A dad's perspective
On June 8, 2007 at 12:57am, little Sohum Dev Baluja transitioned to life on the outside, and our family was born.
Sohum weighed in at 6lbs 0.2oz and was 18 3/4" tall.
Many questioned if the Bhogaonker-Baluja Baby, known affectionately as "Snuggly" in many circles, would be slow-and-steady, like his mom, or rather implulsive, like his dad. The question was answered immediately with the precipitous labor he produced.
At 7:30pm on June 7, Sanj had just come home from work and was gathering his things to play in a league basketball game. After a previous doctor's appointment on June 1, we expected Snuggly to make his appearance imminently. However the weekend went by and then a few days early in the week with no action. The anticipation as well as life settled back into the normal routines (at least for me). Astoundingly, we had managed to sell our home in SF, move to Sunnyvale, unpack much of our things (Thanks to the untiring efforts of my mom and sister, Anju and Priya's mom and dad), take many parenting-birthing classes, and even pack the birth-bag, before Snuggly decided to descend. A calm had set-in.
I was in the bathroom when I heard Priya calling. It was 8:05pm and she thought her water had broken. The doctor said that we should come in a get checked out. We made it to the hospital around 9:15, and the doctor came in around 10pm. She confirmed that her water had broken and then checked Priya's dilation. She said she was about 1cm (out of 10cm, which is fully dilated). The doctor recommended that Priya walk around until 11pm, then get some sleep and we would make a decision of what to do in the morning. Priya's friend, Jen Mullen had come to the hospital to support Priya during labor. My mom and Priya's mom were eagerly on hand. Everyone agreed that nothing would happen until morning. The doctor went home. We sent the two grandmothers-to-be home and started to walk around a bit. Within the hour, Priya was feeling some intense contractions. Jen and I supported her as much as we could by talking to her, leading her through guided-imagery, and general soothing. We called the nurse, and when she came in she immediately knew that the baby was on the way. Priya was fully dilated. She called for other nurses to setup the delivery table and for the doctor to return. Nobody believed that Priya had fully dilated in less than 2 hours. Waiting for the doctor to return, Priya harnessed her meditation abilities and what she had learned in the "Hypo-Birthing" class that we had taken. She was able to enter a meditative state and deal with the intense pain. The doctor arrived and the pains continued to increase. Priya asked to be given something to ease the pain, however the doctor and nurse responded that it was too late to administer anything. The baby would be born before any medication could take effect. Priya again entered a trance-like state, which allowed her to deal with the pain. She pushed for about 45 minutes and then out came a little baby boy!!
I was overcome when I saw him, as was Priya. He was beautiful. I sat that night in awe of the universe for maintaining such a system. Of the human body for being able to transform and carry out the intent of the system. And, most of all, of my wife who was able to divinely manifest the system to produce this life.
We are truly blessed.
