First Born Tag by a Dad

How can a man take the first born tag? Like this :p

1. Was your first pregnancy planned?

Yes and No. We wanted it but didn’t expect it to happen so soon.

2. Were you married at the time?

I think so ;)

3. What were your reactions?

Delight. And a little fear. It was a big leap. Had all kinds of questions in my head. And a little proud too.

4. Was abortion an option for you?

No and hope never.

5. How old were you?

27. How does that matter?

6. How did you find out you were pregnant?

Those faint red lines (which were non-conclusive) and then a blood test the following day.

7. Who did you tell first?

My brother. And then the entire family while we were out for dinner celebrating my brother’s promotion. I stood up, raised my coke glass, walked over to where my dad was sitting and said this, “This man here is going to become a grand-father and me a father soon. Inshallah”. All hell broke loose after that! (My family consists of 2 elder brothers n their wives, my sis n her hubby n my dad mom and 1 nephew)

8. Due date?

27^th Jan 2009

9. Did you have morning sickness?

For the first few weeks, it was pretty bad. But manageable. She had only 3 separate days during her first trimester when it was absolutely terrible. Otherwise, more or less, OK.

10. What did you crave?

Aah. I cannot mention that here or else I am so dead ;) But for the record, she wanted all kinds of chaats – pani puri was her favorite, ice cream, vegetarian food, 100% attention, unexpected hugs and affection and lots n lots n lots of love….which I gave! :)

11. Who/what irritated you the most?

I think I irritated her the most. I’d like to be proved wrong but that’s what I think. But otherwise, she hated when people kept giving advice. Plus there was this one time when we had a small get together and 3-4 women spoke only about what could go wrong during a pregnancy and newborns. That really had her shaken. Took me days to put her mind to rest. She also hated taking those tablets (Prenatal, Calcium, Iron and Folic acid tablets). Plus the migraine and lower back pain.

12. What was your first child’s sex?

Boy

13. Did you wish you had the opposite sex of what you were getting?

Nope. We were open to both. Did not determine the sex of the child for that reason.

14. How many kg/pounds did you gain throughout the pregnancy?

22 kg. At the time she got pregnant, she was almost 6-7 kg under weight though.

15. Did you have a baby shower?

Nope

16. Was it a surprise or did you know?

Pass :p

17. Did you have any complications during your pregnancy?

A little. We had a few scary moments early on. She had this severe pain in her lower abdomen and we had to get her admitted in the hospital for 2 days. Several tests later docs were unable to determine the reason! Just some cramps they ultimately concluded. I am still curious.

Anyways....a week short of her due date, we took the Doppler test. And that showed that there was some strain on the baby. Blood flow and blood pressure was getting compromised. Doc asked us to get admitted the following morning and they would induce labor and get things rolling.

18. Where did you give birth?

Panat Hospital, Aurangabad, India

19. How many hours were you in labor?

Doctors induced labor. Was in for 26 hours (poor girl :( ) before deciding to go ahead with C-Section. Actually, there was some drastic fluctuations in the heart rate of the baby. They told us the baby could be at risk if we wait longer.

20. Who drove you to the hospital/birth center?

My driver. Along with me, my wife, her mom and her brother who is also a doctor.

21. Who watched you give birth?

Two gynac docs, 1 anesthetist, 2 nurses and 1 pediatric doc.

22. Was it natural or c-section?

C-Section

23. Did you take medicine to ease the pain?

Yes.

24. How much did your child weigh?

2.8 kg

25. When was your child actually born?

20 Jan 2009 at 6:14 pm

26. What was your reaction when the doctor announced the sex of the baby?

I started crying. Not because it was a boy but because it was MY baby. After 9 months of wait and anticipation, the moment finally arrived. I'd been dreaming about this for so long.

27. What was your first reaction on seeing the baby?

Amazement. I couldn’t believe it. His eyes were open. He kept gazing around before stopping to look at me. Like he was checking me out. Even raised his tiny, little right hand as if he was saying hello. He was not crying and kept staring right into my eyes. I can NEVER forget that moment. And he looked just like my wife. Beautiful eyes, great complexion, perfect nose and jawline, lovely face...OK am I praising my baby or my wife? ;)

28. Did you cry?

Probably more than my baby. I cried when I first heard him cry from the operation theatre. I cried when I first held him. Cried when I hugged my wife, dad, mom and my entire family. I think all I did that time was cry.

29. What did you name him/her?

Ibrahim :)

30. How old is your first born today?

2 months and 12 days.

Thank you, Solilo. This was fun. It's like reliving those fantastic memories this first pregnancy brought in our lives. I'll ask my wife to do this as well. Will add her comments to mine later.