It had been a speculative 9 month ordeal, or rather 8 months and 2 weeks, the due date as per the gynac's spherical calculation was on 12 Dec 2010. My in-laws were scheduled to come in a week earlier to help us bask into the glory of our bundle of joy, but thanks to some sixth sense ( who’s i don’t remember ) to have brought them 3 weeks earlier instead. Since it was their first trip to UAE, as tradition flows we did take them out in the glitterati world of Abu Dhabi and Dubai. They I am sure will cherish their day tour to Dubai making them tell us stories about the glitz and fancies around.
Come 22nd of November 2010, He had different plans, out for shopping after work seemed too normal as the groceries had run out. And shopping inside the humongous hyper market in Abu Dhabi makes it equivalent to a brisk 45 min evening walk in terms of calories lost. This evening walk, ended at about 11pm at home leaving us all waiting to crash at around 1 am that night. But it was not to be. Dear Wife had the water burst, and it was with a gush, but didn’t take notice of it at first. But then when the gush got real steady it was for M-i-L to intervene and suggest driving right to the hospital without thinking twice. A life saver advice, how many of such have been proven so. Another one being that we had already packed a handbag with all essentials in case of such emergencies. And Ola!
Not a single day passes without swearing at the parking woes in Abu Dhabi, and it was a string of swearing rather a whole thread of swearing, when I reached my parked car and found out that there was no way I could get my car out from a block of wrongly parked cars, well at least people left their cell numbers just incase they need to be called, but time was the key. I couldn’t be wasting time calling 6 or 7 car owners to get their rides out, and considering them to be their deepest sleep at 1am I thought of alternative option. And thank god for Cabs, available 24x7, hailed one and got to the hospital without any time lost.
On the ride there, a butterfly was probably hunting for nectar in my stomach. My mind was trying to come in terms to the fact that I was carrying my pregnant wife to deliver our bundle of Joy and so was it trying to tell me that it wouldn’t be the case and we would all return back after a brief check up and I probably hoped for the latter too. That brought me to conclude Was I ready? Thoughts at thoughts speed were bombarding my irate mind with so many questions to which I had some very unconvincing answers, but I took them head on. Probably I was feeding the butterfly a nectar of thoughts, what ever it was, it was terribly tingling.
After a short checkup, which included rather painful aahhs and oohhss from the mother to be, reality had struck me hard just like the "bolt of lightning" had hit Michael Corleone during his stay in Sicily. She was to deliver, and deliver it in the morning. Since the water bag had burst, there was no other way but to have the baby come into this world. After periodic fetal rate checks and checks for the labor pain or the passage opening it was indeed decided to have it the way dear wife wanted it to be. End in a jiffy. A brisk clean up and preparation and there we were all looking at her go inside the OT for a LACS. Wow another term I learnt which simply meant Lower Abdominal Cesarean section. The butterfly in my stomach was really hungry for nectar I guess that night. It never stopped buzzing. After much anxious moments and deliberation and giggles from and with the staff it was time. Time to know that I was a father or a healthy baby boy born on 23 Nov 2010 at 8.26 UAE time. It was only after 10Pm that I got the first glimpse of the baby.
My first glimpse, vaguely if I remember was a hazy look onto his face. A moment even if I cant recollect will stick in my mind forever, not for being numb, but for that butterfly to grow in the size of a chirping bird. The evolution for sure I can’t explain. After the long gaze it was time I turn my just born child into a semi nude sleeping male model, and my digi cam turning into a high speed hi-tech cam. The ever so helpful sisters hushed me away so that the baby can continue his sleep.
