flying in 29th week..

While I pack my stuff for flying to India day after..my thoughts go back to Oct 2011, when my flew with my lil baby inside my tummy in my 29th week of pregnancy..

I had decide to go to India to get my baby..but had wanted to spend those special days with hubby as much as possible ,I stayed in UK till it was possible to fly safely , my friend flew to India in her 27th week. She had a safe flight and didn't report any issues..I had decided to stretch it till my 29th week. The booking agent had then advised me to bring along a fitness certificate to avoid any last minute hassles even though flying was considered safe for a woman with normal pregnancy till the 32nd week by most airlines.

I had a fit to fly certificate with me however ,when I went to the check-in counter ,the airline staff didn't even notice my bump...I inquired on my own specially since I had to take some extra efforts to get that certificate , even had to pay for it. He was confused and consulted a senior and then took my fitness certificate...I was happy to hand him the same!

Airports and railway stations are weird places, they seem to hold some special power to make me cry a lot for heaven knows why reasons, when I am left behind or am leaving someone behind! So as anticipated I cried a lot while leaving my hubby for immigration check and kept turning back and waving frantically till I could see him no more...silly me!!!

The immigration went smooth..during the security check I didn't walk through the screening door to protect my lil one from radiations. Pregnant women are given the leverage of skipping the screeners but are frisked instead.

When I stepped into the craft the air-hostess welcomed me and said she was informed of me flying in the craft ..hmmn special treatment! My cabin luggage was shoved up by a steward even before I asked for help.

During take offs and landings..I was holding on to my big tummy which kept shaking due to the vibrations...

As suggested by the GP , I took walk at regular intervals and had also worn those special flight socks to avoid swelling in the feet.

Apart from that everything else was normal..I remember the same steward served me before the others saying they are serving the special guests first...pregnancy is a beautiful phase of life ...when every one treats you with so much of warmth and affection. Everyone I met on the flight and in the airport gave me that sweet smile and helped me in their own ways .. be it simple things like no waiting for the lavatory in the flight or helping with the luggage.

Now I will travelling my lil monkey..wonder how the journey will turn up?

One year two months first week..

My toddler turned one year and two months this week...big enough to sleep on a cot my himself..so I ordered a pretty cot for him. Assembled it with some efforts and let baby inside it. His first reaction was more like he's been prisoned .. he kept on crying inside and wanted to be taken out of it....but soon he discovered the joy of bouncing on his bed with his friend Winnie !

While he was inside it, I realized that it was a bit small for him...I had not given much consideration to the size while ordering, some side effects of online shopping .. later I discovered it was apt for babies till 3 yrs age..so decided to exchange it for a bigger one....more efforts disassembling and packing it. Today I packed it and left it in the concierge to be collected ..the new one would be delivered after one and a half month... cause that's when I come back from my vacation!

Just a week back it seemed that we were shifting our base back to India...but now that we are not, I decided on going for a vacation to India. Just me and baby, Daddy just joined a new project , obviously cannot get leaves...some tough days ahead for Daddy without his darling naughty lil entertainer...

Well this also means I would be travelling with my baby all by myself..initially I was a bit scared but now I am not ..I am just worried about my fellow passengers.Its a night flight ..poor things out there!!

Baby has learnt a few words ..but still not the word I have been yearning to hear...

These days he tries to utter words while listening to the nursery rhymes on TV...whenever we switch on the TV and search for rhymes for him he starts saying Ba..Ba ...He wants us to play "Ba ba ..black sheep" other times he would say " O...O " when he wants us to select "Old MacDonald ... "

Earlier his jabberings didn't make sense to us and we played what we thought was his favorite but now he makes us understands what he wishes to see..now he wouldn't put up with what we choose but has to be his own else starts throwing tantrums ... I wonder what happens next when he starts speaking sentences?!?

Yesterday I also trimmed his nail while he was awake...he was seated on his high chair and patiently let me trim them..was kind of amused and curious with what I was doing...couple of times he pulled his finger and my hand cause he wanted to grasp the cutter in his hands...waiting for him to sleep to trim his nails....those days are past ? ..possibly!!!

That night our friends were home ...later when it was time to leave , they rose to put on their shoes and moved to the door ..my baby walked to them and started waving and saying bye... cherished moment my lil baby's grown up now ...with much effort I taught him to wave b-bye but never when...he's picked that up on his own.

Coming few days are gonna be busy..very busy ! Travelling and before that shopping and packing...there's and endless list of baby stuff to be packed ....hope there's some space to squeeze in couple of essentials of mine !

PS : A very Happy Valentine day to you and your loved ones !

One year One month and five weeks

The heart wrenching dilly dally of two months finally came to an end....this way or that ..some decision was all that we were longing for now...so when it came through that we were staying back ...was such solace to the tormented soul ! So some more time in London ..another English summer to  look forward to...

ready steady go!!!

Seriously those last few weeks were just maddening....got stretch this long ....but then they say all's well that end well. We didn't do any major packing ...gave notice to the landlord which thankfully we could rescind.

For quite some thing I was holding off to that shopping spree..couldn't bear the itch any longer and gladly shopped for a couple of things for the house. Feels so divine to be shopping .... rejuvenating ... paradise on earth ! With my baby shopping malls are still such a big no no...perhaps for a long time..but I have discovered the divine power of online shopping these days !

Baby has discovered that there's a world behind the main door that he can explore on his own- every-time one of us gets ready to step out of the house..baby's happily standing at the door waiting for it to open so that he can run out. He's happy to roam around by himself in the corridor...I do couple of rounds with him. After a while he starts banging on the neighbors doors , that's when I bring him in. I just open the door and wait inside. For sometime he pays no attention to my absence ...after a while he reluctantly steps inside.

Cruising through the corridor

He walks very fast and swift these days...rather can be said that he runs now with those tini mini legs..and keeps slipping , at least a dozen times a day.Keeps stepping over his own toys. I try to pick them up and keep the ground clear, but as soon as I arrange them, the very next second they are back to where I picked them from...

I mostly watch NURSERY RHYMES with my baby, the other day I put some songs and I was amused  to see how much he was enjoying the beats..kept moving his tiny bum this way and that..was a real treat to watch him dance.....

When hubby joined work after a long break this week, I expected baby to miss him a lot, he being such a daddy's boy....but he doesn't seem to ! Kids adapt so fast , its us the grownups who take so much time to acclimatize. Life's back on track ... the usual routine..me and baby by ourselves again .... enjoying each others company!

One year one month and four weeks.

This apparently is the last weekend of our stay in London ..sometime next week we are shifting back to India. Hubby's project got over in December..his company is trying to rope him in a new project but with the sluggish, teeming job market....looks more like it's pack-up time.

So am I happy about it...not at all...reminds me of the time almost four year back when I moved to London..was I happy then? No...then I didn't want to leave India for so many reasons and now again I don't wanna go back as yet for so many different reasons.

At the moment, am hooked to the London that looked so dull and boring back then..

Daddy's Little SuperStar !

At this moment there's no choice ...but still if it were a choice I keep thinking which is the right place to bring up my baby in.. India or UK ? Friends and family ask us if we would be settling in UK..we always say no , we would ultimately settle in India...but now when it's time to go back there's this air of disillusionment around. Hubby however is quite happy to go back.

Childhood bliss , wrapped in ignorance...these things make no difference to my sweetie-pie. As of now he's enjoying his dad's company during the day as well as night. When my baby was just days old...he was happy to sleep by himself  in his Moses basket...gradually when he started turning more fussy at nights..he started sleeping next to me on my bed....I didn't want to put him in a separate cot then....he was too young for that I thought.

sleeping tight in his basket....one month old!

 Experience says it was not such a good decision. Around four months old, he would sleep through the night well but as he turned seven months and more he would wake up every two - three hours and couldn't fall back to sleep on his own...eventually led the habit of comfort sucking at nights. Now that he's a year old I wanna stop nursing him ... which makes breaking out of this sleep pattern all the more essential. For the past one month he's been sleeping next to his father and thankfully things are shaping up better now..he still wakes up but far less and is out of the habit of comfort sucking.
It was a welcome break for me...Last when I slept for more than three hours at a stretch was in my second semester...I see coal mines under my eyes now !!!

This week was also hubby's B'day..his first one with baby, last year we were in India and he was by himself. Wanted to make this one a bit special so baked a cake for him and had some friends over...time for some Champagne popping!

Chocolate Cake and Champagne

Baby also had a good time ..he's not scared of people any more and has started enjoying get-together much more than he used to before. He is past the age of fear of strangers. However he still doesn't like if someone else tries to carry him in their arms.