Soni Arrives

The much awaited arrival of Soni - happened.

Date: 12th June 2008. Yes, she managed to avoid both the other birthdays - and landed plum in the middle of them.

Time: 5.15am

No of labor hours: 3. From 33 hours the first time to 3 hours, we're sure improving. I woke up at 2am with mind numbing pain, woke up hubby at 3am after trying vainlessly to time the contractions. Reached hospital at 3.45am. She arrived at 5.15am.

Vital Stats: Height - 20"
Weight 8lbs

My Reaction: Somebody give me an epidural - I cant do this.

The mid-wife's reaction: "When I first saw you, I told myself, this woman's not even in labor. When I examined you - you were fully dilated. Mashallah. But what terrible pushing."

Hubby's Reaction: Can we not give her any pain relief??

Sonny's Reaction: Ranges from complete ignoring to 'bye bye baby'. At times it even results in wild kissing.

She looks like: A photocopy of Sonny.

How am I coping: So far so good.

And some fun stuff

Things began looking up once the in-laws arrived. Being true to my hyper-panicky state, I asked them to arrive here just as my 8th month ended. Now they've been here almost 3 weeks and Soni shows no signs of arriving. The Braxton Hicks contractions are getting more and more severe. But thats where it all ends. I can feel the baby's head on the pelvic floor - but she just wont arrive.

Maybe she's waiting for:
June 11 - which is Sonny's birthdate
OR
June 13 - which is my birthdate
OR
June 15 - which is her grandparents wedding anniv

O yeah we're a total Junie family - except for hubby, of course, who's feeling a lil left out.
Or maybe she wants to circumnavigate these dates and choose a date for herself.

Meanwhile some developments on Sonny's front.
Sponge:
He ought to be nick-named 'sponge'. He hears a statement made once and repeats it verbatim at the next opportune moment. Sometimes with hilarious results. He's learnt 'what're you doing XYZ?'. We were stopped at a police check point, sonny leans out of the window and says 'what're you doing police?'.

Ok-ma-bye-bye:
If sonny finds something unagreeable - which is a hell of a lot these days - he makes his displeasure known forthwith with a 'ok-ma-bye-bye'. And with that he marches off upstairs to the bedroom - to spend some quality time with himself. And one has to go and get him - wont come down on his own.

Abdullah:
Apparently there is a boy in sonny's class by this name. Sonny was asked 'whats your lil sisters name?'. His reply - "Abdulla" and not just once, time and time again. Maybe thats the reason Soni wont come out - she doesnt want to be called Abdulla :)

No:
Me: "Sonny do you want apple juice?"
Sonny: "No"
Me: "Guava? Lemon? Milk?"
Sonny: "No. No. No."
Weary ol me - gives up. 1 min later, Sonny : "I want apple juice"
Me: Tears off hair in frustration.

It rained. And it poured.

No this post has nothing to do with the unseasonal rains that North India experienced. Or the torrent in my beloved Mumbai.

It has to do with the way life seemed in Riyadh - to me.

I am a strong believer in the motto "this too shall pass". And it got severely tested in the last month.

First came in some personal news that really really rocked my peace of mind.
Then it started blowing dust in Riyadh. SO first I had my month long allergic reaction. Then sonny started coughing. It got worse. We took him to the doctor, who told us to observe it for a while - because she didnt want to rush into an antibiotic course. Finally it developed into a full blown upper respiratory track infection - which required 10 days of antibiotics.

A week later, sonny started crying for no apparent reason. Nothing would soothe him except a ride in the car, during which he would stay absolutely still, without uttering a single word. Which is really, really weird coz sonny loves to point things out and count cars and gas stations and what-have-yous. Or he wanted me to carry him around - ALL THE TIME. At 36 weeks, that was the last thing I could manage. He refused to eat or lie down. With great difficulty he managed to swallow his own saliva. His doctor suspected a middle-ear infection and wanted us to take him to the ER immediately. We've had enough ER experiences to last us a lifetime. So we waited until his regular doc became available (about 20 hours). Turned out he had a bad throat infection. His doc referred us to an ENT - who confirmed that the ears were fine - it was the throat that was horribly screwed up. So then began another round of antibiotics. Which we've just finished yesterday.
And I've sent him to school today. I hope he doesnt come back with something new again.

In all of this, my Braxton Hicks contractions have driven me round the bend - literally and figuratively. The baby has descended, making it difficult for me to move around. Sleep is elusive and eating seems like a chore. My back is screwed up badly, my legs get puffy afternoon onwards and most mornings I cannot bend my fingers. All this is normal - I am told.

The only positive thing that happened was that my in-laws arrived. Ma-in-law has taken over the kitchen (praise the lord!) and sonny seems to have really taken to his grand parents - spending loads of time with them - time during which he doesnt ask for his Ma. To me this seems like good practice, for Soni's arrival.

And so I wait - counting days - when the clouds will part and the sun will shine again.