I would like to dedicate this post to Sunny who today became a dad.
Parenthood is a gift. The first time you hear that you are about to become one, you may either react with a loud “Yipeee” or mutter under your breadth “#%*$” (did the wife forget her pills or there was a tear in the ”rubber”). Anyways, after the initial feeling of euphoria or shock has passed over it’s time to set into motion the different tasks associated with the impeding arrival of the “new family member“…even though it may be a good 60 weeks away.
The “breaking news” is soon relayed to the immediate family members on both sides with instructions not to relay to any other relatives. The wife now holds the attention with hospital visits, weekly check ups, high food value diet et al. Sometimes after 3 months the “breaking news” is finally made “breaking news“ to the rest of the family tree on both sides as well as the rest of the world.
As the D Day approaches wife and husband and the entire family tree wrangles on what should be the new one be named? What should be his nickname and stuff? With every kick the to-be-mother experiences, there occurs passionate debates regarding if the baby is perfecting his free-kicks or her ballet steps. Personally we were very open about it being a girl or a boy. I personally was looking forward to have a girl as watching F1 races and EPL on Sundays together would have been a more challenging for me with a daughter than watching it with a son. I was also scared shit of the fact that what if the son wasn’t as sports crazy as I am???
As far as names was concerned we would visit different websites and shortlist names for baby boys and girls. It was great fun. Funnily enough we had made up our minds on what to name out “daughter” but were still clueless about what to call our “son”. I wanted to name my daughter ”Schumi” (after “you know who”)…had it not been for one of her “to be aunts” being called the same…so I junked that name and this even the wife does not know until she reads this post.
Then, finally the D – day comes in the chosen hospital (yeah that too matters) and the chosen way (C-Sec or natural birth…with the doctors and parents being invovled in it). The endless wait when you know it’s around the corner, everything becomes surreal, you walk about in a trance counting tiles on the floor or doing endless laps of the imaginary F1 circuit (read…hospital corridor) and then comes the moment when time stops…2.45 PM by my watch (On 01.02.2010…a numerical palindrome if there exists one) when a tiny little cry pierces your heart…
Gosh!!! “I’m a dad”….after a round of congratulations amongst all near and dear ones present the husband is soon informed about the condition of the mom and the baby. No amount of cajoling or threats work on the nurse and the gender of the child is still a mystery untill the “little one” is brought all wrapped in a towel and unvieled finally to settle the matter for once and all.
“It’s a son!!!”…damn he better know how to kick a ball.
Pictures are clicked to capture the 1st look to be shared with rest of the world. And then the phones become busy. Almost everyone whose name exists in the phone book is informed through call or SMS.
