How time flies...

It's hard to believe how time flies by so fast. The one and only blog I posted was a few weeks before I had my first baby. She's all of three years now and my second one, my son, will be two, a few months from now. It's been a roller-coaster ride alright! I've had my highs and lows, my ups and downs, my days of madness, and those of absolute silence (not to be mistaken for nirvana or bliss!).
I can still recall that morning on 4 April 2008 when Ravi, Amma, and I walked into The Cradle in the wee hours (6:30am). I was taken to my room to get me ready for the procedure ahead. Then, when I was ready, I was wheeled to the OT and greeted by the Anesthesiologist who was getting ready to administer the epidural. Felt a little tickle in my spine and then I was laid on the table. The Ravi was allowed in...he walked in, handy cam in one hand, wearing the surgical wear he was given, and looking excited and anxious.

Dr Chitra walked in and in a few minutes, I was being worked on. I was always told a C-section is like a cutting a piece of cake - its smooth and easy and done with before you even realise. But that really wasn't what I experienced. My little doll was all snuggled up in my womb and had to be pushed out so the Anesthesiologist began to push my stomach from a point right below my chest. Those few minutes where nothing short of seeing hell...I thought my chest cavity would burst and my ribs would break...

"Scan nalli yeshtu weight bandidtu kane?" asked Dr Chitra. I squealed and replied "about 3 something kgs..." to which she replied with a "chance eh illa...yeshtu gundakke idale nodu..." and with that she held my little fuzzball in her hands and handed her over to the assistants in the OT room. At that moment, as I saw that like life, that until then, was growing comfortably within me, I was overwhelmed with a joy that cannot be defined in mere words. I couldn't wait to hold her in my arms and as soon as Dr Kishore checked her and the nurses cleaned her up, they wrapped her and placed her on my chest so I could feel my little darling...

Then came the key phases of infancy and the tracking of all first times - falling on the stomach, saying amma and appa, first social smile, first laugh, first babble, and many more of the firsts.

When Daksha turned a year and ten months, we put her in play school (Jumbo Kids). She would only utter mere words until she started play school and now, its a task to get her to stop talking. Playschool not only helped her to talk and sing "rhaimz" (that's how she pronounces it!) but also helped her get off diapers and be fully toilet-trained.

With the new found ability to talk, came more fascinating moments - Amma staap it! Shuh-thup! Shumne iru! Hogu naan maatadsala...

All these firsts were backed by flashlights and sharing of pictures through Picasa or captured on Ravi's or my phone.

Three years and a month have passed by since that day and my fuzzball has grown to a gorgeous little doll! Three more weeks to go and she'll be starting mainstream school. Can you believe it? Although I can, I choke when I realise how time flies and how soon the sands of time are slipping by...

Just this morning, she visited the Planetarium (a part of the Summer Camp package I put her on to avoid her from driving me mad). She got home all tired and when I asked her what she had seen today, she replied "Amma, naanu twinkle twinkle little star nodide! Aamele...yellow light, blue light....thumba lights nodide...!"

My little munchkins...my little star is now all set to go out there and learn and absorb more light and shine brighter! At this juncture, I'm filled with mixed emotions... joy, a sense of accomplishment, fear, anxiety, and pride...all put in one cauldron called the heart!

My little baby...I know you are too little to understand any of this that I've just expressed (or perhaps you understand it all and more!). Know that the world out there, despite all the horrible things that happen, is still beautiful and has a lifetime of learning to offer you. Go out there like a sponge and soak all the knowledge you can and be a guiding star...

Know that your amma and appa will always be there for you for as long as they live and will take care of you and be by your side always and forever more!!