It was simply a coincidence that I was at home that day – I was down with a bad case of sinusitis and had decided to take the day off.  So, after I’d packed off Pumpkin to school and had barely sat down to check to my email, when my wife announced that she was feeling contractions, we first thought it was the usual anxiety combined with the “fake” Braxton-Hicks contractions that feel like labour pains but are really not.  After all, it was just 3 days ago when we had had the cervical stitch removed, and, even though delivery was imminent any time after that, the expected delivery date was a good two weeks away.

After some minutes, though, she felt them again.  And then, again.  And, she thought that each one lasted just 4-5 seconds.  So we looked at the books by our bedside table and confirmed that the real deal is meant to last 40-50 seconds instead, and once again dismissed them off as “false labour”.  Then, when it consistently started reappearing, we decided to check with the doctor and she advised us to come over to the clinic.

So, I popped-in an antibiotic for my cold, and off we went, with our “delivery” strolley already packed in the boot of my car, to see the gynaec.  Just to be safe, we picked up Pumpkin from school and dropped her off to my in-laws’, telling her that there may be many such trips to the doctor to ascertain if the baby is really going to come out today or it’s just a false alarm!  As always, Pumpkin was most understanding about it all.

Waiting for the doctor to come, we started timing the duration and frequency of BossLady’s contractions… It turned out that what seemed to her as 5 seconds was really 50 seconds, and the contractions kept coming roughly 10 minutes apart.  Another phone call to the doctor, and she asked us to get admitted to the hospital right away – She would meet us there. 

By 12.30 pm, the doc was at the hospital.  One physical examination confirmed that today was the day it was going to happen. 

The cervix was 2 cm dilated… There were still 8 cms to go…  By 1 pm, all the admission formalities were through.  It was estimated that the delivery would happen by 7 or 8 pm, but the doctor advised us to stay put in the LDRP room adjacent to the Labour Room.  That would ensure we get adequate attention from the nurses, should we need any.  So we settled into the pre-delivery waiting room, made the customary phone calls to family members and wondered about how long labour would be, this time around. 

The contractions were now coming 3 minutes apart, still lasting 40-50 seconds each time.  That meant just a 1-2 minute window for any meaningful conversation, in between two contractions, should we attempt to distract our minds with some dialogue. 

The next few hours went quite fast and in a lot of pain.  But, a few hours later, when the resident doctor came by on a routine visit, we discovered that the cervix had already dilated to 7 cms!  Then, came the panic calls – One to the gynaec, asking her to rush to the Labour Room.  Another to the nurses asking them to prepare the room.  And, we – the parents were told:  It is time.

The next 15 minutes or so, went by in a haze.  Almost as soon as they wheeled her into the adjoining Labour Room, she started feeling the baby pushing to come out.  The gynaec was soon in the room, and a few minutes of instructions and prepping followed.  This time, I was not only in the room throughout it all, but was also standing in a position from where I could “experience” the event in greater detail.  The details still elude me, though.  It was all too overwhelming… 

I remember seeing a lot of blood.  I remember witnessing the flurry of activity with a few doctors (some of them paediatricians), and some nurses and assistants in the room.  And, I remember some groans of pains, and a few minutes of pushing like crazy.  Then, at 4.18 pm on 16th October 2007, a baby was born!

It took a few minutes for both of us to register that it is finally over.  It took us another few minutes to ask, and learn, that it was a boy.  We would call him Tiger.

BossLady’s mother was waiting outside the room, so I stepped out to share with her the good news.  We had SMS groups created on both our cell phones to inform family and friends, but I found myself dazed about how to send an SMS and what to write in it!  Nine months of expecting it, and it had, once again, happened sooner than expected!!!  I soon gathered my wits, and went about sending out SMSes to all the groups.  I called my mom and informed her too.  Soon, both our phones started buzzing with congratulatory SMS replies and phone calls…

Even after the initial frenzy was over, when we were wheeled into an ante-natal waiting room, my wife and I both shared the same feeling – It hasn’t hit me yet.  But, soon after we shifted rooms, I realized that I’ve left something precious behind in the labour room – Our baby!  That, for months and years to come, this little bundle of nerves and muscle would come to depend on his parents for any thing and every thing.  That, we would now be responsible for another human life, and the way it evolves.  That, this little human being who’s been brought into this world even before he is ready to survive on his own, may one day impact the society in which he lives, in his own unique way…

Life would never be the same again.