First things first

I can see my toes, no let me reprase that, I can actually touch and paint my toenails now :)) It sure feels good to be able to do that after few odd months of being a beach whale !
It has been a good recovery so far and I have so much to thank my OB for that. I had a planned C Section, despite all the raised eye brows from friends and acquaintances and a good amount of chiding from my mom. I guess the first question anybody asks and that too so instinctively is an emphatic "Why". Now that I have heard so many why's I guess it must seem very strange and non natural to people when they hear that. There were some who were polite enough to mask it and some who very certainly were not and some even downright judgemental about it.

Anyhoo, to cut the long story short, from the very begining I was very sure of that fact that, a planned c is what is wanted and I had my very good reasons for it and did not need anyone's blessings or approval for the same. My doc was very supportive I must say although she did try a little bit to show me the goodness of a natural delivery and how easy it can be. But I personally do not like uncertanities just being the kind of person that I am and managed to convince her otherwise. She was gracious enough to let me chose without undue pushing or brainwashing :) (although she herslf is extremely pro au natural !)

They say that a good doctor is half the battle won and I have to agree. Dr. Praveena Shenoi was my OB-GYN and without any doubt the best in banaglore in my opinion. If anybody needs a reference, please IM me. It took me about 3 trial and errors to get to her and boy was I glad I did ! I believe that a doctor should put you at ease and not add to any apprehensions you may already have. And she did just that when I met her for the first time. No matter how many patients she sees in a day or how tired she would be, as a patient you would not realize that because even at 8 in the night or 6 in the morning, she greets you with the same affable smile :)

I remember when I met her the first time, I was in a very fragile state of mind as i was pregnant immediately after a miscarriage. I was already frustrated having tried out 3 other so called famous OB Gyn's in bangalore who were just plain annoying ! So, when I told her - "This maybe the one of the million babies that you help deliver but this is my first and I would like the kind of attention that this deserves from you, I would like you to help me with all the paranoid questions that I have and I will reach out to you for all the so called crisis situations in my head", she calmly said "I understand" and gave me her cell number. That clinched it for me and I knew that I had the right doctor..

There are doctors who put you at ease as soon as you talk to them and she is one of them. God knows how many crazy situations and scares we have had during the 9 months including the last ultrasound episode where the radiologist told us to get the baby out about a week before my scheduled surgery. She has been a constant support and voice of reason during the entire time and that is the mark of a stellar doctor !

She is also not the conventional sorts who tell you to rest the whole time as you are in a delicate condition, on the other hand she used to keep telling me that pregnancy is neither a disease nor a handicap so I shouldnt treat it like one. Infact she is one of the rare doctors who would tell me to be active and excercise the whole time (the ones that was allowed and thanks to that I actually dropped 10 kgs just 2 weeks after the surgery !). She was patient with my mum, who god knows is the only person more paranoid than me and told her very gently that I could eat whatever the hell I wanted and if I didnt feel like, not to force me. (during the annoying first trimester !).

During the memorable surgery she actually kept me occupied by talking to me the whole time and guiding me thru the process. The surgery by itself was such a breeze due to her and people dont believe me when I tell them that i was on my feet and walking the next day.

Till date i never experienced any major pain or complications and the incision scar is all but invisible (really!). The other grouse that most women have, is the feeling of being stranded alone after getting discharged from the hospital. This is mainly coz now the focus shifts to the baby and the baby has a doc for him/herself. The woman unless there are complications does not need her OB GYN anymore, so its a bit frustrating to be left to fend for ourselves with a brand new baby that we really dont know what to do with and weird things happening to our bodies trying to come back to its pre pregnancy state !
But thankfully she did not ditch us so fast and hand held enough for me to ease into mommyhood without having to worry about myself as well. Within 3 weeks, she had me declared fit enough to start an active routine and to do whatever the hell i wanted :) (almost quote unquote :p)

Her husband incidently is my baby's pediatrician, Dr. Arvind Shenoi, who if possible is even more famous than her ! He is simply the best ped in Bangalore and boy am I glad to get him or what. Although its a crazy rig to get appointments with him and there is a huge waiting everytime we go to the clinic. But the moment he smiles at us and touches the baby, it makes every frustrating waiting minute worthwhile ! There is just nobody in the world that my baby is so calm with ! Not even me, believe it or not :))

Anyways, this blog kinda transgressed into an ode to my doctors, but I guess that it is justified given how much I have to be thankful to them for :)