It's a Boy!

I became a father recently and lots of people asked me this question-How does it feel? Well,there are some moments which words however grandiose cannot do justice to. The moment of a child's birth is one such seminal event. This miracle of nature has it all- exasperation,moments of impatience,fear and ultimately sublime bliss. 

We were witness to this moment of joy and wonder as our little boy announced his arrival into the outside world at 1344 hours,Oct 15th,2007 with an ear shattering cry as the doctor held him up for us to get a first glimpse. Baby Nishkarsh weighed in at 8 pounds and 5 oz and measured 21 inches. The doctor and nurses were fabulous and so was the entire delivery and post-partum system at the Bethesda North hospital in Cincinnati. All three of us were strapped on with security bands on our wrists which was connected to the hospital's communication network.This is done to trigger alarms if someone tries to smuggle the baby out. Not that it happens but its a pretty reassuring feature. The mother and the baby's wrist bands have a special software which plays a nice little soothing tone every time the baby is near the mom.

"Rooming-in" with the baby post delivery is encouraged as it allows the baby and the mother to initiate that first bond of love and care. The hospital provides free in room meals for the mom but dads are expected to buy their lunches and dinners from the cafeteria or from outside. Not that I was particularly enthused with the cafeteria which served on a military like schedule-Breakfasts at 8 AM,Lunch at 11 AM,supper at 6 PM. That type of eating timetable is a bit too much to ask of an IT guy used to crazy timings and bad food habits:-). The nearby Mc Donald came to the rescue!

The much maligned Healthcare companies in the US are federally mandated to provide 48 hours of post delivery care for the mother and the baby in case of a natural birth and 96 hours in case of birth by C section. Anything over and above this mandate requires a medical order by your caregiver. Fortunately for us everything went well and since it was an uncomplicated natural birth and the fact that both the mother and the baby were doing well,our release orders were provided to us within 48 hours of the birth. This could be the only time when you feel a slight tinge at leaving a hospital. I mean all is so gung-ho in there,you press a bell and the wonderful staff is at your beck and call and then they hand over your baby and you're in the cockpit...no more autopilot!

The amount of reading material you get stuffed with during the 40 weeks of pregnancy can be intimidating and then there is the wonderful internet. In my opinion all this helps since babies do not come with their operating manuals!.A trip to Baby'sRus is another watershed.Do these small adorable beings require so much gear? There are lots and lots of innovative stuff which are life savers for new parents but a lot of stuff is plain junk invented with a purely business mind. A wet wipe warmer?....wonder who uses that!

On to probably the biggest life saver- Disposable Diapers-Babies in the US consume on an average 5000+ dipaers a year!!. That's a staggering statistic. And of course they are NOT bio-degradable.What a mess!.Just like the oil companies the Diaper manufacturers like Pampers and Huggies and other brands must be sitting on a steady supply of gold.Did I mention the sci-fi looking Diaper disposable system like Diaper champ or Diaper genie. Toss the soiled diaper in and turn the handle and you're done. No odor, no mess...neat!

The first few days were kind of rough as we struggled to attend to needs of this little being who demands so much attention and care enough to keep you busy morning,day and night.It does get better as time passes and you get to understand what those baby cries mean. I think I can safely say Parenting is a journey- tough,occasionally frustrating,exhausting but just like other momentous journeys of life- rewarding,blissful and joyful in itself with no particular goal or destination. One keeps traveling and keeps learning. This quote about sums it up in my opinion-

"Before I got married I had six theories about bringing up children; now I have six children, and no theories.  ~John Wilmot"

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