Beautiful update and an awesome title Nisha! All our parents would have felt the same when we had our babies.
The update reminds me of my own valaikkappu and seemandham 15 years back - it was held in the last leg of my pregnancy after my parents arrived. And I delivered my son the next morning itself. It was a long ritual and quite exhausting. Jas was with me throughout the ritual. She teases me even now that the way the priest made me do all those namaskarams made me deliver early - 2 weeks earlier than the due date. BTW we both were pregnant at the same time with same due date - she delivered 2 weeks later than the due date.
Kajal
I believe the custom of wearing bangles during this ceremony is to infuse sounds and music to the baby in the womb. Nowadays pregnant women are asked to play music and read to the babies in the womb.