I was a Little Apprehensive in the Beginning as all Sessions Were Online

It was a Sunday on 13th Dec 2020 when I took the pee test first thing in the morning and brushed while I waited, not expecting anything; then there it was – 2 pink lines and I was shocked, ecstatic, nervous, speechless all at once. I didn’t know how to react or what to say. I woke Alin up and just blurted – “We are pregnant”. He was still deep asleep but sprung up the moment he heard it and sat there with the same emotions as me. We took some time to process it before telling both our parents, but we weren’t completely sure till we went and confirmed the tiny little 4-week dot with the doctor. At 4 weeks, the dot didn’t mean much but then at 6 weeks, when we heard the heartbeat for the first time, it was all very real and that’s when my true and most beautiful pregnancy journey began.

As most doctors advice, mine also advised us to be the most careful during the 1st trimester, all the more because of Covid. So, we hadn’t told many people outside my immediate family and boy was it hard. Alin and I have a very big social circle and I am someone who needs to talk, and not telling people something so exciting was extremely difficult. However at 13 weeks, when we finally told the entire world, we got so much love from all our friends and family. The doc also gave me a go-ahead to start pregnancy workout and that’s when I reached out to Nikita from Rita’s pregnancy 101. I was a little apprehensive in the beginning as all sessions were happening online because of Covid and I wanted to start something in person. But because I had heard so many good things about these classes, I still went ahead with the online sessions, and it was the best thing. Nikita was my go-to person for literally all things baby! Doctor visits were scheduled but in the meanwhile, I would ask all my questions and doubts to Nikita and she would guide me in the best possible way. I was always sure I wanted to do natural delivery and thanks to these classes, my motivation stayed till the very end. Even though I had a slight hiccup of a short cervix, 9 cm fibroid attached to the placenta, and bed rest at 25 weeks, Nikita still helped me with mild exercises that I could do that would keep me active. She coached, pushed, and motivated everyone to be the strongest versions of themselves during the pregnancy And so I continued, with my doc’s approval and under Nikita’s guidance, all the squats, malasana, kegels, and other exercises.

It was a normal Sunday again, 1st Aug, 2021; I wasn’t due till the 16th Aug, 2021. I walked in the evening, met with friends, came back and finished my nightly squat and workout routine and slept by 1:30am. 3:30am I wokeup with a sudden urge to pee, which was a regular thing in the last few weeks, so not thinking much I went back to bed. Soon after, the contractions started, again; I had had these contractions at 25 weeks due to short cervix so tried to sleep through the pain and decided to go to the doc first thing in the morning. But then these contractions started hurting like crazy and were 2-3 min apart and 60-70 sec long. This pain was something I had never experienced. I woke Alin and my parents up and called the hospital; they asked me to come in and get checked. Since I wasn’t due for 2 more weeks, I had not packed my hospital bag, so in a hurry I packed a couple things – laptop first – because as per theory I still had atleast 10 hours before delivery and I needed something to divert my mind. However, when I reached the hospital at 5:00am, I was immediately taken for checkup and monitoring. The nurses asked me to count any baby kicks that I felt, but the contractions pain was so severe I couldn’t concentrate on anything else. At 5:30am they wheeled me into the delivery room and I was more surprised; I had heard labor would last quite a few hours, so how was all of this moving so fast? When my doctor finally examined me at 5:30am, I was already 8cm dilated and 80% effaced. Even my doctor wondered how I didn’t feel any contractions all of previous day. 10 min later, it was time to push. It was all happening so fast, I wasn’t able to wrap my head around it. I tried to stay calm, the support from team of doctors and Nikita’s breathing exercises relieved some of the pain, but it was far from easy. Finally after 4-5 pushes at 6:00am, I felt a heavy pressure lift from me and there he was, my Aariv! I couldn’t speak due to exhaustion but I was so overwhelmed looking at my baby, it felt like magic. Soon after cleaning Aariv, the doctor asked me to feed him to help encourage milk flow; then Aariv and I both passed into a deep slumber.

Nikita had encouraged us so much for breastfeeding that it became my next goal after natural delivery. I wanted to make sure I tried everything I could, without losing my sanity, to enhance my milk flow. And at 11 months I can say, breastfeeding is my most cherished time with Aariv. It took a lot of demand feeding for hours on end, patience, pumping and sleepless nights to get here, but I am happy I did it. I know I will continue feeding him till he is ready to stop, and I also know I will miss it when he stops.

I am so glad I started P101 classes during my pregnancy. Nikita guided my journey in the most beautiful way and I have already referred a lot of my fellow mommies to be to join P101!

To learn more about pregnancy, baby care & breastfeed related information and pregnancy classes visit our website Rita’s Pregnancy 101.