The moment we (partner and I) realized that we had 9 months’ time to welcome a new ‘life’, we could not feel anything but ecstatic. Like any other FTPs (First Time Parents), we had a lot of thoughts running through our collective minds. The whats, hows and whys unraveled through the days leaving us with a sense of accomplishment when we embraced our baby in our hands. A lot of in-depth research and experience on this initial journey of motherhood has been documented by many experts over the decades which we can use as a reference for our benefit. That said, we all also have our individual stories to chronicle and personal moments to share.  Penning down some aspects of my adventure –

I had a notion from people around me and Hindi films that the first trimester is all about morning sickness, nausea and chakkars;). Thankfully, I was glad to escape them or not be affected too much.  The most important task at this stage was to fix a good Ob Gyn (Ahmedabad being an unknown city, had to rely on references of new mothers in my neighbourhood), take care of my health and nutrition (doing the required easy walks, spreading meals and intake of pre-natal vitamins) and understand the changes within me without getting overwhelmed . I was working till the 7^th month of pregnancy which also helped me to focus only on the essentials.

Conversations at workplace and friends would center around health, cravings, feelings, gender predictions, baby names, etc. I never felt any craving for a particular food during my entire pregnancy. I used to mostly consume moderate spicy food everyday consisting of rice/chapati, dal and sabji with snacks of nuts and seasonal fruits. One of my friends who stays abroad would rave about benefits of consuming avocado and kale, both of which were difficult to procure and costly for my wallet. I’m a firm believer in consuming what is locally available and enjoying everything in moderate proportions. While I have taken care of my nutrition, I did not shun the noodles and pastas totally – in fact, I used to twist the guilt into pleasure with exciting additives like cheese and veggies. My doc never prescribed dietary restrictions except for salt intake in the last month (owing to swollen feet).

Vegetables remind me of the comprehensive sites and online forums I was hooked on to broaden my knowledge on this subject. It was fun to see the growth of my baby week by week through representations of seeds and vegetables J. While the online discussion boards were good to bond and educate oneself on varied things one undergoes during pregnancy (I had not joined any pregnancy clubs or counselling), it sometimes used to leave me worrisome on the possible things that can happen in the next months. I started taking everything with a pinch of salt and eventually realized that you cannot box this phase as ‘one size fits all’ and there was no need to influence your thoughts on the basis of others’ experiences.

Some of the quirky things to read were the old wives’ tales on gender predictions associated with Chinese calculators, belly size, linea nigra, skin changes, hair changes etc. All the online (and human) predictors turned out faulty in my case 😉 Best use of the websites was to research baby names with vast options available on the basis of gender, nationality, language, parental name combinations , theme based names , names with meanings,  top 100 names, famous celebrity kid names et al J.

It was advantageous to have a proactive partner to help me with my anxieties – it certainly helped us to grow beyond a married couple to proud parents! While this journey was filled with more laughter than cries, advices galore from mom to maids, superb emotional support system from my spouse and family, I do regret not taking good care of my fitness prior to pregnancy (I had a history of spondylitis and was very low on exercises). After the sleepless nights and hopeful days, came that special day when I saw ten tiny fingers and cute toes and realized that ‘All is Well J’

My top tip – Do listen, read, hear, talk about pregnancy but eventually do what your heart, mind and doctor guides you to 🙂

— Shruti Pai —