Three new mothers talk about their life-changing experiences
We are family: Ramakrishna Bheemshetty with wife Lalitambika and daughter Maanvi
Hyderabad: Till a few weeks ago, Vidhi Raichandani’s life revolved around only herself — she loved socialising, attending parties and shopping — but only for herself. Now, a week after she has delivered twins — a boy and a girl — she thinks it’s perhaps time to clean up her closet and make space for some cute outfits of her little ones. “I can’t get over how beautiful they are,” says Vidhi, looking at her baby girl who was being fed by the nurse.
“Since they were born prematurely, a month before the due day, I didn’t even get to see my babies the day they were born. My little boy is still in the NICU (neonatal intensive-care unit) as he is just 1.6 kg,” she adds.
Just a couple of rooms across hers at Rainbow Hospitals in Banjara Hills is Rukmini Reddy, a doctor herself, who was working even the day before she have birth to a baby boy. “It’s sheer coincidence that I delivered just a few days before Mother’s Day but as a new mother I am overjoyed — all of a sudden my life feels much more colourful and meaningful,” says Rukmini.
Turn to page 18 She adds, “But my mother is probably the happiest because she had me when she was just 15, so after seeing her first grandchild she is reliving the moment all over again.”
On the ground floor of the hospital, with a flurry of patients coming in out, we met the young couple Ramakrishna Bheemshetty, his expecting wife Lalitambika and their two-and-a-half-year old daughter Maanvi.
“We have been preparing Maanvi for the last few months saying that she’ll soon have a baby brother or sister. My wife has been so busy that she even forgot my birthday, a few days ago,” says Ramakrishna, laughing.
“As a mother, my immediate concern is to be able to manage time effectively as the little one would need my constant attention for the next three-four months at least,” adds Lalitamika (she delivered a boy on Friday).
On the occasion of Mother’s Day, the three new mothers agree that giving birth is nothing short of a miracle. Even if it is preceded by excruciating back pains, bouts of nausea resulting in a loss of appetite and other ailments, at the end it’s all worth it.
Vidhi exclaims, “Only after becoming a mother myself, I could begin to comprehend what my mother went through to nurture and bring me up well. I am excited for what lies ahead of me. I am barely getting two hours of sleep every night, but I wouldn't trade this for anything.”
12 interesting Mother’s Day Facts:
History:
1. In England, in the 1600s, the fourth Sunday of Lent was observed as Mothering Sunday. Children, on this day, would offer flowers to their mothers.
2. Julia Ward Howe, an activist, writer and poet, appealed to women to observe a day of peace in the world. She asked to observe “Mother’s Day for Peace” on June 2 every year, but was unsuccessful.
3. Anna Jarvis, who founded Mother’s Day, was unmarried and childless. She wanted to carry out her mother’s wishes of having a day just for moms. She campaigned for the same and on May 8, 1914, President Woodrow Wilson designating the second Sunday of May as Mother’s Day.
STRANGE:
4. Elizabeth Ann Buttle holds the record for the longest interval between the birth of two children. She gave birth to her first child on May 19,1956, when she was 19 and her second child on November 20, 1997, when she was 60.
5. The youngest mother on record delivered a boy when she was 5 years-old. Her son was raised as her brother.
6. The oldest woman to give birth to her first child was Satyabhama Mahapatra, a retired schoolteacher in India, who delivered when she was 65-year-old. She gave birth to a baby boy after 50 years of marriage. The eggs, however, were donated by her 26 year-old niece.
7. In Yugoslavia, children would tie up their mother on Mother’s Day, who would then have to treat their children to let them free.
GIFTS:
8. If you are planning to gift something different to your mom, do not go for greeting cards, flowers, lunch or dinner, jewellery, gift cards, apparels, trips to a spa or beauty parlour, books and housewares. These are the most common gifts one gives on Mother’s Day.
9. However, studies show that giving a bouquet has many positive affects.
Mother’s Day in India:
10. Indian religious texts have always placed mother as God. Manu Dharma Sastra asks the human race to reward their mothers.
1.1Globalisation is believed to be the reason behind the trend of Mother’s Day celebrations in India.
Trivia:
12. In most of the languages across the globe, the word for “mother” begins with the letter M.
( Source : dc )
Next Story
