You are already 3 days old! You
slept well on the very first night of your life. You woke up every one and half
hours for feeding and went back to sleep soon after the food. You don’t really
get to drink milk yet, but you are drinking the so called “liquid gold” now and
that is colostrum. It has all the nutrients and is packed with immune cells and
antibodies for your immature digestive system. I didn’t have to struggle much
this time to make you latch on or to teach you how you drink. You were good at
it and I was extremely happy.
On your second day, you looked
the same to us, the same tiny bundled joy. Your dad went home to fresh up in
the morning and came back with your granny and sister. Your sister once again
kept staring at you, but she got very scared every time you cried. She refused
to come close to you and now she looked at me differently. I called her to sit
on my lap, she eagerly wanted to come, but she was hesitating as you were there
next to me. I felt bad for her and she was totally confused to see me stay at
the hospital and to see a new person with me. She has to get adjusted to the
new life with you, because even you are equally important to us. Together we
make a complete family now.
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Like the previous day, your
granny and dad were taking turns to take your sister out and to entertain her.
After some time, we had the professional photographer in our room. She took
beautiful pictures of yours, and some with your dad and me. We so wanted your
sister also to be in the photograph with her newborn brother. But we failed to
make her stay next to you even for a click. We were very happy to see the
pictures later, but sad that your sister was not in it. There were different
packages with photo, but preferred to take only the soft copies and it cost 135
dollars to us. But we believe that it is worth taking the pictures of your life’s
beginning. We were not able to do that for your sister.
I had been breaking my head for a beautiful name since past 2 months. From my shortlisted 42 names your dad had chosen 8 names earlier, then it came down to 4 and then 2 - Advay and Aniket. And finally your dad decided to name you Aniket! Aniket is one of the names of God Shiva. Your dad then was thinking of your second and last name and finally we named you "Aniket Bhat Kalandoor"! I now like the name. Your grand parents were eager to see you on video chat and they were happy to see their little grandson.
Our room number was 2309 on the
second floor. The nurses and doctors kept coming to our room throughout the
day. They took you to the nursery for various tests every now and then and you
passed the hearing test. The lactation consultant visited us and gave me a
breast pump. You had not lost much weight, so we were all happy. I took a good
shower and changed to my clothes and that made me much more comfortable. In the
evening, you had your first visitors – Chaitra ate, Ashwin mama, Anvi akka and
Anika akka. We celebrated your birth with a cake that the hospital provided. It
was yummy and you were the center of all the celebrations! They brought you
clothes and your sister too got her “big sister” clothes for the sweet
promotion! Anvi akka was eager to see you and asked many questions too.
Once again your dad went home in
the evening to drop your granny and sister home. The second night at the
hospital went on well too and I left you in the nursery for 2 hours, so that I
could get some sleep. I knew that this would be the last peaceful sleep I will
have for next 2 years at least. There are going to be two creatures at home
here after to spoil my sleep, but I am not sad about it. I had been getting contraction pain after the
delivery, it feels just like the contractions and back ache I had just before
the delivery. They are painful and I am on pain killers and they are saving the
smile on my face.
So today on the 24th,
we were told that we can go home in the morning. But after your complete health
check-up and my health check-up and billing and after getting the discharge
summary and packing the bag, finally we were ready to go at 1 pm. Your dad and
I dressed you up with full clothes and that was the first time you wore a
proper outfit. We had already kept your car seat ready after testing it at the
hospital yesterday. You were made to sit in the car seat and that made you look
so small in the big car seat. You were fast asleep in the car seat covered with
a warm blanket. We gave all the remaining chocolates for the nurses to eat
later and that’s how even they got to enjoy the celebration of your birth.
Your discharge weight was 5
pounds and 4 ounces. You have lost only 3 ounces from your birth weight and
that is good. Usually babies lose up to 8% of their birth weight at the time of
discharge and your sister had lost 11% of her weight, where as you lost only 3%
of your birth weight. You were 17 inches long. Your sister and granny have not
come to the hospital today; they have stayed at home to welcome you. Your dad
went home in the morning to vacuum clean the house and to make sure that
everything was alright for your arrival. At 1 pm, we were ready with all our
bags and hospital supplies like – formulas for you, my medicines, sitz tub,
pain relief sprays, ointments, nipple cream (which I really need now), a few
clothes for you, breast pump and many more. Just before the discharge, I asked
for another pain killer and without that I cannot imagine my life as of now. I once
again made sure that my prescription sheet for pain killers is safe in the bag.
Your dad finally checked the room once again to make sure that we have not left
anything in the hospital. Your sister had been leaving her toys and books in
the room since past two days and we made sure to pack them all back in the bag.
I was made to sit on a wheel
chair, bags were loaded on a cart and your car seat with you was kept on the
cart. My nurse pushed my wheel chair till the car park and your dad came
pushing the cart with the most important person in it, behind us. We all waited
near the hospital entrance as your dad went and brought the car. The nurse and
he loaded the luggage in the car and I sat behind with our Mr. Precious! We
waved bye to the nurse and your dad drove us all home. You slept through the 5
minutes’ drive and your dad and I were absolutely quiet to make sure that we
don’t disturb your sleep.
We were all waiting to see your
sister’s reaction to see her little brother at home and you were anyway fast
asleep. I slowly and safely climbed all the stairs taking enough time. Your
granny and sister were standing in front of our door number 725 at the 7th
block of “The Mandolin”. Your sister had
a big smile on her face to see her mother’s return from the hospital. But
behind me, your dad came holding the car seat with a tiny person in it. She
very curiously looked into it, her smile faded away, but she definitely was not
sad. She was confused and she was wondering why the baby from the hospital came
to her house as well. She kept staring at every one with a totally puzzled
face. Your dad introduced you to her once again and said “baby”. She did not
repeat the word, but continued to stare at us as we all came in. Your granny
had a huge smile on her face and she was eagerly waiting to welcome her
precious grandson to home.
Your dad kept the car seat on
the sofa and your sister brought her yellow favorite car and dropped it on you.
She spoke something to you in her language and she wanted you to pick the car
up. You neither spoke to her nor picked up the car she shared with you. She
once again searched around and gave the camera cap to you. She didn’t know
where your hands were, so she kept dropping her toys on you. When you didn’t
react, she pulled your leg, it was not to harm you, but she was trying to call
you. But though her intension of making friends with you was good, we had to
stop her from pulling your legs and dropping heavy things on you, as you are
the gentlest thing ever in our world for now. You need to be protected from
your sister for many more months to come.
The rest of the day went on with
a great joy at home. Your sister continued to be confused and curious, she was
still hesitating to come close to you; granny continued to be in her smiling
face as she took care of your sister and couldn’t resist her urge to hold you;
dad kept a protective watch on you as he took the responsibility to make everything
safe for you; I made sure that you are comfortable and not hungry. I was not in
a state to do anything more, other than feeding you and taking care of myself.
Your sister wanted me to play with her, carry her and run around with her. But
there was no way I could satisfy all of these, I only kept talking to her. We
all tried telling her that you are ours, our baby, our family, going to be with
us here after and you are her little brother. We don’t know how much she
understood, but she did not attempt to harm you.
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