Vidya was due on February 11th. On 28th January she went to see her doctor. An internal examination was done and she was found to be 1 cm dilated. She went for a scan on the February 5th. The doctor told her that her due date had advanced to 8th February. If the contractions did not start she was to admit herself on the 9th and Dr. Rajshri – her obstetrician would induce labour. This would negate everything that Vidya stood for. I kept praying for her and hoping the baby would be born normally.
All day long in the 8th, my thoughts kept going back to her. Was she in labour? Will she be able to hold on till the baby decided to be born or would she succumb to pressure from the hospital and get induced.
After talking to Nutan Pandit I called her and asked her to do the acupressure and the hot towels. She did both as well as drank pomegranate juice which is supposed to release oxytocin.
On February 9th, at 3 am, Vidya began feeling contractions. They were 10 minutes apart. At 3.30 am they began coming 5 minutes apart. As she was reaching the hospital, she called me at around 5 am. I had kept my mobile near my head on normal mode. I jumped the moment the phone rang. Before even looking at the name, I knew it would be Vidya. She was 5 cms dilated. At 6 am she was still 5 cms dilated. Epidural was administered just as I walked in. “I’m exhausted,” she said looking at me. The epidural calmed her. Right through her labour, she did the breathing. “I feel most comfortable doing the chest level breathing,” she said. I had to leave the room as it is a small room and three is really a crowd. Besides hospital staff walking in and out. She really did not need me as her husband was providing her with ample support. She had her mother with her too. The room had space for one single chair. Her mother sat in it while Vidya’s husband sat next to her on the bed massaging her back. I felt like an unwanted but invited intruder. Vidya was too tired to walk around so she lay on her side. “I can feel the baby coming down,” she kept saying. “I can feel the contractions, but not the pain.” Vidya was given very little pitocin as she had not dilated enough. The drip was removed within 5 minutes when she was fully dilated. She could feel the baby coming down by itself. “I felt as if my baby and my body were really working together.” One to birth and the other to be born.
She stayed on her side and was being helped by her husband. He is a really brave man who did every single thing he could to support his wife. He went with her into the birthing suite. “I supported her shoulders so she could bring her neck to her chest and push,” he said. “Since I was not at the working end of the show, I did not see my daughter being born.” With only 10 minutes of pushing, her baby – a baby girl – was born at 9.07 am. No episiotomy was needed. The baby yelled at birth, but became quiet the moment she was handed over to her father. “I talked to her, and she calmed down.” He held her for around 10 minutes and then placed her next to Vidya, who touched and caressed her little wonder. There was no skin to skin contact. Vidya was not allowed to choose her birthing position. She felt the urge to be upright, but instead was strapped to the birthing table.
“They took my baby and kept her in the crib in the birthing room. She began yelling. And I just called out to her, ‘Pappu’ – which was my name for her and she became quite.” It was a miracle, really.
In 45 minutes, Pappu was brought to her mother’s room, and she had her first feed. By the time I spoke to Vidya she had already fed four times and was looking like she would be feeding some more.
Pappu’s first night outside the womb was restless. She kept waking up, needing that contact with her mother.
The baby – now named Shruti - weights 3.4 kgs.
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