reflections.

A miracle called life

To see a woman who is pregnant, awaiting an addition to her family, expecting a new life, is such a wonderous feeling, an endearing scene, even to just watch. One wonders how with time, most of the experiences become fond memories that we cherish and those which last us for our lifetimes with recurrent bouts of nostalgia, spells of gushing affection, and over the years these pages from the past become part of our conversations with our children and their spouses, even when they have fully achieved adulthood and are busy making their own families.

And what is most touching is to get into the minds of the mothers- in- the- making and see what their concerns are. To raise a perfect child, to be around the baby ,tend the baby with the utmost precision of a clock, and to love the new arrival unconditionally . All these are a given. As an older parent, one does understand the parental aspirations. It’s a dream that has wings, for one gets into a reverie, visualising your unborn baby to be doing things that you liked doing the most or probably that you liked very much but couldn’t accomplish.

The expectant mother has weight around her, her movements are slower than usual, she feels tired and has problems sleeping in comfort or even changing sides in the bed, as she advances in her pregnancy but never does she complain about the same; the growing excitement of having the baby transcends it all .

Once the baby nestles closer to you, literally like a bosom pal, it ensures the birth of a maternal instinct, and as it gets fed on mother’s milk, the bond is immediately built and concretised and the entire perspective of a woman changes, from there on. For the mother it’s her last love and for the baby it’s his first love.

Motherhood is indeed the start of a beautiful new relationship that grows and strengthens over time, ,has many ups and downs, yet most of the time survives and bounces back in good health .The beginning is difficult but doable. Managing your mind body and emotions is of utmost importance, for in doing so you are helping your child grow up in a balanced environment.

The pretty picture of motherhood may take a beating though, for it also means hard work, the priorities change. Don’t forget the hormonal dent, the moodiness that goes along with that hormonal flux. Sleep and meal times take a back seat. The new moms catch up on their sleep, whatever time they get ,day ,night afternoon. There is no set time anymore for her and she also chooses to eat and drink that, that is good and beneficial for the baby, nature’s way of moulding her into a mother, a preserver ,a protector .

There is a stranger in the house who kind of looks like one of you, sleeps all the time, poops and pees regardless of time and place, is small in size and shape, but loud and angry enough to wake up everyone else including the neighbours.

With him a mother is born too. She goes around it all, tirelessly, patiently and with a smile on her face. .She is a new person, reincarnated as a mother with new perspectives, new feelings, new tenderness, new emotions, that one normally doesn’t experience without giving birth to a child .. She would now see herself in a new light, and feel differently .

My friend who has been a teacher before and also after she turned into a mother , always says that her attitude towards children underwent a shift .

“My treatment of the small children and my outlook towards them had changed .. I was surprised to know who I had become .. I used to be terse strict and my tongue almost whip like with the children where discipline was concerned, but not anymore .. I had become more forgiving, more patient and more empathetic for the images of my own kids used to flash across my mind.”

So it’s evolving, in a way becoming a better person ..not without reason is she called a mother, like the famous cliché’… mothers were made for God couldn’t be everywhere ..There seems to be a lot of truth in this ..

There is also a self-care kit that becomes important . It means survival. Stay away from lows and hormonal swings, baby blues as it is called .. don’t worry about your changed physique and angry bursts, wondering what is going to become of you ; instead look ahead to being the same self again with a bonus of a baby . Feel richer and blessed. Look forward to wearing some attractive dresses and go back to a fitness schedule with the advice of your doctor

My mother in law would always say that ‘the first child is like a sibling .. you grow up with him/her and the second is your child for you have grown up when he or she arrives’

Simple words and lines but great wisdom !

And to see that you created life, you created another human being ..the one becomes us , I becomes we.

This is nothing short of a miracle !