Preksha came out of the bathroom almost dancing… she was jumping up and down. Kaushal looked at her and kept  his news paper aside. He saw his wife in this mood after a long time. He held her hand and pulled her on his lap and planted a light kiss on her cheek. He was very happy to see her in this mood and wanted to hold her tight. He didn’t know what had caused this sudden happiness but right now he was satisfied just to look at her jubilant face.  

She had not told him that she had missed her periods. Didn’t want his hopes up unnecessarily! Too many false alarms had already ruined their lives. But when the “preg-card” showed two red lines, she was elated. And it showed!!

They were married for almost 10 years now and she wasn’t able conceive. All the medical tests for both of them were normal, yet they were deprived of the joy of parenthood. Not anymore…

Nine months passed almost in a jiffy. She was enjoying all the attention bestowed upon her and he loved showering all that he could on her. Everything looked great and USG showed the perfect growth of the baby.

Kaushal was present with Preksha during the delivery and his respect to his wife grew more when he saw her in severe pain and what she endured for the delivery of their little bundle of love. He cried openly when he saw his baby’s head coming out. He was itching to hold his baby but she was whisked away by the paediatrician to another room. Something was wrong. Gynaec was busy suturing his wife and he saw furrows on the paediatrician’s forehead. He didn’t have guts to ask what was going on. But something was seriously wrong, for sure!!

And then he heard his baby cry… It was full one minute before she cried and the paed. was worried about it. The baby was placed on the mother’s chest for cuddling and Kaushal felt relief that things are working out to be fine. But then he was called to the doctor’s chamber and was narrated on the baby’s birth weight, APGAR score and other things. He didn’t understand most of the things. But when he was told that due to delayed breathing of the baby there were chances of brain damaged, he was shocked!

“Not necessarily this would occur, but there are chances! Being the father you are supposed to know” emphasized the doctor.

Reassurance of the doctor didn’t make him feel any better. But he didn’t want to show any of his anxiety to Preksha, who was sleeping soundly due to exhaustion.

To be continued…..