Odyssey Of Preemie’s Mother

By Nikita Gupta

Life swivelled My hubby n I giggled The report read HCG was high We uttered with a sigh It isn't a lie Most special gift on Mother's Day, we can't buy A new voyage began, from wife to being a mother Love, respect n care heightened for one another From morning sickness to growing baby bump I was carried away by emotional pump The Growth Trajectory in the womb The egg, from a poppy seed to embryo to foetus, abloom Unrivalled was the feeling The fluttering movements of baby wheeling Birthing a new life, true essence of Women Empowerment Stupendous experience, no words to vent Third Trimester rolled in with a bang Thrilling song, destiny sang Unaware of the reason for distress The pain, I couldn't supress Oh, these are the contractions Unable to infer doctor's gross reactions It was a Preterm Breech The due date, we just couldn't reach My baby was in a real hurry To step into the outside world, my deary Preparing for a c-sec It’s just 29 weeks of gestation, what the heck In the anaesthetic state, full of despair Aww, I heard the first cry of my little one, hope n joy was in the air It’s a baby boy My little bundle of joy When I gained consciousness Bereft of my new love, again I was hopeless In a dire emergency, he was taken to NICU right after birth Unable to catch even a glimpse of him, I was in life's dearth Within hours, mammary glands got activated Arggghhh, couldn't nurse my baby, I bleated Miles away from me Wriggling in pain to see him, hold him, so was he Dealing with Post-Partum stress A glance over his first pic, could make it less Got discharged in 3 days But with empty arms, everything seemed grey

Finally, I got the chance to see my one week old baby With heartbeat fast, trembling hands, shaky legs, my pace was so lazy He was incubated, ventilated, pricked for various scans To make him hale n hearty, doctors didn't miss a single chance Weighing just a kg, he was born Thinking about his respiratory distress, my heart was torn To help him breathe, he had nasal prongs Couldn't figure out, what went wrong The sensors, machines, needles, syringe, all over his body It was so dreadful, I ran away into lobby Traumatized with the view, Unable to hold back my tears Muzzling me, were all sort of fears But he is a warrior, born fighter Only with his strength, the days became more whiter I also stood up, to match up to his power I gave my best to climb this tower Expressed the milk for my little dude He could digest it, yippieee, it was all vibrantly hued An ml to a bit more, every day was like a new struggle Slowly we reached max feed level, n the happiness was much more than double Children's Day, a new dawn full of motherly affection was in my cart First time, I held my prince in my arms just next to my heart With pride, love n joy our eyes were brimming With the warmth of our touch, our little token of love was grinning His look was so Enthralling n Captivating The zealous energy in us, it was Recreating His tiny supple hands into mine Living the Grace of Motherhood, I did shine Forever In our hearts, picture of this Memorable Moment is etched No one can steal this treasure as it has been latched Another step forward, we took To bring him home early, by hook or by crook We started with Kangaroo Mother Care He laid nude on my chest bare For hours, peacefully Snuggled into me, my lille chap I began to feed him with spoon, in my Lap I caressed him with all my heart Blessed him and expressed my deep love of his part The Therapy worked miraculously He could breathe on his own righteously Day by day, he improved Nothing can be more Healing than Mother's Love, it proved At last, we were shifted to our personal ward I could draw him out of agony, was my biggest reward The restrictions of visiting hours, ended Now wholly under my Embrace, he landed His gastric feeding tube, cannula were all gone The stinging Pain of Separation is now bygone No more I needed permission, to touch to kiss to hug to love my baby, was a great relief In the tough times, true weapons are Courage and Positive Belief His weight gain was the only measure, how far we reach Everyday with few grams gained, yesss I could make it, was the cliché Hurray, we made it, Finally the Big Day came After 38 days of ups and downs, in our favour was the Game My teeny weeny made his debut in our home We got engrossed in nurturing his Beautiful n Delicate form So much of Hurdles, together we Crossed But there are still some milestones to be tossed They say, Love can heal anything n everything in world, so True N it demands nothing in lieu Proud to be mother of a Preemie His divine cuteness n littleness is a freebie Intertwining are our respective destiny The Choicest Blessing, God bestowed upon me…

By Nikita Gupta