Skip to main content

It all began when...

It all began when I willingly became the recipient of the sperm that found its way to the egg. That too in the missionary position! No, this isn’t about sex. It’s about the aftermath the baby.

So after a long and tiresome 5 year planning (these were the days when the planning commission actually existed), I was carrying. Pregnancy by far the most amazing time of my life but it was also the scariest, most guilt ridden, and tiring time too (I think it gives you a preview for actually having a kid).

During my tenure, I was astounded and fazed with all the information of what I should and shouldn't do while pregnant. Everything finished off with "to be on the safe side, just avoid it." Well that's great, only that then I’d be expected to sit in Fort Knox eating washed, organic paalak and popping folic acid week after week if I did that.
As much as I wanted to turn a blind eye to all these scare tactics, I couldn't help but think "what if". What if I did miscarry because I popped a roadside golgappa? What if my baby was deformed because I orphaned the poor wasp, which was almost ready to give me a boxer’s eye? I second-guessed and went to someone who has all the answers - no God wasn’t really free especially so I settled for Google.

Now that my baby’s here, I look back on that time with resentment and ire. Not because there are ample warnings of what the ‘chandra grahan’ can do to your foetus or how gorging on stale rotis can guarantee curly hair,  but these so called know-it-alls drop these little nuggets in your lap with terms like "studies have shown" and "experts agree" but with very few studies or experts to back them up. Then they wrap it all up with the ever endearing "to be on the safe side, avoid it "to absolve themselves if your kid grows a third eye because you ate a chewing gum in your first trimester. You're left praying and asking for divine forgiveness with the ever looming "be on the safe side" hanging over your head if, god forbid, you decided to have a cup of coffee with dinner. So I decided to rant as much as I could on many of the subjects that haunted me throughout my pregnancy to shine a little perspective on all of it.

I'm not a doctor. No, I’m not a quack either. This is only a compilation of the things I experienced and you yourself need to decide which things you think you should avoid during your pregnancy and things that you shouldn't. All I can guarantee is that down the road we'll all find out we chose good, bad and even ugly and it's a miracle any of us are here at all.

Comments

Most read ones here:

Yes...um...No. Oh, wait! Maybe...!!

Video source: It's simple as tea Consent - what, how, when, till when…the questions are unending and rightly so. It is confusing and it is complicated. I believe that is a good thing, because it is only when we are uncomfortable and confused that we start digging deep and un-layer things or issues. It may drive some of us to engage in conversations and discussions, and I’d say why not? It helps the unlearning, learning and understanding, doesn’t it? So, my confusions, questions and discussions with friends and colleagues left me wondering what is consent -what, how, when, till when, whose? I chanced upon this lovely article using tea as an example , and then some in this video - A Lavni about consent . It helped me to understand quite a bit about the yes, no, and maybe, and some of the in between. This also set me wondering. What if, people (hosts and hostesses) feel obliged that they have to offer you something tea included if you are a guest at their pla...

Learning from my toddler

Toddlers may be young and small too, but that doesn't mean they haven't learned how to manipulate us intelligent adults into getting exactly what they want! From the minute my little guy started talking, I quickly picked up on a few tricks he had for trying to persuade me into doing whatever it is he had in mind. Besides clinging to our inflated calf muscles to get out of going to preschool or day care, here are some popular toddler phrases and their deciphered meanings. 1. "No, no, Mommy.  Me not tired."  I'm totally knackered, but I know that I'll miss all of the fun that goes on after you put me to bed.   2. "Pleeeeeeaaasssssseeeee Mommmmmmy!?!" If I repeat this over and over and over again and drag out every syllable even further every time I say it, she'll totally cave. What a strategy! 3. "I want Papa! No! I want Papa!" I absolutely and totally detest whatever it is you're telling me to do, so I'm g...

The inevitable…

So the inevitable happened:   I became a mother. And went through all the motions mentioned in ' Time to face the music '. I was experiencing motherhood in projectile vomit and runny bottoms on freshly cleaned floors. And I was the latest victim of Murphy’s Law — you know, the old adage that states if something can go wrong, it will go wrong. Usually it involves discovering we ’ ve got a flat tyre and an irate boss making hissing sounds together! It only happens once in a while. Well, not when you have a newborn. When you have a newborn, it happens ALL. THE. TIME, and it goes a little something like this: 1. Your husband says babysitting is fun and the kid’s has been an absolute darling — for  him.  But as soon as you get home from frantically finishing chores and trying not to fall asleep at traffic lights, baby starts to scream bloody murder as horror scenes from Ramsay Brother flick flash through your mind. Moms are just so lucky! 2. 3 seconds ...