Recovery

One thing Tanvi repeatedly says is that she has not been able to see the baby on the monitor like we have. She has not heard its loud heartbeat. Every time there is a check-up date, she begs to tag along. But so far, all the check-up dates have fallen on a weekday. And since we don’t want her to miss her school, we don't take her. Also, we don’t know if children are allowed into the room where the scanning happens. The 6^th month check-up due on Nov 11th is a regular one. Maybe the 7^th or 8^th month when there will be another scan we should take her too. She also can feel and see the baby inside the womb and “see” it on the monitor and listen to the doctor who explains stuff.

Oh yeah! This is true. When kids are really little, their every movement feels great especially the awkward, funny, clumsy dance movements they do. With Tan, I loved the way she danced to the rhyme “I am a little tea pot”. It was Sathya’s and my favorite. 

I remember one incident that pained me a lot at the time. I was in office. Sathya had picked up Tanvi from her babysitter and taken her to his house and dropped her back at the babysitter right around the time I went to pick her up and take her home. I didn’t know all this until a year later when his youngest brother accidentally said, “Sathya brought Tanvi home and we made her dance and she danced to this and this song”. I was shocked! When was this!  And why was this! None of them – grandparents, two uncles – had ever even turned around to be with Tanvi or take care of her or buy her anything or even come and play with her, the godly grandmother had not even given old, used/torn clothes to be used as diaper for the baby - NOTHING AT ALL – that was the level to which their non-commitment was to this new relationship and her growing up years and here was Sathya who had taken the little girl to dance in front of them and entertain them!

One full year for recovery! Who knew that! Most of us plunge right back into the routine of life. We have to. I don’t think most mothers, the world over, have the luxury to take it easy after the delivery, that too for a whole year. 

My neighbor, whose house is bang opposite ours, had a baby last year. We never saw her pregnant, and she is really aged, so it must be through surrogacy. He is over a year old now. She has a full time 18 year old girl to look after the baby plus an elderly woman who comes and works as a nanny during the entire day plus a house-help who does the regular chores around the house plus her two siblings plus her husband and one more woman who is a relative. So many people to look after the baby!!!!  That is what I call luxury.