Baby Announcement and The Birth Story

Birth stories, I always loved reading them and I can’t believe today I am writing mine. Ten months back, on 22 September 2021, our little sunshine arrived on an otherwise very gloomy and rainy day. We waited for quite a while to share this lovely news. Reason? Hahaha… Well, someone had rightly said, “Managing a baby isn’t tough, managing other work with a baby is tough”. Actually, it had taken quite some time to even wrap my mind around Arini’s birth story but I finally am ready to put pen to paper. I don’t know if this is the best that ever happened to me, I don’t even want to go into that debate, but trust me, there’s no feeling in the world like this.

It was the third week of September 2021 and Kolkata and a few other districts of West Bengal was on heavy rainfall alert with cyclone warnings. The incessant downpour left the city wading in floods. Flooded gardens and homes, boats floating in the city, no electricity for days, water scarcity and poor transportation (for obvious reasons); these were the scenes from Kolkata.

21/09/2021 at 4 AM, my water broke. I wasn’t sure at first. During pregnancy, many women experience urinary incontinence and I thought that it was one of those “oops” moments. I tossed and turned in bed, a little worried and a little apprehensive. While I understand that it's only natural to worry a little throughout your pregnancy, especially if it is your first pregnancy, because this whole thing is new and yes, nail-bitingly unpredictable. People advice to stay as calm as possible, but that day I couldn’t. 6AM, and it happened again. That’s it. I took out my phone and whatsapp’ed my gynecologist. She advised me to come down to the hospital for a quick checkup. It was still raining cats and dogs, I looked out of the window and this is what I saw…

Heavily waterlogged streets as heavy rain continued to lash Kolkata for the fifth consecutive day. We quickly got ready and headed to the hospital, keeping my little fur baby all alone. Thigh deep in flood water and mud, I slowly started walking towards our car which was parked a little far as the streets near my house are narrow and non-accessible by 4 wheelers. The depth started increasing, with fishes and snakes literally swimming in front of me. Then I had to climb a wall to avoid getting in an area where water was deeper and electrical wiring and equipment were supposedly submerged in there. The wall was high, slippery and first time in my 9 months pregnancy, I was scared. Arijit carefully guided me to the car. We slowly drove through the water and reached hospital. We rushed to the emergency and it was one of the worst emergencies any hospital could have, a room as small as a washroom with just one stretcher and a chair for the doctor/nurse. There was no one inside. I waited outside the emergency while Arijit frantically rushed from floor to floor in search of a doctor or a nurse. After almost 2 hours they took me in. I was in the labor room, as there wasn’t any vacant bed available and the emergency room is of no use. It was already past noon. The USG was done and there was no abnormality seen, but my bed had something else to say. Doctor advised me to get admitted asap. I had to do the Covid test outside the hospital as their Covid test time was over. I waited in the parking lot for the sample collection as Arijit went ahead with the admission procedure. This hospital, is touted to be one of the best maternity hospitals in the country, but it doesn’t even have a proper waiting area and an emergency room. In the meantime, Maa and Mami arrived all the way from Durgapur. I didn’t have a bite of food since morning, So Arijit’s colleague’s mother brought me freshly made food which I devoured in seconds. At around 9pm I got admitted. Maa, Mami and Arijit swam back home to Koko, my fur ball.

Here in the hospital, I was being given a dose of prostaglandin to help ripen the cervix, as my due date was still more than a week away as per LMP and there was no contractions. First step towards my normal delivery….

22 Sep 2021, I woke up, freshened up and was taken to the labor room, again. No contractions till now. It has been more than 24 hours since my water started leaking. The doctor decided on giving the hormone oxytocin to stimulate contractions. It was given continuously through an IV, first in a small dose and when the contractions didn’t start even after that, the dose was increased. The maximum dose that can be administered was reached and I was having mild contractions, just like subtle period cramps. But slowly, the contractions increased and the pain got intense. Oh boy! It was kind of like the muscles and organs inside me were pulled and squeezed, like they were colliding with each other and slowly twisting harder and harder until it became unbearable, and then it would slowly subside, just to get worse the next time. My tummy was ready to squeeze out all its contents, not just the baby. Sometimes I felt like sitting alone, patting my own back while I breathe and scream through the surges, the other times I needed and missed the feeling of touch, the presence of my husband and maa to remind myself that I could do this. The doctors arrived hoping they would finally find a softened cervix and some dilatation. Nothing! The baby was where she wanted to be, but stuck as there was no amniotic fluid left for her to move freely. It was past 2 pm and that’s when the doctors decided that an emergency C section has to be done. I prayed and wanted the baby to be healthy and could not wait for the moment when I would keep the baby in my arms.

Everything was arranged super quickly and I found myself inside the operation theatre within 2:30pm. The pain was at its extreme and only after receiving the epidural, I felt a sense of relief and was able to relax. During the surgery, I asked the anesthesiologist if it was okay to fall asleep and she said yes, but I didn’t want to miss anything so I fought to stay awake. The operation started and the doctor showed me on the screen how the umbilical cord looped around the baby’s neck. She was also showing signs of Meconium aspiration syndrome. For people who don’t know, Meconium is the first feces/stool of the newborn and Meconium Aspiration occurs when a baby swallows and breathes a mixture of meconium and amniotic fluid. It might lead to severe breathing problems in newborns. But fortunately, my little one was in no danger. She was out, hale and hearty and with a frown on her face. Quite annoyed, she opened her eyes wide and crooked her brows, but did not cry. Doctors had to give quite a few pats and only then she cried. The doctor took her and placed her near me. I can't describe in words all the emotions I felt the moment I saw her and felt her warmth on my cheeks. I was smiling and crying tears of joy, something so not me, yet it happened.

My only regret is, when the nurses took her out for my family to see, Arijit was unable to be there to catch a glimpse of her. That morning, as the flood water entered the car and damaged the engine pistons, our car broke down in front of the hospital and the police and towing assistance came to tow down our car at that very moment. Though he had seen her through the video call that the doctors made from OT, still……. L But the doctors were sweet enough to allow him see his little baby as soon as he reached the OT, like within 5 minutes.

I was feeling so many different things the day I gave birth, things I never felt before – a mix of being afraid and incredible happiness, from being apprehensive to being scared, to impatience, to the burst of love, euphoria and gratitude when I first touched my baby. She was so precious and angry, it cracked me up and it was that moment that made me realize everything I had gone through was totally worth it and I would do it again in a heartbeat.