Vandhuttomla - Part 2

She can now go on all fours and rock. It is cute to see this yaanai pose. It all started by lasting for a microsecond, then a second, then a few seconds and now she keeps rocking until she gets bored or she slips down by herself as the distance between hands and knees increase due to rocking. J paati sings “aaanai aanai” rhymes for her and she enjoys that. Here is the full version

ஆனை ஆனை, அழகர் ஆனை

அரசரும் சொக்கரும் ஏறும் ஆனை

கட்டிக் கரும்பை முறிக்கும் ஆனை

காவேரி ஆத்தைக் கலக்கும் ஆனை

ஆனை வந்துதாம் தோப்புல

அரசெலை வந்துதாம் ஆத்துல

நம்ம ஆனைக்கு பட்டம் கட்டி

ஊராள் ஆனைக்கு சுட்டி கட்டி

நம்ம ஆனை வா வா

ஊராள் ஆனை போ போ

குட்டி யானைக்கு கொம்பு மொளச்சுது

பட்டணம் எல்லாம் பாக்க வாங்கோ

She is yet to crawl, but from the yaanai pose throws her body to the front and moves. Because she can move faster on her tummy, she always prefers that. The other day she tried to sit on her own by turning on the sides and firmly pressing the palms on the ground, but she missed her balance and fell down. She tried it again a couple of days later, this time she was almost close to sitting, but fell down again. So, she isn’t trying nowadays. She can however sit for a few minutes without support if we make her to. But K paati asks me not to do that because it can create a hunch for the babies it seems. She can say “Ma, ma, ma, ma, Ya, ya, ya and a few other blabbers which are hard to decipher”. But she wouldn’t say it if we request her to. She says it by and to herself when she is busily playing. I used her bath tub once and she loved splashing the water and had great fun. But I have temporarily stopped it due to the sudden weather change in Chennai and have planned to resume when the weather is back to normal. Chittu now knows her surroundings pretty well, can clearly recognize faces. When she sees me, she throws her hands and thaavifies towards me irrespective of whoever she is with. Whenever I leave her for a few hours with mami or J paati and return, I should lift her immediately. She won’t even give me time to wash my hands and feet. She would cry her heart out by the time I wash and come. Similarly when S returns from office and says a HI to her from the entrance, she would give her best smile to him. She plays happily and is herself when she is in our house or in J paati’s house. If she goes to S perippa’s house in the first floor, she doesn’t cry but is not as playful as she normally is. If she goes to S’s chithi’s house in our same building, she cries uncontrollably and makes them bring her back to us and calms down as soon as she sees me or S or K paati. Same thing with C maami’s house (J paati’s neighbor) too. C maami and her daughter-in-law felt so bad about this, because during the initial 4 months, she used to spend time in their house atleast an hour a day without any hitch.

Chittu is also learning to spend time alone with J paati in my absence. I’m kind of training her on this and went for the movie Vaanam, a wedding reception and a birthday party leaving her with her paati. Earlier Chittu used to smile for anything and everything. But now, her smiles have reduced. She smiles only when she feels like. When I ask J paati, she says “Neeyum naanum edhukkeduthaalum chumma sirikkaromaa? Adhuvum valarradhu” Sigh! My little girl has already started growing! Good news is that thumb sucking habit has also reduced considerably. We’ve made it a practice to go to Shirdi Sai Baba temple every Thursday for night 9.15 pm haarathi. It gives a sense of peace and serenity and makes our mind cool and calm. I really enjoy this and wait for Thursday to come. Also, we went o Adyar Ananthapadmanabhaswamy temple on a Friday evening and Chittu had good fun in that trip. We’ve got the settlement for S’s ancestral property. This has been pending for quite sometime and finally things fell in place. Needless to say, we call it Chittu’s luck. But a lot of tension and mental pressure went behind this and it pained a lot when rounds of discussion were done amongst S, his brother and sisters. We learnt the lesson that “When it comes to money or property, there is no space for the term brother or sister” in a harder way. But All is well that ends well and finally everything happened smoothly and now everybody is happy.

Chittu’s 6^th month review was done on 14^th May 2011. She was given Hepatitis B (HBV) 2^nd course vaccination. But weight gain was 40 gms lesser than the expected. My leave was approved until 31^st May and because I was going to start work, Dr.S asked us to give Ragi porridge with milk and sugar, mango milkshake, boiled vegetables and idly. She even asked us to give curd rice and rasam rice. When I told her that we will do annaprasana in July, she was not willing to agree and asked us to start immediately. So, for the time being I have said a YES to her, but will be giving rice only after annaprasana, which we have planned in Guruvayoor on July 17th. Praying to Lord Guruvayoorappan that everything goes on well. Chittu took the prescribed supplementary food pretty well.

It rained heavily on 1^st June evening and Chittu was down with fever on 2^nd morning. She had 100˚F temperature. I gave her two doses of Crocin at 7 AM and 11 AM and took her to Dr. S at 2 PM. She said it is an air borne viral infection due to sudden weather change and asked me to continue with Crocin and because Chittu had slight cold prescribed T-minic oral drops and Nasoclear nasal drops. She also asked me to come immediately if temperature crosses 101 as some babies might throw fits. So, I gave Chittu a dose of Crocinall 3 medicines at 5.30 PM. At 10 the temperature shot up to 101 and I was scared. Also, she had pooed a number of times (the consistency was normal however) and the entire area was reddish in color. So repeated Crocin, applied rash cream and put her to sleep. But poor baby couldn’t sleep at all and we were awake till 3 in the morning. I checked temperature again and this time around it was normal, but to rule out any further risk, gave her a mild dose of Crocin after which both of us slept slowly. It was June 3^rd and P akka’s engagement was happening in Pudhukottai. Congratulations P akka! So all of them including S were going in a van from Chennai. I had already decided that I wouldn’t travel with Chittu during the day as it could be hectic. At 6 AM, V athai, athimber, P akka, Sonu & her family dropped in at our place. They picked S, B athai and her son M anna, M athai and her son V anna and started. K paati was also going to a wedding in Thiruvanmiyur. We got up and waved them all good bye and went back to sleep. So it was me and Chittu only. I woke up at 9 and checked her temperature, it was just 0.02˚ above normal. So I gave her a reduced dose of Crocin and immediately she puked the medicine with the milk. I cleaned her up, she was tired but active and playing. I gave her porridge at 11, checked the temperature, it was normal. After allowing her to play for around 15 minutes, gave her T-minic, she puked again and all the porridge came out. I didn’t know what to do. By then mami came home. She asked me to get ready, do my Friday pooja and go to work and said she will take care of Chittu and she put her  to sleep. I went to office at around 2 in the afternoon and within an hr mami called and said Chittu puked even water. I was worried. I called up Dr. S, but she was leaving the clinic and asked me to come to her home at 7. There, she prescribed Domstal and asked me to give it half an hour before food. I gave two doses of that and Chittu is no longer puking. She is much better now, but gets tired very soon, is active and playful, doesn’t like the taste of anything except water and wants more and more of it. So, that is the story of sickness and Chittu is in a quick recovery mode now.

Updates from my end, I bought a new Scooty Pep+ (Mauve) new mobile Nokia X3 (both these are sponsored by J paati…Thanks ma!) I joined work on June 1^st. My office location is changing to a farther place and so looks like the new project that I am going to be assigned to would force me to shift my residence. I’ll go by the tide as it takes me, so let us see. As of now, I don’t have a desk, PC, phone extension, I’m not allocated to any project, I am going to the old location only (which is hardly 20 mins drive from home) and spending hardly 2-3 hours in office. Mami is coming to cook in the mornings too from last Monday, so things have become a little easier for me. It is a difficult task to have the baby and cook and pack and clean. But now I have more time to spend with Chittu and I am happy! :D

Hopefully from now on, I will have enough time to update this site frequently as I used to before. Yet to blog hop and get updates from others’ site.

Vandhuttomla - Part 1

We have a lot of updates from the Chittu household in a very short while of 1.5 months. Things happened so fast that by the time we realized one, the other happened without giving me time to blog about it. We have gone through a few ups and downs, achieved important milestones and so this is going to be a long post. Thanks a lot Anon & Anu for enquiring – you now know that we are still alive and kicking J

Picking from where I left, me, S & Chittu went to PS uncle’s house and the Narayaneeyam function was a grand success. All of us prayed to Lord Guruvayoorappan that PS uncle’s daughter is blessed with a healthy & beautiful baby. PS uncle took us to Parthasarathy perumaL temple – Chittu’s first divyadesam visit. Brahmotsavam was going on there and we were fortunate enough to see Mohini alankaaram.  They were banging big drums during the procession and I had close Chittu’s ears as the decibel level was too high. Swamy had wounds all over his face – tradition says that it is because he was the charioteer for Arjuna during the Kurukshetra war and had borne the scars of many arrows which hit him during the course. Last I had seen Mohini alankaaram was almost a decade back in Srirangam during Vaikunta Ekadasi time. This one brought back a lot of those memories to me. As we entered the main gopuram, on the inner side above the dhwajasthambam there is an idol of Lord Krishna doing Geethopadesam to Arjuna and next to this there is a lion who is none other than Lord Narasimha himself who had manifested in the form of lion as he wanted to listen to the Bhagavad Gita. PS uncle told us that this is a very important structure to be seen before seeing the main diety - Parthasarathy otherwise known as Venkatakrishnan, with his family (his wife Rukmani, brothers Balarama & Satyaki, son Pradyumna, grandson Anirudha) Because of PS uncle’s influence we were lucky enough to have darshan just outside the garbagraha and it was an ecstatic experience to see the Lord in such close quarters. Then we proceeded to see Thayar and Andal. The Yoga Narasimhar in this temple is highly powerful and I have had firsthand experience on this. A couple of years back when I was having serious troubles in my project, I sincerely prayed to HIM and Whoa!!! Within the next couple of days, the root cause of my issues resigned and moved on to another company. It turned out to be good for both of us. This time around, S was on cross roads and was highly concerned about his career, so we wanted to pray to this Yoga Narasimhar again to show us the right path. But unfortunately the sannidhi was closed. But we were firm enough to return the next day again and get HIS darshan and fervently prayed to HIM. We also read Prahlada Charithram and Narasimhavataram from Narayaneeyam. The result also turned out to be fruitful and S is happy now with the new project.

V athai came to our house in the 3^rd week of April and spent a few days with us to take rest as she was recovering from angioplasty. But the busy a(u)nt that she is, it was highly difficult to make her sit in one place and relax. Chittu also spent a good time with athai and bonded well with her. Maami has been coming for the past 2 months now and touch wood! She has gelled well with Chittu and that is a big time relief for me. J paati & thatha visit us almost every day on their way back to home from work. S mama drops in whenever he finds time. Recently he bought Chittu a beautiful green frock and a Chicco roller. She enjoys the roller and the music that comes from it. Sometime during the middle of last month, May 18 to be precise, it was a BIG BLACK day for S mama and a terrible day for all of us. S mama was completely dejected and I went with Chittu the following weekend and she completely lit up his face and lifted his spirits. The gloomy mood changed to a playful one and all of us felt peaceful. That is the miracle that a kid can do and we feel really gifted to have Chittu J

Coming to the food – Still porridge with milk and sugar rules and Buttermilk kanji is always secondary rather tertiary. The irony is - she loves plain buttermilk. S used to have buttermilk before going to bed and when he gives few drops, she drinks it happily and expresses that she likes the taste with a “chap chap” sound. She likes tender coconut & Sweet lime juice only if it is sweet. Slight salty / sour taste is a direct reject. She would simply refuse to open her mouth. Or if she feels paavam for me for holding the bottle / spoon for such a long time hoping she would take it in, she would swallow and spit immediately and give a sheepish grin. And all that I can do is smile back and hug her. I haven’t tried banana yet as I am concerned with how she will be able to swallow it inspite of all the smashing and crushing. Also, haven’t tried watermelon juice as I couldn’t get a fresh piece. Dr.S is completely against tinned food, so No Cerelac, No Nestum, No Nan or any other formula for Chittu.

Chittu is fond of paper, plastic covers, clothes, jasmines & anything tiny which an adult would ignore as unwanted on the floor. PERIOD! It so happened that S gave her an invitation which had come by post and told her “Idhula enna irukkunu padichu sollu Chittu” Then he got a call and got busy with it. Few minutes later when I came to the living room from the kitchen I saw S sitting on the sofa and talking over the phone. Little missy was silently lying down on the floor and having the invite in her mouth. She had soaked it in saliva and had nibbled the corners and was chewing away those bits of paper happily. Immediately I removed them all and got her mouth cleaned thoroughly, when S jokingly commented “Unna padichu solla sonnaa nee kadichu sollriyaa?” J The other day, I was sitting next to her on the floor and having my tea. Suddenly I saw her taking something from the floor and put it in her mouth. I rushed to her and checked her mouth, but couldn’t find anything. I checked till her throat, nothing could be found there too. I was confused. The very next second “PLOP” came a teaspoon of porridge from her mouth and amidst that was a small jasmine flower which had fallen down. Phew!! She even scratches the mosaic flooring thinking something edible has stuck onto it. Now that she has indicated us many a times that she has mastered the art of “porukki pottufying” we have learnt to be extra cautious and monitoring her always. Whatever we give her in hand, it automatically goes to the mouth. Her way of recognizing objects is to first touch and then lick them. Babies….huh! But out of practice, now we know that if the speed of her movement increases and she shows some kind of eagerness in her face, then she is moving towards an attractive target which she has found and which she wants to taste. And if there is absolute silence when she is awake, she is happily chewing away something.

This happened one Sunday morning in the first week of May. There was no power for hours together on Saturday night and the fan was running on inverter. So we asked K paati to come to our room and sleep so that we can optimize the usage of fans and use it for longer hours uninterruptedly. Chittu slept between both of us and S slept on the floor. K paati got up early in the morning and went to the hall to carry on her regular chores. So it was only me and Chittu in the cot. S got up a little later and saw that both of us were in deep sleep and that one side of the cot was open so he piled a few pillows on Chittu’s other side and went to brush & have his morning coffee and paper. All of a sudden I heard Chittu’s sharp cry like she was in deep pain. Immediately I checked by my side, she was not there. My heart skipped a beat and I saw, she had fell down from the cot. Instantly I picked her up, pacified her, soothed her and in 5 minutes she was back to normal and smiled faintly too. Later that day she had porridge, milk, did all her usual activities and everything was completely alright. But both me and S felt miserable and guilty as parents, for we were careless and made her fall down. I was in tears and couldn’t control myself for almost an hour. We did a reactive analysis on how this had happened inspite of piling those pillows. Finally came to know that, there was a small gap between the head of the cot and the first pillow. Chittu had sneaked through that gap and fallen down. Poor girl, it should have hurt a lot. It served as a lesson to both of us and we vowed not to take any chance or make even the slightest mistake as far as Chittu is concerned. We are extremely sorry kannamma!

To be continued....

We are home!!!

Yes, we are home now! Everything went on as planned. Thatha went for a seminar on IQ, EQ and SQ on 10^th April morning and came back around 11. I kept threatening him (jokingly) that I am going to record the fact (in blog) that he didn’t spend ample time with Chittu on the last day. Sentimentally, J paati did not want us to take photographs that day and Chittu also slept soon after bath and got up only when we were about to start. We started from there at around 2 PM after yamagandam and reached here around 3. S perimma and B athai took the traditional haarathi and invited us. The house was decorated to welcome Chittu. Thanks to B athai’s idea and appa’s efforts. Everyone was so happy to see Chittu. P akka and S perippa were around and playing full time. S’s Chithi who lives in the same apartment as ours, her son, daughter and grandsons came in later to see us. Again a fresh spell of new clothes were showered on Chittu. Other visitors included C athimber, his mom and M anna.

We kind of settled down and Chittu slept at 11 PM that day. By God’s grace and with T paati’s help we have got a maami who will be taking care of Chittu. She would come in by 9 in the morning and leave by 6.30 in the evening after preparing dinner for us. Though I will be joining office in June only, I have asked the maami to come from now itself so that Chittu gets accustomed with her in the next 1.5 months. I am still in search of a cook who can prepare our lunch, but no luck on that yet. It is tough to manage kitchen and Chittu in the morning. S is having a great time with his daughter. They play happily with each other and it is a pleasant sight to watch daddy-daughter having their exclusive time in the morning, evening and night.

The very next day we came here (11^th April), Chittu started adeptly moving on the floor. As usual when I rushed with my handycam, she simply refused to move. The colorful non-toxic rubber toys and the camel are her attraction factor. Now after a week, she is moving extensively and even posed for the camera. Last Saturday, with her dark pink colored piggy bank, she moved round the sofa and came to the place she started. A anna came home with V aunty and S papa. He had brought his Nikon D5000 portrait camera and clicked N number of pictures of Chittu and all of us. It was so lovely to see mottai S papa and Chittu together. The photographs have come out beautifully. We met them again at Gangotri, South Boag road a couple of days later. It was planned all of a sudden when A anna called on Friday evening and asked if we could join them. So we got ready quickly and went there. This was the first time we took Chittu in an auto. Both ways up and down, she slept and promptly got up after we got down. M athai and her naughty son V anna are here from Pondicherry for vacation. V anna doing his 2^nd standard, keeps going behind Chittu, plays with her and wants to carry her all the time. Just that I am worried that he is such a small boy and he shouldn’t drop her. So we place Chittu on his lap when he sits down but a strict NO NO to carry and walk around. He has a tinge of fear factor with me (rather only me) so he listens to what I say out of that fear.

In between Vishu came and went. On the Vishu day (14^th April) we started at 8 in the morning and went to Rama Bhakta Samaj. Thatha is a regular visitor there and was also a part of group who were reading complete Ramayanam in 9 days (called Navaaham) which started from the Rama Navami day on 12^th April. During this Navaaham, Thatha wanted me to bring Chittu to the samaajam. So we went there and I put Chittu in front of Sri Rama there. She rolled over and moved there much to the delight of people reading Ramayanam. We offered dry grapes and cashews for the Bhagavathaas and from there went to J paati’s house. Chittu spent a good time with J paati, thatha and S mama. J paati had got a beautiful dark purple coloured frock for Chittu and it looked so damn cute on her. In the little time we spent there, even T paati and C maami managed to take Chittu to their house for sometime. Chittu found it difficult again to move in the vitrified flooring. So J paati placed a cotton saree on the floor and made Chittu move on that. Once she mastered the act on the saree, we shifted her to the floor and she did an excellent job there too. Late in the evening, we went to V athai’s house to see her as she was recovering after her angioplasty. There again A anna took a lot of pictures again

Our 5^th month review is done on Saturday. No vaccination. This time again Chittu has gained borderline weight only. Dr.S has given a go ahead to introduce boiled rice porridge (with little sugar & milk or little salt, jeera powder & buttermilk) banana, hand crushed watermelon and sweet lime juice as supplementary food. We have started with the kanji – gave sugar and milk one for the first two days and Chittu took it well. She is ok with buttermilk and salt. Looks like she doesn’t like it as much as the other one. Once she tolerates kanji, will have to try others too. Fingers crossed that she should take them all in smooth stride. Later that day we went to meet SC papa, our family friend A uncle and L aunty’s son. He is 3 days elder to Chittu. Poor baby, has a born cataract and surgery is the only option to get this cured. Our sincere prayers with him for the surgery to go on well and the marathon post-operative care. We will be going for Narayaneeyam parayanam on 22^nd in PS uncle’s house. So more on that in the next post

An eventful week!

We’ve been away from this blog for quite some time now. Chittu has been keeping me little busy these days, that I couldn’t even login to update an important milestone. Yes, Chittu has started moving on her tummy. Last week, for a couple of days Chittu was awake till 1 AM. So in the early morning hours of 2^nd April 2011, Chittu was trying hard to move in our bed and after a number of trials….Woo Hoo! She started moving. The flooring in my mom’s home is of Vitrified type and is a little slippery. So if I put her on the floor, she is finding it difficult. But guess she will do it in the floor in another couple of days.

Another significant objective is achieved too – Bottle feeding. For the very first time, I have gone against my pediatrician’s advice to feed water in cup & spoon. Instead, I have started training Chittu with a feeding bottle. Initially she had trouble getting used to it, but since yesterday, she is taking it pretty fine. After hearing lots of stories from friends and relatives about breastfed babies completely refusing bottle, started with a lot of uncertainty. She was also letting the water go through the corner of lips. But thankfully, my perseverance paid off and this is more comfortable than the spoon.

We went to S paapa’s aayushyahomam on 4^th April. A anna said it felt as if he was lifting a bundle of cotton when he lifted Chittu. She had never been a kashku moshku baby. She is on the leaner / taller side but is of the correct weight for her age. S papa was a darling. She thought Chittu was a bigger doll and tried to touch Chittu, but A anna and V aunty kept her at bay. S papa was making cute sounds of “uuuummmm” frequently. Her ganeer voice was so different from that of Chittu’s squeaky one. Met so many of our relatives and as expected Chittu was exchanged between 25 – 30 people. She was a sweetheart and didn’t mind at all. Though that night, she should have had extreme body pain as she refused to sleep on the floor. She was in my mom’s lap for almost 2 hours and every time we tried to put her on the floor, she started crying. Later, we shifted her to bed and she slept like a log for 12 hours continuously. We met J who played Veena during my Seemantham. She gifted Chittu with a rattle set. P akka has become the unofficial Ko Pa Se of this blog. She has made this page popular among her friends and in fact introduced me to one of her friends with my screen name – chittu’s mom! A anna got Chittu a couple of clothes and Playskool Explore and Grow Musical Gear Center. We gifted S papa with a frock, skirt, sippy cup, couple of fairy tales book and a bowl

Purrrrrrrrrrrr is the buzz word these days. This is Chittu’s favourite time pass. And I am worried about her thumb sucking habit. Even while feeding, rarely she puts a finger through the corner of her mouth. I keep removing her finger whenever I see. Hmmmmmm…Fingers Crossed that she shouldn’t make this a habit. Nowadays, when I put Chittu face-up on my legs to bathe her, she tries to lift her head. When I put her face-down she licks my keens and tickles me. Also, she responds when we tickle her and laughs profusely. The other day S mama casually said “Cho Chweet” and this provoked a non-stop laughter with Chittu whenever we say this. May be she loved the tone which he used. Because of her beating habit, the thin bangles which she was wearing started breaking. So J paati has got her a pair of thick black bangles. The silver & muppuri kaapus that her athais got her for punyavaajanam are fitting only now and she is wearing those along with her anklets. In the nights, she moves closer and closer to me, pushing me to the edge of the bed. I call it “Chittu’s aakramippu”. Keeping up with the TN assembly election fever, I keep Rettai elai & Lotus symbol bindis for her though I make sure I don’t take her out on those days. Thanks to the achu that Big paati got.

I had a gift voucher from Odyssey and it was expiring on 8^th. So on the way back from aayushyahomam, got some board books for Chittu – Alphabets, numbers, animals, flower, Winnie the Pooh, Jungle Book and stuff.  The toys that Chittu had all these days were a couple of rattles, a projector soother and a pull and sing Dalmatian dog. Last week, J paati got her some non-toxic rubber toys (elephant, horse, lion, fox, teddy bear, duck with 3 little ducklings) which make a poing-poing sound when pressed. S wanted to get her a key based toy for a long time now. So, we bought a drumming brown bear which plays drums when we give key. Another one which I had bought was a cat sitting on a camel and the camel moves when key is given. So it has been a shower of toys week for Chittu.

By the way, Chittu watched India thrashing Aussies in the quarter finals, beating Pakistan in the semi finals and Dhoni’s winning shot of six and India lifting the world cup, though she wouldn’t have understood anything. I have got the last few moments of finals recorded. An interesting family trivia here – I was born in November 1982 and India won the world cup in 1983. Chittu was born in November 2010 and India won the world cup again in 2011 J

The count down which was started by S in days, has boiled down to hours. Yes, we have another 40 hours before we go home!!!! J paati started her crying sessions from Monday. She says she never cried even when she got her daughter married off (Yeah!!! Thatz ME!!) My mom’s house is at a distance of 40 minutes from my place and she can come anytime she wishes to. When she is unable to bear that, I wonder how grand parents who stay away from their grand kids in different states within India, worse in different countries cope up. I have started packing and have already sent one set of things with S last Monday. Chittu is busy making rounds to C maami and T paati’s house and they are trying to make the most out of the last few days with her. R athai & Al athai came home to visit Chittu. Sidhu (R athai’s 2 year old grandson) was such a sweet fellow and we had good time listening to his gibberish talks. He was amazed looking at the cows around here and kept running to the main grill door shouting “maaadu, kannukutti” And when he fell down he beat the floor shouting “Eiiii, enna??” which was such a pleasant sight to watch

That is it for the time being. Our next post will be mostly from our home. So until then…..Bye Bye!!

4 months completed

It was T paati’s (our tenant cum family friend) son’s wedding on 21^st March. So, many of our relatives were here last weekend. Big thatha & paati from Srirangam, Kutty thatha & paati, Twin mama and Twin chithi from Hyderabad came over. All of them had a great time with Chittu. She was continuously having fun, shouting back and laughing for more than 5 minutes when Big thatha was talking to her. All of us were seated around in the cot and enjoying those moments. I could even catch it in the handycam as Chittu was too involved in the talks and didn’t pay attention to the camera. Big paati “alainju thirinju” got a bindi achu for Chittu, which we had been planning to purchase for quite some time now but couldn’t find one in the stores. Mama thatha, P anna & Big A akka also came. P anna is having his Board exams and came to get blessings from J paati & thatha. Both Big A akka & twin chithi were highly elated when they were allowed to carry Chittu for a couple of minutes. Both of them are just 10 years old and this is the first time they are carrying such a small baby.

T paati’s grand daughters S & M had come from Singapore for the wedding. They were so fond of Chittu and were going and coming up and down all day. They did small small stuff – like opening & placing Chittu’s mosquito net, dancing for Chittu (Kilimanjaro song) and entertaining her, taking her rocker around wherever she goes, singing rhymes to her and so on. Taking these responsibilities made them feel so happy. They were almost about to break down when they bid us good bye yesterday. Very sweet kids!

It was Chittu’s 4^th month birthday yesterday. Nowadays Chittu is making a lot of hand movements. It is so forceful that most of the times she ends up beating her thighs. However she doesn’t bother about it. She is still trying sincerely to move on her tummy. She knows the art of spitting out water given to her with a “burrrrrrr” sound or through the corners of mouth. S mama bought her a couple of dresses. One was a cotton choli & long skirt which can be worn after a couple of months or so. The other one was a Rajasthani cross knot top & panchakacham – like the one in Dol Bhaaje song. It was so beautiful but a little tight. So we took some photographs for which Chittu posed very cutely and later returned it in the shop :P

V athai came today to invite us for S papa’s aayushyahomam which falls on April 4^th. A anna, V aunty & S papa are coming from the US on 31^st for this function. If everything goes well, that will be the first function that Chittu will be attending. There would be a good bunch of relatives there who would play “Pass the ball” with Chittu. I am sure she will be in my hands only during the feeds. My maternity leave ended on 28^th Feb, I had requested for an extension of 3 more months. But my organization is asking me join back on 1^st April. I had asked them to reconsider as we haven’t started any supplement food and have told them that I can join only on 1^st June. Yet to get a reply from them. Fingers Crossed!!!!! And it has been decided that we will be going to our home on 10^th April 2011. I came to mom’s place in my 9^th month of pregnancy, so according to the tradition we will be going back in the odd month – Chittu’s 5^th month. A herculean task of finding a maid, cook and getting them trained before I join work is awaiting me.

Ending this post with a customized song by Kutty thatha

கன்னதில் என்னடி காயம், அந்த குண்டு கொசு செய்த மாயம்

In the tune of an old MGR, Jayalalitha song - kannathil ennadi kaayam

ThaNNeer, ThaNNeer!

Chittu had her Pentaxim vaccination – 3^rd course & OPV today. I was surprised for she did not cry even for a microsecond.  Dr was happy as Chittu was highly co-operative. Her eyes are clear now and there is no redness at all. She has gained 670 gms in 37 days. Doctor calls it “borderline” but OK. Mostly she would be suggesting supplement food by next month. As summer has started showing its ugly face, Dr. S has asked us to give two paalaadais of plain water to Chittu twice or thrice a day. No bottle, she should be fed by a spoon only. So this is the first addition to her existing diet and that is the reason for this title. As soon as we came back from the clinic, I gave her one palaadai of water and Chittu took it well. We have been given an "Immunization and Health Record" during our first visit. It had space to write our names, address & telephone numbers. I wrote them using a Gel pen and someone placed a book on top of it by mistake before it dried. So all the letters got smudged up and looked like a mess. So I bought some beautiful stickers and stuck them on the mess and made it look beautiful. Dr. S and Sister N kept smiling at my work and commented "Cute!" Heee heee for the very first time I was appreciated for something during my daughter's pediatric visit. Wow!

Chittu has a lot of hair, but off late, she is having hair fall problem especially on the back side. Not only this, she is having thumb sucking habit too. Thumb in the sense, it is sometimes thumb, sometimes two fingers, sometimes all fingers!! But Dr. S said, both of these are usual at this stage. If this persists after another year, it should be a cause of concern. Chittu talks a lot and sometime last week, she started grunting. I was slightly worried because she was grunting all throughout the day. Then J paati said, it could be her way of expressing extreme happiness and eagerness to converse.  Looks like IT IS. Today we purchased a couple of big sized quick dry and 6 gms coin for Chittu. In all the shops she was happily chitchatting with strangers. In Big Bazaar, there was this foreigner guy who was playing with her. She clutched his finger tight and refused to relax her hold and kept smiling at him. With great difficulty we forced her to leave him.

Last weekend K Paati accompanied S and came over to visit Chittu. Her PoP is removed and she is doing physiotherapy. As promised last time, she did hold Chittu for a few minutes but her hands started paining and she was forced to place the baby down. We have a maid who comes in the morning to wash Chittu’s clothes. She pays a visit in the evening too and neatly folds all dried clothes and keeps them in a bucket. I would later arrange them in Chittu’s shelf. One evening I forgot to do my work & the next morning when S mama was konjfying Chittu, he saw the bucket half full and made her sit on the cushion of clothes. She enjoyed it and put her hands comfortably outside the bucket and posed for the snaps which I clicked away.

For the Women’s day, I participated in the Funny Foto Contest in Chennaimoms and Hurray!! I won the contest. Today, I received the gift from them. It was a white ceramic coffee mug with Chittu’s photograph in it. I was completely delighted to see it and everyone at home are so happy because this is the first photo of hers to be printed on something. Rest all are either uploaded in Picasa / in the form of .JPG files only. Thanks to all my CMOM friends who voted for me and to Bhavani & her team for making my day.

I end this post by earmarking a few things for my future reference (would keep adding them as I find something new)

1.       My Print

2.       ITasveer

3.       Studio K

4.       Books for kids

5.       Semmozhi poonga

6.       Nageswara rao Park

7.       Panagal Park

8.       Natesan Park

9.       Vanilla Place

10.     KartWheel

11.     Hansel & Greetel

12.     Bamboola

The D-day & Recovery

I mentally prepared myself for C-section and went with mom to the Dr's clinic on Tuesday, 23rd November 2010 around 11.30. But doc had gone for a medical camp. I whiled away the time by transferring contacts from my old mobile to new mobile. Finally she returned at 1, examined me and said - NO CHANGE. However, the pills had brought BP under control. She said it has to be a C-section and gave me a choice as to when I would like to get operated. It was my birthday the next day. The star was good until 9 AM the next day, so I said “We can have it tomorrow early morning before 7 AM (Before yamakandam) so that me and my baby celebrate our birthday together”. However, doc had a different idea. She asked me a simple question - Why do you want to get operated on your birthday? If it is a normal delivery then OK. But this is going to be a C-sec. Why?

That too sounded right to me, so I said “OK, Let us have it today itself ”. My mom said, 3-4.30 was Rahu kaalam, so better before or after. Dr.U asked us to hold on for a minute, immediately called the anesthetist Dr. M and spoke to her to check her availability. She was free and I was asked to get admitted in the hospital immediately so that we could have it before 3 PM. Time was 1.20 PM then. We came out and called S & dad and asked them to come to the hospital immediately. The hospital was hardly 5 mins drive from the Dr's clinic. By the time we went there, Dr. U had already given instructions to the hospital staff and as soon as we entered, everything happened in a fast forward sequence. A nurse came, got my medical file and directly took me to the lift. I didn’t know where I was being taken and followed her blindly. She didn’t even give time to think. In the meantime my mom was asked to get some medicine. We had packed some 5 bags and my mom didn’t know where to keep the bags and the nurse was pressurizing for the medicine. So, mom asked the nurse to take care of the bags, went to the pharmacy, got medicines, came back, took the bags and went to our allotted room. I was taken to the labor room in the 4th floor and was shaved and given enema to clear my stomach. They asked to me to sign the form and remove bangles and rings. By then mom also came to 4^th floor, reassured me that everything was going to be OK.

I was given a blue hospital gown which I wore and catheter was placed. My hair was tied up and covered with a cap. A pair of socks was tied around my legs. With all these I walked like a robot from the labor room and entered OT at around 2.25 PM. Dr.U welcomed me with a smile into the OT saying "J, Bali aadu madhiri varaadha. Sandhoshama vaa" I was made to sit on the operation board and had BP measuring apparatus attached to my right hand and pulse monitor to my left. Dr. U painted my back with a chill solution. Dr.M was busy placing IV in my left hand. My eyes were closed with a piece of cloth. Needless to say I was tensed and my BP shot up to 140/90. Dr.M was very friendly and asked me to bend down in sitting posture. She said that she is going to administer an simple injection in my spine and I don’t have anything to worry. After the injection I was made to lie down and slowly the anesthesia started working. My legs started becoming numb. By then, Dr. U had started the surgery. I could feel the incision being made from the right side of my lower abdomen though I couldn’t feel the pain. After a few minutes I could hear a gurgling sound which I guess was the suction of my amniotic fluid. It was a different experience to listen to the doctors chit chatting away about their children, their studies, etc while doing an operation. That was when I realized what my chithappa had earlier said about C-sec “Idhellaam avaaLukku Rava upma paNNra madhiri avvLo easy task” Few more minutes later, Dr. U said “Time paarungo Dr.M” I was not sure if I heard a baby's cry and Dr. U did not open her mouth. I was feeling thirsty and had a slight breathing problem - rather short of breath. A couple of minutes later Dr.U announced that “Girl Baby, J. 2.40”. Blissful moment! "Thank you so much doctor, Is she healthy? 2.40-aa?" were the first words that came out of my mouth. "YES, absolutely" came the prompt reply and it made me float in 7th heaven. Later doc said the baby was 3 Kg. Thus, Chittu came into our lives bringing us happiness, pleasure, ecstasy.

Few more minutes later, pediatrician came with the baby wrapped in a blue Turkish towel, removed my eye fold and showed me MY DAUGHTER. She was a small cute dark pink softy rosy bundle of joy. I never thought that I would cry - but automatically tears started flowing and it was an emotional moment and I kissed her. Then I was stitched up & cleaned. I think the stitching up task takes more time than actually delivering the baby. All this time Chittu was crying outside and I could clearly hear it. In the meantime Dr.S showed Chittu to hubby, mom, MIL, G chithappa and R chithi who were waiting. Dad just barged in the last but right moment and caught the glimpse of our sweet baby. Mom was the first to take Chittu in her hands. I was told that Dr.S commented “She is a beautiful baby with cute eyes.”Inside, I saw the cleaning lady put the placenta (which looked more like heart diagram in biology books to me) in a polythene cover for disposal. The assistant doctor helped me feed Chittu just outside the OT and instructed me to feed her routinely once I go back to the room. Chittu's pediatrician Dr.S had strictly instructed the hospital staff that no cradle should be given and the baby had to sleep either with the mom or with the attender only. I was wheeled from OT to the room in 2nd floor around 3.45. As soon as I came out I saw my mom - who had Chittu in her hands. She asked me how I was and said everything is OK. Then came my husband to whom all that I could emotionally say was "Ponnu dhan" and give a faint smile. My dad, chithappa and chithi waved out to me. I felt pretty OK when I came back to the room as I was still numb below the waist and the nurse put me on drips. I was speaking to everyone normally and explained what happened in the OT. But within 15 mins I was completely drained of all my energy and couldn’t even speak.

We started having visitors right from day 1. The numbness started going off by 6.30 PM and I started feeling terrible pain. By 8 PM, Dr.U came back to check on me. Her gift to Chittu was a cloth sheet, a couple of soft muslin white jablas, cloth nappies and kerchiefs. Thankfully, she told that I can have little amount of water whenever I wanted. I was really relieved when I heard those words because I was thirsty since 12 noon that day. I was lying on my back. She immediately instructed me to turn to the sides. I tried to turn on my left and I just couldn't. She asked my mom to bring Chittu near me and said "Look at her and turn, you can". I blindly followed what she said. Bearing all the pain, I finally turned. From then on, for the first week until my pain subsided, turning on sides was the most comfortable position to feed.

Chittu used to cry profusely in hunger and I would take atleast 2 mins to turn on my sides. It made me feel guilty but I was helpless. By midnight the pain was unbearable and the nurse gave me a pain killer injection which provided a huge relief. Chittu slept with me in the crooked single cot, or my mom pulled the attender's cot close to mine and Chittu slept in between both of us. It was decided that S will take his paternal leave for the next 3 days, so he was the one who was shuttling between the hospital and home to get me food and anything else that me / mom wanted. My mil was sweet enough to cook whatever pathiya samayal that I asked for. Next day, I was completely on fluids - Mother's Horlicks, Tender Coconut, Mosambi Juice and Oats kanji. S bought cap, mittens, booties, blanket, towel with head cap, rubber sheet, mosquito net for Chittu and feeding nighties for me. Having identified them earlier made it easier for him to buy. I had two more pain killer injections on day 2. I was on catheter till 6 PM that day. When Dr.U came to visit me on 2nd day evening, she ordered to remove my catheter and asked me to walk to the bathroom. I couldn't believe my ears. I was operated hardly 24 hrs back and she was asking me to walk. But she was strict and said I had to. It was too difficult to get up & sit on the bed, herculean task to get down from the cot (which was pretty high) and himalayan task to walk all the way from bed to the bathroom which was hardly 7 steps. I am extremely grateful to the 2 ayaahs who were highly patient and helped me for 2-3 days to walk to the bathroom. The pain was kind of ok on the 3rd day and I walked better but with a hunch. Dr. U asked me to walk erect and practice walking either in the corridor / inside the room itself to which I complied. Day 3 - I was advised to take bath & mom helped me with that. After bath nurse removed the plaster which covered the stitches. OMG, when she removed the plaster which was sticking to my abdomen, it was too painful. They had kept gauze only on the stitches and NOT in the corners. Thankfully, the stitch part didn't hurt a bit. Drips were stopped. I started taking solids. It was Idly with sugar, rasam rice, curd rice and boiled vegetables. We filled Chittu's birth certificate form and gave it in the hospital. Day 4 was a smooth ride. I took French bath that day. I did not want the aayahs and with my mom's help got up from the bed. Dr. U said that she would discharge me the next day. I was expected to have BM but didn’t. That night I was given Evict syrup and it worked as expected on Day 5. Day 5 - I got up from the bed all by my own, walked with much ease. Mom gave me head bath and was ready by 10.30 AM. The hospital gifted Chittu with a pink new born suit, towel and a bib. They wanted her to wear it when being discharged. Mom completed the formalities and we (Me, S, Chittu and mom) started by around 11 AM and reached home by 12.15 PM.

Traditional haarathi was taken for me and Chittu and I placed her at Lord Guruvayoorappan's feet, thanking him for the treasured gift that he had given me and asked him to give us paripoorna aayur aarogya sowkyam and my usual prayers. Chittu was playing & S started by 1.30 after which she slept like a log for a very long time. It looked like - she has reached HER place and this is where she can get ample rest. She took the best rest that day and the next since the time she was born. The cot at home was more comfortable for me than the hospital cot and it was easier to get up and walk. Slowly but steadily, I started doing my activities on my own - right from taking bath to taking care of all of Chittu's necessities.

Both me and Chittu had our regular doc visits / reviews and after 1.5 months I started lifting light objects (like chair, less than a quarter bucket of water, etc) and bent down for extremely important things (like picking the soap when it fell down during bath, picking Chittu when she was placed on the floor, etc). In retrospect I realize this speedy recovery was possible only because of Dr. U and her strict procedure. Long live her.

For first 1 or 2 months, both me and Chittu were sailing in the same boat - she learning to adapt to this BIG world, me learning to adapt to her habits. And as days go on - I realize - With every child, the mother is also born.

Seemantham & later

Disclaimer: There are certain Hindu traditional customs which I am going to mention in a little detailed manner in this post. This would serve as a record for me

My Seemantham was fixed on 19th September 2010. All preparations & shopping were done and I was packing things into the suitcase to take to the chathram. That was when we got this phone call. One of S's cousins was blessed with a baby boy (1st child in our gothram in the 4th generation!!!) on 16th Sep. So we had 10 day vriddhi and were not supposed to perform any function then. So, all arrangements right from chatharam, sastrigal to maalai, catering etc had to be postponed. I was terribly upset, because we had distributed invitations to all and everything was ready to take off. Then we had to call each and everyone to inform that Seemantham had been postponed to 17th October. Thankfully, the same chathram & sastrigal were free on that day too. We did not get good feedback about the caterer whom we had fixed earlier. So, we shifted to our usual aasthana caterer for the new date and fortunately he was also available too. Apart from the mental agony, we did incur a loss on the amount spent for chathram and advance given for caterer. Everyone consoled me saying, whatever dhrishti we had has been removed by this postponement. I consoled myself saying "This is only because of a happy news. Everything is for good and something much better is awaiting".

By God's grace, Seemantham on 17th October 2010 was a grand success. Everything went on very well and everyone was extremely content. Both me and S are special and close to everyone's heart on both my side and his side. So this function put them all in high spirits and they wanted to show their happiness in some way or the other. My mom bought me a pair of bangles, my athai presented me another pair, chithi gifted yaanai mudi modhiram and my mil got a necklace for me.

Udhaga shanthi was done the previous day evening at home. Naandhi, Pumsuvanam (Mooku pizhiyardhu), Seemantham (parting of vagidu) and Poochootal were performed on 17th in the mandapam. We had a slight hiccup when we reached the chathram on 16th night. We had booked 1 AC and 1 Non-AC room and were under the impression, we can take 2 more rooms on a need basis. But, the manager left even before we arrived and took away all the keys with him. The non-AC room they had given us was as good as a dingy store room. S called up the manager and there was a small argument between them and finally, the manager came back and opened 1 more AC & non-AC room. By then, all of my side relatives (including my dad, perimma, perippa, chithi and all) had slept in the hall itself. I felt so guilty. Sorry for the inconvenience folks!! Me, S, mom and bro took 1 AC room while all my sisters-in-law & MIL took the other AC room. Then my mom, perimma & chithi segregated the bangles according to size and numbers and by the time we hit the bed, it was close to 12.30 AM. I had swollen legs and not sure why, there was a terrible pain in the knee area when I got up to walk. Everyone was tensed as to how I would cope up the next day in the function. I thought probably because the bed was too hard, I was facing this problem. So pulled out a chair, sat on it and kept my legs on the bed and tried to catch sleep in sitting posture.

Around 12.45, the power went off. We thought it would come back in 10-15 mins, but it didn’t. Half an hour later, mom went down to check why the generator was not switched ON. That watchman did not have the generator room key and was too rude in his reply. Mom tried to reach the manger but he did not pick up the call. So, mom directly called up the owner and after numerous tries he lifted the phone. She explained him the situation and within 5 mins, the manager himself called up and said he is on the way to switch on the generator. Finally, the generator was switched on at 1.45. It was a lesson to us, to confirm who has what keys and we should place all such emergency requests at the time of booking itself.

Highlights of the show were certain sampradayams followed based on my dad's advice.

1. Atleast 7 sastrigals sincerely recited the powerful Udhaga shanti mantram

2. My dad had collected holy water from Cauvery, Ganges, Yamuna, Saraswati (Triveni), Manasarovar, Rameswaram Kodi theertham (Courtesy - Friends and relatives) and abhishekam was performed with this water

3. Silver kinnam, pithalai Jala paathram and dhotis were given to 10 sastrigals for naandhi

4. Veena was recited and I (and in turn the baby in the womb) listened to it on the Seemantham day. Sankarambaranam and Kalyani are the important raagams to be played. Thanks a lot J, for making this happen

5. A male calf was brought and both me & S gave banana to it and caressed its tail

6. Narayaneeyam book was given as a Thank you gift to everyone

I went to my mom's house on 18th October and was going to office from there. Both mine and S's choice was always a girl. My mom and MIL's choice was a boy. Whenever S referred to the baby, he always said "MY DAUGHTER". In fact, S and MIL had a bet too :) But my face completely changed after Seemantham. I became darker, my face lost its usual charm and smartness and I started getting dark lines around my neck. Based on what I had seen with my friends and existing myth, I thought that it is going to be a boy and started preparing myself to accept it. But never had the courage to discuss this with S.

I went for my 3rd and final scan on 7th November 2010. Everything turned out to be normal. Both - my gynaec and the radiologist were happy with what they saw. After the scan, me, S and mom went to Naidu hall and I identified what all had to be bought for the kiddo and showed those sections to S, because he would be the one who will have to do the shopping at that time. With EDD on 26th November, I decided to take leave from 13th November which was 2 weeks before the due date. Mom had planned her leave from 18th. From 13th to 15th I was busy with washing and packing clothes for the hospital and cleaning the house and making it ready for the baby's arrival. After 15^th, the days moved on in snail’s pace. I didn’t know how to kill time and was showing my irritation to everyone at home. Later I  started writing Kandha sashti kavacham and also turned my attention towards SUDOKU which kind of kept me cool for sometime.

 I had my next check-up on 17th evening. That was when Dr.U said she was not happy with the baby's position. The head had just started turning, but not come down / fixed. However, she said there are 9 more days before EDD and so we can wait. She asked me to come again on 20th to see if the baby's position had changed positively. I was highly restless on these 2 days because of baby's position and it was boring to sit idly at home and the idle mind was working overtime as a devil’s workshop. At the back of my mind, there was a normal VS C-sec fight going on too. I always wanted a normal delivery but I wasn’t sure what was in store for me. If I sleep in the day, I had to spend sleepless nights. So I avoided the afternoon naps too. In the meantime, my mom consulted a homeo doctor, Dr.JD and got me some pills which would help in easily turning and fixing the baby's head. On 20th, there was no change in the baby's position. Head was somewhere in the left side. It was neither in longitudinal / breech / head down position. I was asked to come again on 22nd.

In between Kaarthigai Deepam came & went. My mom was a little tensed if the baby would be born in Rohini star. If the baby is a boy, there is a saying that “Rohini-la payyan porandha mama-ku aagaadhu” (If a boy baby is born in Rohini, it is not good for the maternal uncle because Lord Krishna born in Rohini killed his uncle Kamsa)But nothing happened. On 22^nd, Dr. U spent almost 8 mins to identify the heart beat. My BP shot up for the first time during pregnancy - 130/90. Doctor said that the baby’s heart beat was getting a little feeble and because the BP was also shooting up, it could be risky to wait further. She put me on Alpha Dopa and asked me to come the next day after breakfast and a juice, before lunch. She had made her decision - If the baby's position was the same next day, then we had to go for C-sec. She asked me to come prepared anyways to get admitted.

Pregnancy

In October 2009, I had delayed periods. I knew it was NOT pregnancy and fixed an appointment with Dr. U. She asked me to take a couple of hormone tests - FSH, LH & TSH. I met her with the results again in November 2009. She studied them and said, everything was within the prescribed range, but to conceive, FSH had to be a little stronger and LH had to be a little weaker. According to her it was a very very mild PCO symptom – but nothing of any major concern. She put me on Dronis 20 and asked me to repeat the test after 3 months and see her.

I went to her again in February 2010 (LMP - 19th February 2010) and she said the hormone levels were perfect and advised Follicular study to rule out any kind of uncertainties and make sure the follicle sizes are expected. I went every alternate day for follicular scan and was put on Gestin & IRS1 parallelly. Dr. U was happy with the follicular size and gave HMG 75 & HCG 5000 shots for better results. The scan was all over by 1st week of March and I was asked to come back after 3 weeks. I took an appointment on 22nd March and went to the clinic with mom. As soon as she saw me, she enquired my LMP and asked to give my urine sample right away. I had least of least hopes, gave the sample and waited outside. Till then, I had not even thought of being pregnant, but the moment she said “Let us do a quick test, better!” tension started building up exponentially. She called me in after 5 mins - and Hurray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She gave me the good news :) Anyhow, she suggested Beta - HCG blood test to be doubly sure. I gave my blood sample and was hoping and fervently praying that everything should be OK. Blood Test results came out on 25th and it was positive too. There are no words to describe our happiness and how we felt. So, this is how the much awaited 280-days program started in my life.

We decided not to disclose this to anyone until June. So only MIL, dad, mom & bro knew about my pregnancy. I went for the 1st scan - to check the baby's heartbeat on April 9th. My friends had earlier narrated me incidents of ectopic pregnancy and no heartbeat, so I was too scared to take up this scan. In fact, every moment during my entire pregnancy period, I had a tinge of tension behind me because I wanted everything to happen smoothly and the baby to be hale and healthy  After a long wait, I was called in and there, I saw much to my relief, the small red dot blinking and it made me realize that this little one is growing inside me.

My morning sickness was mostly during the mornings - as soon as I get up, even before brushing. Every morning I threw up a yellowish liquid (which mom & MIL said was pitham) which would leave a bitter taste in my mouth. Though I liked eating fried items (chips, cutlet, fried veggies, etc) my baby didn’t like them and whenever I ate those, I would puke. Once I had carrot vada at my mom’s place and threw up the entire content in a matter of 2 hrs. So I completely avoided all my favorite dishes. Sputtering smell which used to induce hunger earlier started triggering nausea. So MIL used to close the kitchen door and I had to close the bedroom door when sputtering is done. Thankfully all these lasted only for 5 months and then my taste buds started working normally. However sambar rice was an aversion from the first day till last day. One of my friends told me that soda is bad for pregnant women, so sidelined my dearest Lemon Soda with salt.

During the May month check-up, I could hear the heartbeat through the Doppler. Every month, I eagerly waited for the check-up just to listen to this whooshing sound coming out of the Doppler. Finally, we disclosed it to all our relatives in the first week on June. It is a tradition to go to mom's house in the 5th month, so I went there in the middle of June for about a month. Suprafer, Supracal, MA-DHA, Folwise (until July) had all became a regular part of my routine by then. It was a pleasure to be pampered by each and everyone and it really made me feel very special & happy :) My cravings included mangoes (both raw & ripe), ice-cream, dosa, bread & puli upma

All my friends started enquiring me about the baby movements. I told them I never felt any. Few said they were able to feel the first movement in 17 weeks itself and asked me to sit in a calm room, concentrate, and keep my hand on the tummy and feel. I did it, but nothing happened. Others said it was too early for first pregnancy. I felt so guilty that I was not able to realize the subtle communication of my little one. I was waiting for my regular check-up on 9th July evening when I felt a click in my tummy. Woooohoooooo!!! That very moment I knew that it was the first movement of my baby. It was a different but joyful experience. At times it felt like a butterfly flutter, while at other times it was like a single kick. The movements were too random. There was no set time or count. Whenever I felt the movement, I would call S to come and feel it. But when he comes, it would not kick. He would wait for 15 mins and go off to continue with his work, when I would feel the movement again!! The baby started playing hide and seek with daddy so early :) Then they became regular. S was able to feel it. Slowly, the kicks turned into proper movements like a ball moving inside a pillow. Everyday me and S would spend half an hour atleast after dinner, talking to the baby and feeling its jig jig movements. But till delivery, there was no set pattern in which I would feel the movements. At times, the baby would be hyperactive during the day, other times it would be in the night. Few times it would be fast asleep for a very long time, making me feel uncomfortable, afraid and upset all at the same time. When I decide to go to the doctor, I would feel the squirming again :) May be that was doctor fear!!

On July 25th, I had the 2nd scan and needless to say I had the same feeling as that of my first scan. It was assured that there were no anomalies in any of the visible parts and I was relieved to see the results.

Century

Chittu has crossed her 100 days mark! She is 104 days old today and when I see the photograph taken on her 2^nd day, I just can’t believe this little one has grown up so much. She can hold our fingers tightly, can talk in her own aaah-aaaaahm language for minutes together, can light up our moments with her toothless pokkai vaai smile, roll over on both sides and completely lift her head. She is also trying hard to move on her tummy, presses both hands firmly on the ground, lifts her body, but doesn’t know to move. After N number of tries she starts crying. Initially I was worried that she is not trying to turn on her right side. But now, if it is roll over, then it is right side only. Rarely does she do it on the left side. And the beauty is, she tries to roll over half way through her sleep & starts crying as her sleep is disturbed. So apart from the sleep positioner rolls, we are also keeping pillows on both her sides while sleeping. Also, earlier she used to catch the roof rail of the mosquito net & cry, but now she keeps holding on to it silently until one of us see & relieve her. While nursing, she places her hand conveniently on my chest or hand. She watches a lot of TV / computer monitor because of the attractive color & lights coming out of it. So we deliberately turn her attention towards something else. Also her most comfortable position is placing her head on our shoulders. When she is too tired or too hungry, she would lean on our shoulder and protest if we try to change that position. So that is an indicator to put her to sleep or nurse.

My long time concern was on her hearing. She wasn’t paying heed to the sounds around her. However, while sleeping when there was a huge noise she used to get disturbed. But now, she automatically turns her head to the side from where sound is coming. We ring the pooja bell, clap our hands, play the Musical Dalmatian to keep her entertained. S mama’s gift for this month is the Rocker cum chair. Chittu just loves the rocker and enjoys it to the core. J paati has started going to office from 28^th Feb and so Chittu is under my complete care (including her bath sessions) I will treasure these days of exclusive bonding till eternity. While I have my breakfast / lunch / evening coffee, she goes to C maami or T paati’s (our neighbors) house and delights them with her presence.

When we went for our very first review with the pediatrician – Dr. S, she had told me not to bother about Chittu’s watery eyes and light yellow / white discharge in the corner of eyes. It seems that most of the new born babies generally have a tear duct blockage and she asked me to do massage with index finger / little finger in the corner of the eyes (where eyes and nose meet) and I have been doing it. The right eye became normal in due course of time. Sometime around 20^th Feb, I noticed a redness in the skin below her left eye (kajal area) and the eye looked a little small. But it was not there always – kind of ON & OFF. The area inside the eyes looked completely normal though. To avoid any uncertainties took her to Dr. S for an adhoc visit on 23^rd Feb. She said it could be due to involuntary rubbing movement of the kid & prescribed Ciplox eye drops to avoid infection. I continued the massage & also applied the drops thrice a day for 1 week and then thankfully the eyes are absolutely alright now.

And we (Chittu, me, J paati and T paati) made it to Maangadu & Thiruverkaadu on 17^th Feb 2011. We started at around 10.30 AM and went directly to Thiruverkaadu. When we reached abhishekam was going on, so we had to wait for around 10 mins. Then we took the Rs.25 entrance and had a wonderful darshan and Devi Karumariamman was glittering beautifully in the alankaram done after abhishekam. The priest placed Chittu in the step that led to sanctum sanctorum. From there we went to Maangaadu. There again, we had to wait for 10 mins or so because “Lalitha Sahasranama archana” was going on. We had a serene darshan there too. The Maha meru was completely submerged in the flower heap and Kamakshi amman was at her best in thanga paavaadai. They had placed a table just in front of the Maha meru and the priest asked me to place Chittu on that. In both places we did archanai and lighted lamp during Rahu kaalam in Maangaadu. It was a day of complete satisfaction and divinity.

Customization

We couldn’t make it to the temples last weekend. J paati was busy with another appointment and we have postponed the plan to next week. Chittu has started rolling over in the right side too. But she is finding it a little difficult to take off the right hand which is caught between the floor and her stomach / chest. She is lifting her head for more than half a minute and looking at the things around. S mama calls her "Penguin" for her head slightly shakes back & forth and is not completely fixed yet

After innumerable trials, she has started enjoying the projector soother which her V athai had given. Currently I’m showing her only the simple slide – A big Star fish with small coloured fishes around. She smiles and coos at the picture & tracks it if I change the wall on which it is projected. Also, when I carry her on my shoulder, all these days she was only grabbing my salwar / shirt. Off late, she is beautifully putting her hand around my neck / shoulder and keeping herself secure. There are no words to explain the soft caressing she does while doing this. Still she is camera shy and stops her activities (rolling over, smiling, gurgling etc) when she sees the handycam. Strange that she is OK for digi cams. So, it is getting difficult to capture her videos.

For all babies in the household, we have the habit of tweaking and customizing well know songs to suit the situation / the kid to konjjify them. Chittu is NO exception to that. Here are a few that we sing to her

சிட்டு வந்தாளாம், பாலு குடிச்சாளாம்
ஏப்பம் விட்டாளாம், தூங்கி போனாளாம்
No tune for this. It's just a rhyme

நைனாவே நைனாவே என் பக்கத்துல உனக்கொரு இடம் தாரேன் வாராயோ
என்னை பார்க்க வந்த நீ, தூங்கித் தான் போவாயோ
வாரா வாரம் வந்து  நீ, இந்த வேலையே செய்வாயோ
In the tune of “Mainaave mainaave” song from தித்திக்குதே when Chittu's dad catches a weekend nap

அம்மா: ஏண்டீ நீ சமத்தா இல்ல அசடா
சமத்தா இருந்தா பால் குடிப்பியா
அசடா இருந்தா மொரண்டு பிடிப்பியா
சிட்டு: ஏண்டீ புதுசா கேக்கற என்னை பாத்து
அடுத்தாத்து குட்டி பாப்பாவ பாத்தேளா
அது எப்போவுமே அழுதுன்றுக்றத கேட்டேளா
அம்மா: அடுத்தாத்து சங்கதி எல்லாம் நமக்கேண்டி, சிட்டு நமக்கேண்டி
அது Lactogen-ம் Nan1 -ம் குடிக்கறதுடீ
 In the tune of “Aduthaathu ambujatha paathela” song from  எதிர் நீச்சல்

சிட்டு செல்லம் தான், தாத்தா கட்சியில், நேத்தைக்கு சேந்தது
In the tune of “Chinna ponnu dhaan vekkapadudhu amma ammadi” song

சிட்டு சிட்டு, எங்காத்து சிட்டுவாம், சமத்து சிட்டு, சக்கர சிட்டு
குட்டி சிட்டு கோந்தை சிட்டு, எங்களோட தங்க சிட்டு, வைர சிட்டு
In the tune of "Ek do  theen " song

வீட்டில், கொசுக்கள், மொத்தம் எத்தனை
உன்னை, கடிக்கும், சுருக்கு சுருக்குகள் மொத்தம் எத்தனை
In the tune of "kaadhal aNukkaL" song

அழகிய சென்னை நகரினிலே, சிட்டு என்றொரு பெண் இருக்காளாம்
அன்புப் பொண்ணு, ஆசைப் பொண்ணு, எங்கள் சிட்டு குட்டியாம், எங்கள் சிட்டு குட்டியாம்
1 . கருப்பு வளையல் போட்டுண்ட்றுக்காளாம், வசம்பு காப்பு போட்டுண்ட்றுக்காளாம்
நெத்தியில் திலகம், கன்னத்தில் திருஷ்டி பொட்டு வெச்சுண்டு இருக்காளாம், பொட்டு வெச்சுண்டு இருக்காளாம்
2. Round-u மூஞ்சி இவளுக்காம், கன்னத்தில் குழியும் இவளுக்காம்
Carrot துண்டு, போல இருந்துண்டு, எல்லாரையும் ஆட்டி வைப்பாளாம், எல்லாரையும் ஆட்டி வைப்பாளாம்
In the tune of  "azhagiya mithilai nagarinile" song