She had always wanted a daughter...

I am reviving this blog thanks to Marathon Bloggers. Its the oldest of the three I have and I began this in 2009. Time and responsibilities saw it fade away into cyber oblivion. I am so glad that it is seeing the light of day again. So beginning with the theme for this Tuesday.

She had always wanted a daughter but now... wonders where the past 7 years have gone by...Of course I am talking about me here. I had Anoushka after 3 years of marriage. I was working a full time job with a newspaper as a Senior reporter/sub-editor and to me, even today, those hectic hours seem just like yesterday. When I was expecting, I was the Queen Bee at office... everyone was at my beck and call, everyone wanted to make me comfortable... Everyone suffered through Nandhini meals for lunch everyday simply because nothing else could fill me up - I would eat my share and then theirs. My poor husband would be rudely kicked out of bed at 3 in the morning, because that's when little one would be playing her solo football match in my tummy and be asked to make toast and jam... that was my weird craving.

I went home in my 8th month. How I grumbled about not being able to work till the 9th, but then my doctor here refused to give me a clearance to fly certificate if I didn't leave by the 8th. And so I got home and then the speculation began... "its a boy, see how big her tummy is", "its a girl, you can't make out she is expecting when you look at her from behind", "its a boy, the tummy is already low down", "its a girl, her face is glowing"... goodness gracious, the "aunties and grannies" of the world are seriously starved for entertainment.

And then there was my darling husband... we both wanted a girl - me more so because I wanted to dress her up in all things pretty... and he... well... he just wanted it to be a girl. And when we went for my final scan, he came out happy, little short of twiddling that non-existent handlebar moustache and announced that it was a girl.... what convinced him? Apparently in the course of the scan, he saw little one's legs move apart and there were no tell-tale signs of a boy.

Cut to the delivery room... what a soap opera that was... I delivered the normal way and the words of a friend still ring through my ears - childbirth is the most humiliating thing you will go through... yes the joy is there, if you can get through the grogginess and the pain and the stitches... mum came in for moral support and promptly fainted... husband took her place and was my pillar. And finally the baby came... and what did I do? I promptly lost consciousness... this was after all 17 hours of labor later.

When I came to, everyone was in a tizzy and running all over the place. I kept asking about the baby, till my doc peeped up from between my legs and said... it was a girl!!!

Now that I have had a girl for 7 years, I have long since given up the hope of dressing her in all things nice. She is a fashionista in her own right. I now know she holds the new title for nonstop talking, one which I proudly held all these years. Despite all the paranoia I have about her safety, I still know she will hold her own when faced with adversity. She is a beautiful dancer, a horrendous eater, a thoughtful child and a cranky tyrant on rare occasion. But now that I have a daughter, I can never think of life any other way.