Arjun's first earthquake and hurricane!

We survived the East Coast earthquake of 2011!

Arjun was happily playing on his activity mat, after we had finished nursing 10 minutes before. I was walking toward the kitchen when I felt the first rumble. I thought "uh oh, this is not good" and walked over to the window. I thought the construction crane across the street had finally crashed into our building. Seeing the crane in its normal position, I tried to rationalize the next rumbling as "oh, it must be a plane flying low, landing at the airport". Nope no planes in the sky either.

Then the big wave hit. The entire building shook from side to side. The pictures were starting to fall off the wall. I panicked, and was overcome with this great maternal instinct. I MUST PROTECT MY CHILD! I grabbed Arjun off the floor, grabbed my cell phone, put on some rinky dink chappals and ran for the door. My neighbor was running down the hall with her 2 kids, and I yelled "What's going on?!" She screamed at me "Earthquake! RUN!" and that was all the encouragement I needed. I hightailed it with Arjun down 5 flights of stairs. I remember his face as I clutched him in my arms - he was quite amused and was looking around all curious. We made it outside with the other residents and paced up and down the sidewalk, as the tremors were through. I was convinced that there would be aftershocks and there was no way I was going back in that building. Of course, cell phones were down and I could not reach Arun. I desperately typed a text message to him as my hands were shaking from all the adrenaline.

Eventually I calmed down. Arjun had no clue what was going on. After all the excitement, checking out the outdoors and the neighbors faces, his only reaction was to fall asleep on my shoulder. Most of the neighbors had gone back inside and I decided to take a chance. I went upstairs and put on something more respectable (better than my nursing shirt), put the stroller together, grabbed my rings and the passports, some snacks and my laptop. I spent the next 2 hours downstairs in the party room with Arjun, communicating with friends and family via facebook. If there was going to be another aftershock, I was ready to run. Heck I could run with that stroller all the way to the river if need be.

As I told my fellow Floridians, I would take a hurricane over an earthquake any day. Little did I know that wish would be granted by Saturday, as hurricane Irene brought pounding rain and wind to us. Knowing it was a Cat 1, I wasn't worried, but then again, infrastructure and services in the DC metro area are not designed to withstand hurricanes like they are in SoFla. Irene was a massive storm that moved relatively slowly, so we were buffeted with strong winds for almost 24 hours. We were too far inland to be greatly affected and in fact, never lost power OR direct TV. There was plenty of live coverage from the Old Town waterfront in Alexandria. Even my parents in India saw it on CNN. And the media seemed to be greatly disappointed that there was not major flooding. They even walked over to a puddle on the street and said "well, this is it."

How did Arjun do? Eh, he didn't know anything knew was going on. We stopped by the Farmer's Market that morning and he got rained on a bit. And later that day he rewarded us by showing us he could now lift his upper torso up while on his tummy. He started sleeping in his crib without fuss. And a couple days after that? He rolled over! So its been an exciting week for all of us :-)

Arjun's two month visit

Arjun turned 2 months on Thursday and has his 2 month wellness visit. He weighed in at a shade under 10 pounds at 9 lbs and 14 oz. He also got his first shots. He was all bubbly and happy when he got his first big needle. He was shocked at the sting...waited for a second and then started bawling, before his next big needle. But he has been a trooper and well on his road to recovery.

pics of arjun and friends

A bunch of 1sts

6 weeks on July 16 - almost 8 lbs now

Arjun is sleeping next to me as I write this. That is still his favorite activity, although each week he is more alert and has more time awake than before. Which is another challenge - because how do I keep him entertained when he is staring at me intently with those big brown eyes? Here is a rundown of his achievements in the last couple of weeks:

• First visit with family July 2-3: The Mathew and Thomas families came all the way from Staten Island and Long Island to meet Arjun for the first time. Mony uncle and Alice aunty helped to take care of me when I was a baby, so talk about coming full circle. Arjun met Matty, his almost 2 year old cousin, who gave Arjun kisses on his feet. They also helped us celebrate Arjun's 28th day (Irupathi Ettu Kettu) and we had an impromptu ceremony, where uncle presented the baby with a solid gold chain. We didn't have a black thread to tie around his waist but this worked just the same. More on the ceremony: http://vedictalks.blogspot.com/2009/05/namakarana-naming-ceremony.html
  

• First non pediatrician outing - visit to friends house July 4th: We drove to Mt. Pleasant for a mini WID reunion with Mary Rojas, Clare Ye Sheng and Bhavna Lal. Arjun did very well, but I can't say he was the life of the party since he slept through most of the visit. Arun and I successfully changed his diaper a couple of times and I did manage to breastfeed, outside of the comfort zone of our house. So far he does well with strangers and does not mind being held by others, although I'm sure that will change as he gets older. 

• First 4th of July - Fireworks in front of the Kennedy Center: We tried to get home before the fireworks started on the Mall, but got lost on our way to Rock Creek Parkway and almost made it to the Roosevelt bridge when the police shut it down. Apparently they shut down all bridges over the Potomac before the fireworks start, and you are stuck until they finish - wish we knew that! So we ended up in a cue in front of the Kennedy Center with a wonderful view of the fireworks - you could even feel the blasts, they would shake the car. Arjun didn't mind the sounds, but did start to fuss about his carseat. At one point I was afraid he was having trouble breathing and jumped to get him out of the seat as fast as I could. Arun was commiserating with the other stuck drivers, but all in all, it was a neat experience. It took us another hour to get home since have the exits were blocked and traffic was nuts, but a good lesson that Arun and I can handle obstacles to our well laid plans, and that Arjun can handle it too. 

• First trip to store July 7: In anticipation of Arjun's first walk, we set out to BuyBuyBaby the night before to get a new Snap N Go stroller. We actually had one from the baby shower, but when we assembled it, discovered that it had a defective wheel. We went to the store before the baby came and they fixed the stroller, only to have the wheel fall off when we got back home. So for 4 weeks I had not been outside with Arjun, other than sitting on our balcony. Needless to say we were both desperate to get outside. When we got to the store, we had to figure out how to get the carseat in the cart, estimate how much time we had before he started screaming, and plan out the route in the store to get the items we needed in the least amount of time. Arjun did great! He hardly fussed, and we got most of what we needed. He only melted down in the car when Arun and my mom went to TJ's next door. Quite stressful - but I learned not to push his limits...
  

• First walk outside July 8: My colleague Meghan and her baby son Max stopped by on her day off to spend some time with us and take us on a walk around Old Town. She was accompanied by our buddy Frank, who brought us a bunch of presents including some all the way from Haiti. We got a break from the intense summer heat that day and although it looked like it was going to pour, we were treated to a cool breeze and no glaring sun. Arjun slept through the whole walk in his carseat and I figured out that pushing a stroller ain't that easy! Potholes, cracks in sidewalks, needing to find the graded corner instead of going over the curb...Wish the snap n go had shock absorbers but Arjun didn't seem to mind at all. We walked to a schoolyard park on Cameron, back up the trail from King Street and Braddock metro, saw Meghan and Max off at the station and then back home. Success!
  

• First time in the swing July 8: Later that night Arun and I assembled the Bright Starts Swing that his cousin Sag sent to us. Arun is a trained engineer, but you wouldn't know it from watching  him assemble baby stuff. He starts by NOT reading the instructions and then trying to put a square peg in a round hole. Ok its not that bad but suffice it to say that I LOVE putting things together, and after sometime we figured it out. Arjun was a bit small for the swing but after some adjustment we tried it out. He got his "what the heck is this thing" look on his face, and after some consideration, decided, "eh, its not so bad" and tolerated it for a few minutes. We can post some adorable video soon.
  

• First bottle July 9: Meghan graciously helped me figure out the Medala breastpump, and I managed to express a couple of ounces for Arjun. This meant that Arun could now participate with feeding and that I didn't have to be on call every 2 hours. We got the Breastflow brand of bottles and gave it a try. I hovered like a hawk over Arun's shoulder, criticizing his every move, so much so that even my mom told me to back off. Typical new mother protective instincts I guess. I got the message and backed off, and Arjun didn't completely reject the bottle. Since then, we've had a lot more success with it. Which means I get a break now and then - yay!
  

• First stink eye July 13: Here's the other lesson I learned about bottlefeeding: mama needs to be scarce! Arun and my mom were feeding Arjun one early morning so I could sleep in. I heard the baby fussing so I got up to check it out. When I sat down next to Arun and the baby, the baby took one look at me and gave me the stink eye. I'm not kidding! It was a look that said "Hello mother. What the F - why are you torturing me with this bottle? Give me your boob already!" He's so cute when he's angry :-)
  

• First BBQ July 16: Today we are going to a BBQ at the house of one of my colleagues, and Arjun will get to meet the rest of my workmates. I'm pretty sure I know his plan: to sleep through most of it, and then poop at an inopportune time. 

Happy 4th! Arjun's 1 month birthday ...

Needless to say, its been a whirlwind of activity since Arjun arrived. I barely have time to check my email and update facebook - if you've noticed any posts, that's because my husband is a ghost writer. Most of my time and energies are dedicated towards lil Arjun.

Many people told us that the first 2 weeks are the hardest, and then everything settles down. Well, I think Arun and I had the opposite experience. We had two blissful weeks at home together. We thought we had everything down - feeding, diapering, sleeping. And then week 3 hit and Arjun changed everything up on us. Challenges included: wide awake from 2-5 am; waking/feeding every hour; taking 15-20 minutes to latch, only to eat for 5 minutes and fall asleep; peeing on his shirt but not his diaper; screaming holy heck and then spitting up everywhere.

We are happy to report that Arjun is doing very well. He has gained more than 2 lbs since his birth, he's getting longer, and boy does he have strong legs. His latest trick: we put him down n the boppy for some "tummy time", he kicks his legs into the floor and scooches up and up, until he lifts himself over the boppy and wriggles himself down to the other side. A slow motion somersault of sorts. He's quite alert, loves staring into your eyes (or is that the light over your shoulder), and making strange sounds, alternating between honks, grunts, snorts and cackles.

Arun is back at work, and my mom is here for a month to help out. Having Ammache (grandmother in Malayalam) here is a huge help, as well as providing much needed comic relief. The other day she tried to change his diaper, only to get pee on her face, or how about the time she didn't put her glasses on - and tried to put the diaper on inside-out? Fun! :-) She's helping with running the house - cooking, cleaning, laundry - all things I don't find time to do. And I can hand Arjun off to her so I can take a shower, take a nap or get something to eat. After mom leaves, I'm not sure how I'll handle things on my own, but we all have to try at some point right?

Pictures to be posted shortly...

Some early pictures and video

Arjun is now home and doing well. In fact he had his first pediatrician visit today. He is keeping us busy with regular diaper changes and feeding :-).

Here are some of the early pictures from the hospital.

And here is a video of him barely 24 hours after his birth.

Arjun's Birthing Story

Lil A made a surprise entrance into the world on Saturday, June 4th, @ 5:48 am. He was exactly 21 days early, weighing in at about 5 lbs and 19.5 inches long. He is covered in hair from head to toe, and is just a tiny little peanut.

Labor started in the middle of the night on Thursday, June 2. Arun and I were up late watching the Spelling Bee and the Heat game. (It would be hilarious if Arjun ended up in the spelling bee 10 years from now - he wants to compete with all the other desis!) I went to bed late but was awakened by cramps in the wee hours of the morning. I thought it was Braxton Hicks but it kept me up, and it kept coming. It was not terribly painful, just uncomfortable, and I thought this was normal for this stage in the pregnancy so ignored them. I felt a tremendous pressure below, and figured the baby had dropped.

Later on Friday morning I met with our doula, Jette. She took one look at me and told me "Prepare yourself, you may be in the stage of early labor. Just in case, I'll pack my doula bags tonight." I said, "Haha, yeah right, its too early!" but as the day went on, the surges kept coming, becoming more regular and more uncomfortable. I had a regularly scheduled appt with the midwife later that afternoon. She walked in and asked how I was doing, and I said "um, I think I'm in labor". She jumped in surprise and conducted an exam, and sure enough, something was going on. She smiled and said, "Well, you are definitely not going to go full term. You are 90% effaced, the baby is at station 1 and you are 1 cm dilated. It could progress and happen this weekend, or things could slow down and you could walk around like this for 2 weeks." I still couldn't believe it was happening, and hoped that if I just took it easy and put my feet up, it would stop.

By dinnertime it was obvious the show was on! Surges were coming at regular intervals and were increasing in duration. Arun frantically packed the hospital bags, went to TJ's to buy some snacks and drinks, and made sure to get a haircut (it had been bothering him for weeks). I put on the hypnobirthing cds, got out the birthing ball, and zoned out. I had been practicing for weeks, and hoped to accomplish a natural delivery free of medical interventions (unless necessary). After 10, things really took a turn towards intense. Arun and I wanted to labor at home for as long as possible, before going to the hospital. By 1 am, I knew it was time to go. Jette met us at the hospital, and sure enough I was 4 cm dilated.

The midwife let us stay, and that's when the natak (drama) started. The labor & delivery nurse we got stuck with was obviously anti- natural birth. She kept trying to take advantage of my weakened state to push IVs, fetal monitoring, and make me stay prone in a bed (which is the most painful position to labor in). Good thing we had Jette there, who helped advocate for us and push back on the nurse. Even the midwife argued with the nurse to just let us be and let us labor the way we felt comfortable. When I refused to lie on the bed and instead wanted to sit on the birthing ball while being monitored, she said "well I will write you up as being non compliant". She tried to insert an IV, even when I said I didn't need one, and I showed her my urine was completely clear - I'm hydrated lady! We gave her a copy of our birth plan, and she just tossed it aside.

Eventually we were moved to another room and got a new nurse, who was not antagonistic and was supportive of us. My water started leaking around 4 am, and I was just 5 cm dilated. The surges were tremendous, and the midwife and nurse didn't believe me when I said this baby was coming fast. "Oh first babies always take a long time". The only thing holding the baby back was the bag of waters, looked like he was trying to come out still inside it. I gave them permission to break it, and ZOOM, I went from 5 cm to 10 cm in no time.

I knew it was time to push, but I wasn't aware that they were having trouble finding the baby's heart rate. It had just disappeared and suddenly things became very frantic in the room. My calm state of mind went out the window. For weeks I had practiced "breathing the baby down", and suddenly I had people yelling at me to "hold your breath and push mama!". (People - Don't tell an asthmatic to hold their breath.) I started hyperventilating, they gave me oxygen, and told me to grab my knees and push that baby out. I had no idea where my knees were or what was going on, but I pushed. I think I had Jette in a strangle hold at some point. In between a push, Jette took my hand and told me "Anita, here is your baby's head". I was just completely overwhelmed at that point. Arun was standing next to me, probably stricken at my pain and the baby's missing heart rate. After a few more pushes, Arjun came out, with the cord wrapped around his neck. They quickly undid it and he yelled out a roar. I still had no idea what was going on, and they said "Mama, you can stop pushing. Your baby is here!" And they plunked down this tiny little creature against my chest. When I reached out to touch him, he immediately stopped screaming and became calm.

Arjun is doing wonderfully. He passed all his tests. After a couple days at the hospital, our new family is safe and sound back at home, learning how to be with each other.

Pics from Baby Shower

Hi all,

Enjoy the pictures from the baby shower. It was a lot of fun and Arun and I were so touched with everyone's generosity.

Baby Shower: Thanks to the support team

Anita has been on my case to "contribute" to the blog. So here goes. We are tired, worn out, happy and humbled by all the love and the gifts...in that order :-) showered upon us (Anita, rolling her eyes at another one of my inane puns).

The Baby Shower was on the 14th of May and this post is to thank and honor the folks (in chronological order) who worked so hard to make it so much fun.

Thanks Jette. Jette volunteered to get it going for us. She took care of getting all the decorations and games and not to forget, hauling a Helium tank for the balloons. Jette owns and runs Old Town Massage Center. Check it out when you are in need of a good massage.

Next in line is Susanne Meier. Susi is the creative force behind the invitation. She worked with us to come up with so many choices, that we had such a hard time making a single choice.

Susi is a uber-designer, graphic artist, good friend who lives in Germany and runs her own design shop. She lent us her talent and creativity to brand Baby A.

What can I say about the George sisters? Awesome!! Cool!! Fun!! More than a handful? Thanks Sheeba, Sheeja and Sherin for coming down and working so hard. We missed you Susan...we needed someone to lend a sane voice at times :-).

Helium Balloons, too many cupcakes and the George sisters...

Thanks to Walt, Suzanne and Skye for driving down from North Carolina. Suzanne, I wish I had taken notes so that I could publish a top 10 list of funny things you said during the weekend. I am sure you guys were relieved as we did not put you to work this time, unlike our wedding.

On behalf of Baby a we thank you all for putting up a great show.

Happy Mother's Day!

Celebrated my first mother's day as mom-to-be. Arun had a witty card and purple tulips waiting, wonderful husband that he is. We are so excited, and sometimes still have to pinch ourselves that we are actually pregnant. Of course I get a reality check every time the kid elbows me in the ribs or hips, but its still a lot to take in.

The baby shower is this coming Saturday, in less than 7 days! Food is ordered, our great friend Jette (and doula) is helping us with decorations and activities, and I'm super excited that my godsisters are flying in. It will be a low key affair, but we added a bit of class by ordering 30 red velvet cupcakes. If you were on the fence about coming, maybe that will entice you. ;-)

We are already exhausted, running around getting the house ready, acquiring baby stuff, birthing classes, trying to maintain a semblance of a healthy lifestyle and working full time. No one told me that the sleep deprivation starts BEFORE the baby comes, but hey, I guess this is all practice for that. Starting the 34th week now - the baby could arrive in as soon as 3 more weeks or as long as 8 more weeks, who knows. I keep telling him to take his time, and that we are in no rush. I have to say I've thoroughly enjoyed pregnancy so far. I have a new found respect for the female body and that amazing uterus.

Today was also our first day of hypnobirthing class. Don't laugh, we are giving it a serious go. It absolutely resonates with our lifestyle, and if anything, hope it will keep Arun and I calm for the labor and delivery. We also accept and are prepared for whatever direction birth takes, but until then, I will keep practicing yoga, deep breathing and relaxation techniques, and listening to the affirmations. Our hospital, our doctor & midwife practice, and many people in this area are quite supportive of it and all attest to seeing it work. I also know a colleague at work who it worked for - she was at the hospital for less than 4 hours and caught her baby as it came out. How awesome is that!

Happy Mother's Day to all! Next post - pics from the shower with friends and family.

Pictures

Welcome!

Arun and I were married on November 14, 2009, after a 6 year relationship that saw us in Washington DC, Raleigh NC, Miami Fl and even Mumbai India. We postponed a honeymoon a year and planned to go to Costa Rica for 10 days with a couple of good friends. Days before Arun's 40th birthday (Oct 27) and the honeymoon, we were delighted to find out that we were pregnant! Anita joked that now she didn't have to get him a present ;-)

Our little baby boy is due around June 25th, a week after Anita's birthday, although Arun is counting on a July 4th baby. We hope this site will enable friends and family far away to share this special time in our lives.