Birth of a new life

Jan 21st. its 5:25am in the morning. I wake up to my mother-in-law's urgent whispering. Its time. We need to go. I wear whatever i can find, pick up my sleeping 4 yr old son, Siddhant and rush to the hospital. I am told i need to register. Did I not do that 2 weeks ago ? I ask. No they say , this is different. No time for the usual arguments, away i run to the counter pay them the money and my wife gets admitted. Phew ! my job is done; i proclaim.

then begins the wait, wife is hooked to the monitor, mother-in-law is all tense. the heart rate monitor does not have a volume control is all i can keep thinking. Its my second time, yet my heart races. I am craving for a cigrette and a cuppa tea.

time passes, its now 9:00 am, the doc announces, we have to wait longer. Baby is not ready to come out yet. I keep thinking, why the devil did not put a volume control on the heart rate monitor? Its really loud. It sounds like i am sitting in a train and its passing over a bridge.

12:30, Heart rate monitor does have a volume control ! I find it the most akward place. thats better. then i see the monitor showing me Sine waves, Not GOOD ! Baby's heart rate is getting dangerously low. Frantic calling and the doc arrives. Emergency c-Section is the verdict. She asks me .. "you wanna watch ?". I want to be near my dear wife, and I nod. My wife has been taking it quite well all this while. I am proud of her.

She is rushed into the op theatre. I join in and the doc tells me .. off with those dirty jeans. Find some scrubs you can fit into. Now thats a major challenge as well .. I usually dont find good fitting readmade clothes and i am not a sight for the faint hearted in tight payjamas for sure. I manage to find some , they reach my knees in length. In I go .. i hear myself breathe like Darth Vader because of the mask and my glasses colud over. They point me to a stool and say "SIT. and dont get in the way". I oblige.

1:30 pm the op starts, its a tough sight. especially when the person on the table is your dear one. IMHO, docs are carpenters with stainless steel tools. The doc keeps asking me "Are you ok ? .. if you feel faint put your head down". I cloud over with emotion as i see the scarlet swabs. i hang in there. then another guys quips " Are you in the medical profession ? we have never seen anybody handle this so well" .. I reply .. "too much Discovery Channel" . that satisfies him.

2:04 .. i see my son being born. He is so beautiful. My eyes brim with tears as i rush to see him. He is tiny yet so perfect. I thank God and continue to wonder how a single cell can grow into a baby with a beating heart.