlier, the beauty of time is that it just flies without anyone coming to know of it- it just occcured to me that winters are gone, so is spring and now blistering summers are knocking at the doors. And with those changes in the seasons, this small kid is now a 5 month old..

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Wowing Them!

This post seeks to compile a list of things that helps me "WOW" people when they see or hear about me-

~ my blog ....

~ my smile as those dimples are too deep to be missed....

~ my girly dresses as I look cute in them...

~ that glare from the corner of my eyes....

~ those creases on my forehead that makes my papa call me a philosopher....

~ that big head like my papa; he opines that a big-size head houses more grey matter.

~ my frequent bursts into a laughter...

~ my pink-white combo cap....

~ sleeping me inside my pram while going up/down the lift....

~ my little corduroy shoes....

~ running my soft fingers on someones face....

~ the love and affection Rudra bhai and I share amongst ourselves.....

And many more that my papa forgot but will update soon ....

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Gift Collector

My popularity is on the rise and I am being visited by lot of our relatives and friends. It all started with Sandeep uncle who would come to our place with Pallavi auntie and gift me a pair of bangles, a bowl-spoon and a rattle all made up of silver.

Next to visit me is my Ruchi bua and badee mameeji (Ruchi bua's mother)who would bring me lot of gifts comprising of clothes, blankets, towel sets, baby bag and a bouncer. My Rakesh uncle would give me my gift through my father when they meet in Dehradun for Naresh uncle's marriage.

It will be Ramesh uncle's turn afterwards who would visit us with Anju auntie and Pari didi. You know Pari didi played a remarkably symbolical role in making me a reality. It was during January 08, when my parents visited Ramesh uncle's place for dinner. After dinner got over and my parents were about to leave their home, Pari didi would bring a baby-boy toy and give that to my mother saying-"You take this to your home as you do not have any kids and return it once you get one in real".

Two months later, my parents would come to know about my existence in the way already mentioned under-"Discovery Of My Existence". I had to mention this incident here and I am really thankful to Pari didi for her thoughtful gesture. Venkatesh uncle, Dolly auntie and Anil uncle too visited me with gifts.

Another notable visitor to our house was Umang uncle (already mentioned in earlier posts) who would come along with his wife Urvi auntie, his sister-Swati auntie, his father & mother-Col dadaji and dadeeji and my rupee kitty would increase by Rs 500. Chikarmanee auntie from our neighbourhood too would come to bless me and give me 100 rupees.

It would then be my Sindhu dadee's turn to visit me; who would come along with my Rinki bua, Mumpi bua, Archu bua and Pihu didi. She came all the way from Dehradun to meet me and I felt so good. Needless to say that the list of my gifts would grow a lot with her visit- dresses, blankets, baby bath, towel and hand stiched warmers. My Soni auntie and Raju uncle too visited me along with Sunil mama from Dehradun. With her visit, my collectibles would see another addition in the form of gold ear-rings and a ring. Sunil mama would give me Rs 500 with another Rs 200 given by Soni auntie. On a lighter note, I must tell you that Sunil mama would not even utter 500 words during his stay of around 15 hours in our house. I must say that more than anything it was the blessings and love given by so many people that would come to stay with me forever. I thank each and everyone of my visitors and those who congratulated me over phone or in any which way.

While all these visits were on, my nana would decide to go back to Dehradun once my naming ceremony is over as he needs to attend some urgent work. Later, my dada would go back to Dehradun on 17th November by train. Next day i.e. 18th November,is my first date with doctor Manish uncle after my discharge from hospital. He was happy at my performance and would ask me to come again on 3rd Dec.

It gives me an immense satisfaction seeing so many people visit me and bless me. Really, it does! Thank you all...

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Peaceful day

7th November would be a day to rest after hectic events of past many days. Everyone is tired and needs rest barring my papa. He is in office after spending better part of the night without proper sleep. He first went to Airport around midnight with my chacha to see off my bua, mama and didi ahead of their flight to Uganda. Later, he would lie by myside with his eyes watching every movement of mine. In fact, my every action was keenly watched and photographed in mind by everyone. One more notable event of the day would be my complete refusal to drink lactogen milk. I just don't like the taste at all as I am very choosy when it comes to F&B.

In a matter of few hours, I have become the most followed member of the family. Everyone would run the moment I cry and try all the tricks in their books to make me stop crying. But I wouldn't budge until my mom feeds me. My dada, my dadee would hold me one by one followed by chachee and mummy. Rudra bhai is trying to ignore me as much as he can. In fact at times he would react as if no other kid is in the house. But my bhai is best; always smiling and flashing his few side teeth that would grow first such that it was very discomforting to him.

My father and chacha would look for me first; moment they arrive home after work. Visitors and congratulatory calls are on as ever before. But slowly and steadily discussions are beginning to happen around my naming ceremony. One notable call that came in was that of my Veda bua; who called from US to check on me and my mom.

In fact my father and mother have chosen my name as a combination of Renu (Re)bua and Veda (Veda) bua. My papa met my Veda bua over Internet 9 years ago. She would send my father rakhi (a thread which a sister ties on her brother's wrist every year during a festival of similar name as the thread itself). My Veda bua had also visited India at the time of my parent's marriage in 2005 along with her mother and daughter-Maura didi. Such is the beauty of their bond that despite living continents apart they could create, maintain and strengthen a bond which has no parallel amongst people we know of. But it would not have been possible without the support of family members and they too deserve equal credit for that. More on this as things keep coming up....

My Renu bua called up to inform about their safe arrival in Jinja, Uganda.

Everyone had their dinner and were getting ready for bed but then my plans were again different. I would not let my mother sleep and would demand feeding every now and then. Papa would sleep as if he has not slept in years..... dadee kept checking on me.....

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My Visitors

I was generating good interest amongst relatives and friends of my family as evident from the constant stream of visitors and innumerable congratulatory phone calls. In fact my father had to carry his charger along as his battery would exhaust soon.

During the course of next two days, I would be visited by many relatives & friends of our family. First one to visit was Ramesh uncle and Liz auntie followed by Mamta auntie’s family. I met Riya didi and Shubham bhaiya again. Sandeep uncle dropped in from his work. In the evening it was Chetan uncle's turn; he clicked my pictures on his E-91 Nokia phone for Vaishali auntie.In between came, Dharamveer uncle and Uma uncle. Next in line was Rinki bua's family who came alongwith Archu bua, Rajiv mamu and Pihu didi. I had seen them earlier when I was in my mom's womb; but was meeting them for the first time outside. My mother's colleague Ajay uncle also visited me with Disha auntie and Arnab bhaiya. Mayank chachu, Tinku chachu, Manish chachu & Anugrah mumu came calling at night followed by Anil mamu & Mohan uncle.

I would be relieved from hospital on 6th and my father was completing the formalities when he saw Ruchi bua who was visiting hospital for Ved Budaji's tests. They both came upstairs to see me despite budaji not feeling well. I was greatly moved by that. I wish Budaji good health and pray that he gets well soon.

My feeble mind can't remember the names of any more people; but I am sure there were many others too. I wish to thank everyone for their good wishes and blessings. I would need them for the rest of my life.

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Experiencing My First Touch

My mom was moved into the room no. 303 at around 5 pm; where I would join her at around 5.30 pm. Hospital nurse would put me inside my cradle and move me into my room with my dadee and chachee escorting me.My dada, my mother and my bhai Rudra were waiting to welcome me. As soon as I entered that room, my dadee would embrace me and take me in her arms and I could feel that special touch– a soft touch of love, care, joy, excitement, fulfillment and blessings; a touch to thank God for ensuring safety of both me and my mother with prayer on her lips. My dada would then hold me and his touch was no different than that of my dadee- a touch full of love, care, excitement, joy and blessings while thanking God for His kindness. My chachee too would take his turn to hold me with Rudra bhai looking on. Last but not the least,my mom would take me in her arms and it was truly an amazing experience to be held by her for the first time after keeping me inside her womb for 9 months. The soft cuddle and the touchy sensation was once in a life time experience. I was living that moment fully and completely. Everyone’s eyes were talking to me and I was responding to them in my own way.

The room was completely filled with love, joy, excitement and gratitude. It was the space that I was waiting for long in general and since 9.17 am in particular. My father would enter the room and find him lost for words. He touched me and held me with care and love; prayers on his lips. If I were to describe all this experience in one sentence, I would say- truly a divine experience to be surrounded by my loved ones with expressions of love, care, happiness and gratitude to God. Life outside is wonderful.

My chacha would join us soon; he is an expert in holding kids and held me with such precision and care. He too was an expression of love and would become the first person to gift me- A hundred rupee note; something I am going to cherish throughout my life.

Later, we all would be joined by my Mamta auntie (my mother’s sister), Sunil uncle, Shubham Bhaiya and Riya didi. My auntie would take me into her arms and bless me. My total kitty would soon grow to Rs 200- 100% growth in a span of an hour and that too in such a severe economic downturn……

Now I am looking forward to the visit of Renu Bua, Rakesh Mama and Ridhima didi which would be next day i.e. 4th Nov.

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My Long Wait

My nine month old desire to be embraced and cuddled by my family members would now prolong by another 5-6 hours. Although voiceless, I was shouting that I am all set to be with my family but then doctors had completely different plans and I was hurried into a nursery where I would find myself surrounded by other fellow newborns. God was watching me from the heavens and kept that near window bed vacant for me. Truly, He is great! My dada, dadee, papa, chacha, chachee, Rudra bhai, Anil mama, Ruchi bua etc would come and see me from a glass window outside my nursery. Some would click pictures while others would just try to grab my attention. But I would not hear as I was bit angry to be kept at distance from my family.

They made me lie down my stomach, but I would often move my head from one side to another. Everyone would often ask doctors about the time when they would be able to embrace me and take me into their room. In between, my father, dada and dadee would go and check my mother. At 4 pm doctors asked for my clothes. I was happy knowing that soon I would be shifted from a warm but unfamiliar nursery environment to a cozy, familiar and above all my very own environment. That space would be mine comprising of my own people and my wait would end soon….

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Beginning Of A New Journey

In perfect sync with an old saying-"The end of one thing is only the beginning of another", I was about to end my 9 month tenure inside my mother's womb to begin one outside. Although I would be saved from the effort and pain which always precedes any achievement as my mother's achievement of delivering a baby would outshine mine. It is thus ideal that she gets to feel more pain than me, which she eventually did.

Her bout of labor pains would begin to grow longer and intense at around 3 am. My father would then wake up my dadee and all three decided to call up doctor at around 7am. It's time to head to hospital and we all (my dada-dadee and parents) were in hospital by 8am. Dr auntie arrived and so did Umang uncle. My mother was administered some medicines and put under observation for a normal delivery.

My father would then tell my dadee that it is a girl as my heartbeat is in the higher bracket of 130-170 range. My Veda bua had conveyed this from her own experience of delivering 4 kids.

And, my mom was anxiously waiting for her turn. But God had different plans for my mother as my heartbeat would fall to an alarmingly low levels of 70-80. Doctor shouted- "It's time to do an emergency C-section and take the baby out". By the time my father could complete the formalities, my mother found her inside operation theatre (OT). My frightened dada-dadee would wait anxiously outside OT along with my father. Their faith in God and His blessings would give them much needed strength to carry through those frightened moments; moments which ended at 9.17 am with my successful and safe delivery. By God's grace, I was safely out in this world after a successful C-section. Umang uncle would come out first and give the good news to my waiting dada-dadee and my father- It's a girl and both mother and daughter are safe. Everyone thanked God and now begins the new wait- to see the baby and the mother....

While I was grappling with the outside light and my cleaning up inside OT, my mind would think of the irony of the situation most aptly captured by an old Indian saying- "When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced."

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When You Planning To Come Out?

.........my mother would often ask me this question towards the end of her pregnancy. But it used to fall on deaf ears as I was determined to keep that "surprise element" running for few more hours or perhaps days.

My mother began experiencing pains but then she couldn't distinguish them from normal pains. It started very mildly on the afternoon of 2nd November but then my mom took some rest and it subsided. In the evening, I along with my dada-dadee and mom-dad went to market to check out a new bed. You know my mother made me walk a lot during her entire pregnancy as she would not say "no" to any suggestion to go to market/malls. She would walk for hours in the malls without feeling any pains but situation used to reverse as soon as we head back home- pains would start again. In fact at times she used to say-"why do we have these nights".

Back to 2nd Nov, we all came back home by 9 pm after finalising one queen-size bed. My mom would cook "Khichdi" for dinner and everyone would go to bed soon afterwards. But I had different plans.....as I was preparing to answer that question in about next 10 hours...............

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My Third Trimester Continues

Next phase of my third trimester coincided with the festive season in India. First it was Dusshehra and then came the biggest of them all-"Diwali". In between my mom had to go to hospital with water bag leakage issue; something not serious though. Father shifted his job from Hines to NIIT and we moved into a new rented accommodation. My dada-dadee came to Gurgaon to help us do the shifting. Then they went back to Dehradun with my Renu Bua and Ridhima didi. We also went to Dehradun once as my nana-nanee moved into their new house and had their house-warming.

My parents started my shopping during Navratras and invariably they ended up buying all girlie colours. Then came Diwali and we all celebrated it together in Gurgaon. My dada-dadee came here with us as my mother was not in a condition to travel to Dehradun. The effect of financial crisis was clearly evident on the diwali festivities; but I decided to take a chill-pill as I was inside and was not affected by that crisis.

Doctor auntie told my parents to get prepared for delivery after Diwali. So my mother got her bag ready. Upon a doctor visit after Diwali, Meenakshi auntie told my mother to get admitted to Paras Hospital on 1st November. But my mother requested for 5th Nov, reason being my parents got married on 05-05-05, I was conceived on 5th as per medical science calculation so they might as well deliver me on 5th to make it a hat-trick. But then i had different plans................

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My Third Trimester-1st Month

Third trimester was the most exciting but dreadful phase and it began in Aug with the visit of my sister from Uganda- Ridhima didi,my Renu Bua & Rakesh mama (my auntie-uncle). My father is very attached to his sisters. In fact, Reveda name given by my father has its roots in that attachment only. My Renu Bua was visiting us for Rakhee(a festival celebrated by brothers and sisters). Rinki auntie, my father's sister of 30 years too came to our Gurgaon home. We all kids celebrated Rakhee together with Rudra (my uncle's son) and Pihu didi (Rinki auntie's daughter); albeit I was inside my mother's womb. My dada-dadee were with us in Gurgaon only.Since Iam talking about brothers & sisters; I must mention my Veda Bua here- she is my father's sister of 9 years from Indiana-US and very close indeed. I will write more about her later when I tell you about story behind my name-Reveda.Back to my Ridhima didi, who is so cute, just like a doll..you can even spot her easily in a crowd of thousands...I am sure we will make an excellent troika with our bhai Rudra,an ever smiling brother.

Visits to doctors continued as usual and mom's overnight back-aches kept their pace on with my development inside. My mother would often turn to Rakesh uncle & Vaishali auntie for advice during this phase. Both of them were in the different stages of parenthood. Rakesh uncle-my father's closest friend of 16 yrs and his wife (Deepu auntie)had twins in May; while Vaishali auntie (wife of Chetan uncle- my father's other close friend)was nearing her delivery. Besides, she had an army of advisors/counsellors in my Dadee, Renu bua, Rinki bua, Veda-bua.....

The 1st month of third trimester ended on 5th Sep and coincided with the birth of Tanmaya, Chetan uncle-Vaisali aunties's son. I now was two months away from my much awaited entry into the world.

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Second Trimester

All along I have been maintaining that I am bit different and sequence of events did prove towards that.

Against popular perception second trimester; considered safest during one's pregnancy was the most difficult one for my mom. She started getting those severe back aches which would later go on to become a permanent phase of her pregnancy. This pain used to leave her sleepless through the night and life was never relaxed next morning with pressure to head to office.

Apologies for digressing from the main topic but then let me tell you that my parents are poles apart from each other, when it comes to organising and managing their lives. My mother is methodical and lives her life as per clinical precision, while my father always lives his life on the edge hanging precariously close. Consider this, my mother never gets late to work (even after those sleepless nights), she always pays her bills on time, tries not to give an opportunity to anyone to complain about her; at least at work place. When it comes to my father- least said the better. He has never reached office on time.......Poor man admits that he reaches office on time only at the time of interview and on the first day.

Back to the main topic again, I used to feel bad inside,seeing my mother get those pains during nights. But then, it wasn't my fault. Besides, as my father rightly used to tell her-"You are not sick but pregnant, so you might as well enjoy it." I used to do my best to help her enjoy it, just as my father said. We all went to Shimla at the start of this phase and enjoyed a lot. I know, I was just a combination of few cells then but then I am entitled to my share of enjoyment.......

It was during this phase that my parents consciously decided to change the doctor after consulting Umang uncle. He suggested Dr Meenakshi Sautha, who would then go on to help my mother deliver me. The visits to Jaideep uncle continued as usual.

The list of "must visit" places continued it's northword journey with "Dezine Kids" being added followed by "Littles". To my surprise, they did not buy anything for me. Instead, it was my mom who was doing all the shopping- maternity t-shirts, jeans---those jeans thing would go on to become a topic of heated discussion later. My Rudra bhai too was getting benefitted out of those visits. But then you know sisters can never be jealous of their brothers- I, too was happy for him.

Idea of shopping for me would always come up during those visits but my father used to shot down them down. He would do all my shopping only during the last month of mom's pregnancy.

My dada-dadee visited me during this phase and my dada got those big mangoes from Dehradun; my mom loves eating mangoes!

As this trimester was nearing its end, I started making those initial movements which my mother would always notice. I was bit playful with my movements as whenever my mom used to call my dad to show him my movements, I used to stop; and all this would continue till the end of my mom's pregnancy. That's me a naughty daughter!

And the saga continues.........................

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My First Trimester

People say that first trimester during one's pregnancy is a tough one and expectant mothers should take an adequate care of themselves. But in keeping with my promise to be different, I allowed my mother carry on with her normal day-to-day activities without any worries.

Time had come for my first ultrasounds and my parents chose Jaideep uncle for that. Doctor uncle told them that based on his calculations, I should arrive on 11th Nov. He also mentioned that my weight is slightly less than what it should have been at that stage. This really left my parents scared who then decided to return for ultrasound again in a weeks time. This time my dadee too was there with my parents. To their relief, my next ultrasound showed further growth and smile was back on their grim faces. All along this, I knew that I am growing; yet was helpless to tell them not to worry.

Then came visit to Dr Aunty Rashmi Makhija and she too said that everything is normal. One more ultrasound followed previous two and I kept my growth momentum on. Dr Uncle told my parents that I have picked up growth and is now running ahead of schedule. Another proof that I am a devoted kid and was making up for that initial anxiety that I had caused to my parents.

1st trimester soon got over and smile broadened further on my parent's faces.

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