Part 196
For a moment she thought could I be pregnant? Then she rubbished it. How could that be possible, she had an IUD inserted after Ani's birth, so that couldn't be possible. And as a doctor she knew that IUDs were 99.99% failure free. She decided she had to make an appointment with Dr. Kalyani at the earliest.
She was feeling ravenous after the shower. She had asked the kids to carry on with their breakfast, as they had woken up at their usual time. When she went to the dining table, she was very happy to see that kaka had made her favourite, Mysore masala dosa, for breakfast. Even Kaka was surprised to see her eat so hungrily, but felt happy thinking she had got over her previous day's tension. She drank cups of her favourite sambhar too.
Then she gave chotu some building blocks to play with and sat with Akshat to take up his studies. But chotu was not a person to be ignored. He would fix a few blocks and call out to her "Mama, mama, correct?" He wasn't satisfied if she just nodded her head. He would insist "Mama, peease dekho na?" Finally Akshat was fed up with his constant interruption and angrily said "aap uske saath khelo, main khud pad loonga." Riddhima was at her wits end. In just a week she was tired of trying to juggle between the two. If Armaan had been here, he would attend to one of them.
In the evening they were all eagerly waiting for Armaan to come online. He had woken up early on Sunday morning just to chat with them. They enquired about the hospital, the people working with him, the patients, etc. He sounded as if he was having an experience of his lifetime, as everything was so different there. Hearing him Riddhima was glad she had forced him to go there.
He was all praises for the beautiful city which was in full bloom as it was summer time. After lunch on Saturday he had walked through the Harvard campus and was awestruck by its size and beauty. He asked them to have a look at the pics he had uploaded. They had to agree it was very beautiful. Today he was planning to go to and have a look around MIT and walk along the Charles River.
When Chotu saw his mama and anna talking for a long time with dad, he felt J. So pushing them aside he went and put himself directly in front of the laptop and said "dad, Ani gooboy. Loya nai, sab mummum khaya, gooboy." Armaan was very amused with his talks and replied "arrey mujhe to pata hai, mera raja beta to goodboy hai." Akshat had told him about Ani's previous morning's tantrum. So to tease him he asked "Lekin, kal cake ke liye kaun ro raha tha? Mujhe kisi ke roney ki awaaz aayi." The little one looked around and seeing his bro engrossed in talking to his mama, whispered "anna lo laha tha. Ani nai. Ani gooboy." That made his dad laugh aloud and the other two looked at him wondering what made him laugh so much.
The next morning Riddhima called Dr. Kalyani's clinic and made an appointment for next day evening so that she could go there directly from the hospital. But on her way back home that evening, on an impulse, she went to the chemist and bought a pregnancy testing kit. As soon as she came home, she headed straight to the bathroom saying she would shower and come. She impatiently did the test and the result was POSITIVE. She couldn't believe it. Maybe it was a technical error she thought. Tomorrow Dr. Kalyani would tell her what was the problem, she concluded.
She was feeling very hungry after the shower and headed straight to the kitchen. Kaka offered her coffee. But she said "kaka bhook lagi hai, coffee peeney ka mann nahi hai."
K: Khana to tayyar hi hai bahu, bus roti banana hai. Bana doon?
R: haan kaka, please bana dijiye.
Then she went to see what the kids were doing. As usual they were watching their favourite cartoon show. She asked them if they were ready for dinner as she was very hungry. They too agreed and soon they had their dinner.
After dinner they spoke to Armaan but not much as he was in the hospital. From today he had got a cabin to himself, so they could chat even in the daytime, when he was free. Akshat requested him to show him his cabin through his laptop. Just as they got connected, they heard a woman's voice saying "Sweetheart there's a patient for you. May I send her in?" "Sure Maureen," Armaan replied. To them he said "Main tum logonse baad mein baat karta hoon. Bye."
Riddhima was very irritated that someone else had called him sweetheart. She impatiently waited for him to call back. But when he didn't call till half an hour, she called him, but it went straight to his voice mail. Irritated she banged the phone and took the children to bed. They all slept together on Riddhima's bed now. She in the middle and the boys on either sides of her.
It was raining cats and dogs outside with thunder and lightning. So they were all sitting huddled together, all of them being equally scared in such weather. The one person who used to comfort them being away. To distract the boys, she was reading a dramatic story to them. Akka brought milk for the kids and Riddhima requested some hot chocolate for herself also, as she had had dinner much earlier. It was quite surprising because whenever akka used to force her saying women needed to drink milk, she would find some excuse and refuse.
The next morning when Armaan called her temper had cooled. But she couldn't help asking "Woh kaun thi jo tumhe sweetheart karke bula rahi thi?" He laughed asking "Kyon jalan ho rahi hai? Actually she's very pretty looking."
R: however pretty looking she may be I'm not bothered. Just make one thing clear to her that no one except me has the right to call you sweetheart.
A: theek hai theek hai kehdoonga.
After finishing the call, she told akka and kaka that she would be coming late from work as she had a special case. She didn't want to tell them that she was going to the doctor because they would get unnecessarily worried. And another reason was they would inform Armaan about it.
That evening Riddhima finished her work quickly, planning to leave a little early. She went to the hospital cafeteria to have some coffee before leaving. But seeing some fresh pastry being delivered she ordered one for herself and also had a few packed for home.
Dr. Kalyani's first question on seeing her was "you've come alone today? Where's Dr. Mallik?" When she told him about his trip she was very happy that he had got such a wonderful opportunity. She examined her and then called the nurse to take Riddhima's random sugar test and blood sample for some other tests which she wrote on a sheet. Till the nurse got the test result, she asked Riddhima about the symptoms.
R: I feel very drained out and weak, these days. I also feel voraciously hungry as if I can't wait even for a minute more and need to eat immediately. My breasts also feel very tender, even the slightest touch is very painful.
The nurse came to inform that the random sugar test was within normal limits. The urine test was positive and blood test results would be available the next day. Heaaring that Dr. Kalyani said to Riddhima, "I don't know whether this is going to be good news for you or bad, you are pregnant Riddhima." For a moment Riddhima was speechless. Then she asked "How can it be doctor. I have the IUD and you told us it's 99.99% safe."
Dr. K: Yes, but you are among the 0.01%. The IUD isn't there now. It must have got displaced.
R: During my last period I experienced unbearable pain, could it have happened then?
Dr. K: Probably. Anyways you talk with your husband and let me know at the earliest if you wish to terminate it. I know your husband was very disturbed seeing your condition during your previous pregnancy itself. He wanted to go in for a vasectomy after the second child, but I asked him to wait for a year or so. He didn't come after that, though.
Riddhima remembered a mail which had been forwarded to her by Muskaan to create an empathy for female foeticide. It was a baby talking from it's mother's womb, saying she was very happy that was coming to the world as her daughter etc. Then the baby cries out that someone is pricking her with a needle and begs the mother to stop them saying she was not ready yet to come into the world as yet and if they forced her out she would die. She wanted to continue living and enjoy her mother's love and care. That had touched her heart very deeply.
Reminded of that, she immediately said "no, no doctor termination is just out of question. This is an accident. What's the baby's fault in all this? Why should it lose it's life? What right do we have to take its life? I'll convince my husband somehow. But I have one doubt, in both my earlier pregnancies I had severe morning sickness right from the sixth week. But this time I'm not having any sickness yet. How come?
Dr. K: It's still early and it's also possible to have different symptoms in each pregnancy. This time you are feeling tired and hungry may be you won't throw up so much.
Riddhima thanked Dr. Kalyani who said she would prescribe the supplements after seeing the other pathological reports the next day. As she walked out of the clinic, she was so excited. She wanted to share the happy news with someone, but she wasn't sure whether she should confide in Armaan as yet. And she him to be the first one to know about it. She had finished earlier than expected so decided to go to the nearby Guruvayoorappan (Krishna) temple.
Standing in front of the diety with folded hands she prayed in her mind. Bhagwanji, in the last three years you've fulfilled all my wishes and made all my dreams come true. Now without my even dreaming about this, you've given another joy. But I have you one favour to ask. This time let it be daughter which my husband yearns for.
As the pandit came out and handed Prasad to everyone he spoke to a gentleman saying "pray to the lord that you'll offer Tulabharam of your child, he will take care of her." Riddhima was curious to know what the Panditji had said so she asked the gentleman about it. He told her that his daughter was very ill and he came here to pray everyday for her. She told him that she was also a doctor and recommended that he take his child to Dr. Sheila and gave him her clinic address.
Then she enquired what was meant by Tulabharam. He explained that to get their wish fulfilled devotees make a vow of tulabharam i.e. giving their weight of offerings such as bananas, sugar, jaggery or coconuts. When their wish is fulfilled they are weighed against the offering by making them sit on side of the weighing scale and the offering put on the other side.
She immediately prayed to the guruvayoorappan that if she got a daughter, she would give thulabharam of her daughter with sugar.
Outside the temple she saw some hawker selling cut mango slices spiced with chilly powder. Normally she would go near such a hawker but the mango slices looked irresistible and she went and bought a few slices and ate them as walked to her car.
Edited by ssh57 - 14 years ago
Anupamaa
193