By Naomi Nair @aevatharvam
My little girl was three years old when she made a very peculiar request. She wanted me to order for her a baby brother from Amazon! In her tiny mind, when Elsa had Anna in the Frozen series and Peppa Pig had George, it was only fair that she too have a sibling! While I was confounded at her ability to apply such reasoning skills while watching cartoons, and even more bewildered at her thinking that babies can be bought online, I was more than happy to oblige. The only question was if I would be able to fulfil her wish. For someone with few health issues, conceiving a second time was almost wishful thinking. But when my daughter expressed this desire, suddenly I found myself yearning to see her grow alongside a sibling. After a few months of trying and being lucked out, I was on the verge of giving up, when suddenly I received the good news I had been dying to hear for a long while. The only irony was, all of times, it happened during the infamous lockdown of March 2020!
When the whole world was mired in the general melancholy and hopelessness brought upon by a pandemic, here we were, preparing to welcome one more of life’s little blessing to our family. My husband and daughter were thrilled beyond measure! And, while I myself was looking forward to embracing motherhood second time round, I was equally filled with fear and dread. To give birth during Covid 19 was nothing short of stressful. My mind was consumed with all sorts of negative possibilities. What if my baby’s growth suffered? What if I was tested Covid positive, what then will happen to the baby? What if my health issues interfered with my pregnancy? While the whole family was adhering to the ‘mask, sanitizer and social distancing’ rule as strictly and diligently as possible, such thoughts kept me worried and awake late at night. My darling girl, on the other end, was waiting with bated breath, announcing to anyone and everyone she can get hold of that her mamma was giving her a baby! Her cheeriness was a respite to the dark thoughts pooling around in my head. As we moved ahead in the pregnancy journey, my fears began to ebb away and as the 35th week approached, we were soon lost in a sea of excitement as we made a list of pre-arrival items to be ordered from Amazon (everything except a baby!) before the delivery day. Three weeks later, our long wait was over and my daughter became a big sister to a little mister on 30th November 2020.
While life in general during Corona was like walking through a maze, pregnancy during pandemic was an adventure in itself! My biggest takeaway through all this is that, when something is meant to be, things will fall in place, one way or another. And while it’s only natural to question the ebb and flow, some things are best left to the Providence. And now a family of four, so we go on, basking in anticipation of what is in store for us next, waiting to be surprised the same way when life gave us a coronial!