Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Bonding with my new-born....

After seeing all the commercials involving a new-born, I was expecting that I would bond with my new-born at the first sight. However quite strangely the bonding did not happen so immediately.
I had anticipated a normal delivery all thru my pregnancy.. However, I ended up having an emergency C.
Due to the flurry of activities preceeding the surgery, my head had started spinning even before I was given any anesthesia.
I was quite awake during the operation with my hands tied down.. I also had to wear an oxygen mask.
Within seconds of administering the shot on my spine, the gyne cut me open and within minutes I could hear my baby cry.
The doc called out that I had a beautiful baby boy... They then bathed him and brought him to me... I felt that I had received a lovely gift. I was quite amazed and stunned but did not experience any of the motherly feeling. He was wide awake... His head was covered with lovely silky hair and he was looking at me... I just placed a kiss on his forehead.
I was kept in the recovery room for an hour or so and then taken to the maternity ward. He was then brought to me for his first feed.. I tried quite unsuccessfully and then we were shifted to our room where he was placed in a cradle beside me.
All that I experienced for the next few days was anxiety... I was anxious that I was unable to feed him, anxious that he should be kept away from any sort of dirt lest he should get any infection.. I even scolded my mom for asking my cousins to hold him when he was just 3 days old.
He was so tiny and delicate that I even did not have the courage to hold him... My mom held him most of the times and my husband would also hold him at times..
I had a lot of issues in feeding which is going to be the topic of another post...
But I put my foot down that my baby was going to get only breast milk.. So that caused a lot more anxiety since I was worried that he was going without enough food..
A lot of the bonding actually came thru feeding.. My baby ( hence forth I am going to refer to him as Prince Charming.. i.e. PC ) would feed all the time for the first few weeks.. When it hit me that he needed so much of me all the time, I realized the motherly instinct in me.It took about 6-8 weeks for me to realize that I was a mother.
I would like to know if there are others who took such time to bond.. Sometimes I feel very envious when I read some posts where people say they had bonded at the first sight of the baby... Its about 4 months now and PC and I know were are made for each other... :))

1 comment:

Rohini said...

With you on this. Bonding happened in the third month for me. Till them all I felt was protectveness and anxiety...