#vrikshambirthstory

Hello Anu Ka
We are your early pregnancy, labour management, breastfeeding and infant care students and we were blessed with a baby girl this July 🥰
I, the husband wanted to post this birth story because this story has been equally special for me as has been for my wife 😊
Our pregnancy journey started in nov 2020 and we were fortunate that you had scheduled an early pregnancy class that week itself.
First trimester was a little challenging with persistent and frequent vomiting, nausea, weakness and weight loss but the excitement that we were going to be parents soon kept my wife pass through that phase successfully.
Conditions started getting better towards the middle of second trimester and just when she was beginning to enjoy her pregnancy, she got affected with COVID and it spread to me as well right after. Those 2 weeks were probably the toughest part of her 9 months with a lot physical inconveniences and the need to isolate ourselves completely, but thanks to constant guidance and support from our doctor we recovered in 2 weeks time while being on home quarantine.
Third trimester was pretty eventful with Seemandham, baby shower and maternity shoot and thanks to the knowledge we gained through your early pregnancy and labour management classes, we were able to understand and be happy that our scans indicated cephalic position with normal afi and foetal weight. We were mentally prepared for both vaginal delivery and emergency c-section and had everything planned out in terms of hospital bag, breathing techniques, kegels, exercises, visualisation, vocalisation, need for an informed decision wrt epdiurals, timing contractions, when and how to push and most importantly the support which I should be providing as a husband during all these times. Thanks to the pandemic we knew it was going to be only the 2 of us at the hospital and we were all set for it !

We kept talking to our baby when she was inside her mother asking her to give us a not so difficult delivery experience but little did we expect that Our little one would take our words so seriously – she decided not to give us the trouble of executing any of our plans and threw us a big surprise by cutting down the labour to as less as 2 hours 😇
On the 14th of July, after all the regular chores and usual mid morning exercises, my wife had a unique discharge (“show”) around 12pm. We went to our doctor and got it confirmed that her labor had begun and she was 2cm dilated . There started our excitement for the magical moment of seeing our baby😍 We got her admitted at 2.45pm – all this while she was completely normal without any symptoms whatsoever. She was taken directly to the labor room to our surprise and the nurses confirmed doctor had given instructions that way. She started getting very mild contractions around 3.30pm. Our doctor arrived around 4pm and said she was then 5-6 cm dilated and that she would deliver soon .
Before even we could digest that fact, her contractions started increasing big time. She became 7-8cm dilated by 430pm and the doctor started making arrangements for delivery . The contractions became extremely intense by then and she quickly rose to 10cm dilation. She wasn’t able to concentrate during her first 2 pushes as we couldn’t practice and pushing before. I then educated her on how to push thanks to the techniques I had learnt during your class and in the 3rd push our doctor showed me the baby’s head ☺️ That confidence made her do her next pushes even better and in the 5th push our tiny angel made a royal entry into our world at 4.47pm ❤️
Our parents friends relatives and even we couldn’t even believe we delivered within just 2 hours of getting admitted and I was extremely happy and satisfied that I got to be physically present at the labor ward to welcome my princess into our lives 🥰
As discussed with our doctor before, we did skin to skin right after the delivery, delayed cord clamping and breastfeeding within 1 hour. Thanks to your breastfeeding classes and with good support from the nurses she was able to learn the art of getting the baby latch well and we continue to and plan to exclusively breast feed the baby till 6 months 😊
Your infant care sessions were very useful and made us become aware and practice the right ways of diapering, bathing, swaddling, knowing what signs to look out for, coping with postpartum , putting the baby to sleep and understanding recommended products to use.
But above all of these the most important aspect you impart to your students through every class of yours is positivity, confidence and trusting one’s body and we can’t thank you enough for that 😊 Our pregnancy and labour journey is something we would cherish throughout your lives and you were one the main reasons why the last few months have been extremely memorable for us ! You have been a great source of motivation and inspiration for millions of moms to be, new moms and dads and a big thank you once again for everything 😇
No matter how much you read and hear about how much a woman goes through during pregnancy and postpartum , you realize and appreciate the sheer quantum of it only when you observe your wife go through the entire journey – a massive respect to all the women who overcome all these challenges that this gifted phase of motherhood throws at them ❤️
To all the men there, it is very important that we husbands be there as much as possible with our wives throughout the 4 trimesters, help them in whatever ways we can and most importantly provide them moral support while comforting them everything will be fine !

I’m glad I was able to do my part and I’m happy to see a lot of husbands these days making an effort to do the same 😊

Lots of love from Anand, Gayathri and our little one Riya ❤️