Riti Prasad - Double Trouble, Double Fun!: A Supermoms Guide to Raising Twins

Riti Prasad had her plans well laid out. Get a job right out of MBA college, marry around the age of twenty-eight and have a child, preferably two, before thirty. And, God decided to grant her just what she asked for. Working as creation head in a multinational fragrance company, she cruises through raising her twins in her unique creative style. She often debates whether she must credit the twins for her success at work, because they taught her what an MBA could notpatience and determination through stressful situations.

She is one of the top mommy bloggers in India and has written the books Mathematics Fun, Facts and Fiction, Folk Tales from Around the World and Wicked Temptations.

She lives in Chennai with her entrepreneur husband and twin boys.

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Copyright 2017 Riti Prasad

The views and opinions expressed in this book are the authors own and the facts are as reported by her. They have been verified to the extent possible, and the publishers are not in any way liable for the same.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, by any mechanical, photographic, or electronic process, or in the form of a phonographic recording, nor may it be stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or otherwise be copied for public or private use other than for fair use as brief quotations embodied in articles and reviews without prior written permission of the publisher.

The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself which is your constitutional right the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

ISBN 978-93-85827-72-3

ISBN 978-93-85827-73-0 (e-book)

Printed and bound at

Rajkamal Electric Press, Kundli, Sonipat, Haryana (India)

To

Ojas (Do not eat with both hands)

and

Tejas (Wear your underwear)

CONTENTS

O kay, dont look! I shut my eyes and counted the seconds. I willed the second line to appear. I dont know why but this time I felt fairly confident that it would. Yet, I dared not look at the strip until the stipulated five minutes passed. Oh, wait. Wouldnt I want to watch as the line appeared? You know, be a part of the process?

I opened my eyes just in time to note a faint purple line which progressively grew darker and surer. Yes! We did it. I yelled at the husband who had chosen that opportune moment to shut himself up in the other bathroom. He had, as a result, missed being a part of that triumphant moment.

The last three months had been regimented. The doctor monitored my menstrual cycle with the same degree of enthusiasm my mother and mother-in-law did each month after our marriage. That was their diplomatic way of checking whether we had succeeded in the process of grandchild-making, because wasnt that the sole reason of the husband and I being joined in holy matrimony?

LMP? Dr N asked me. I returned her look with a bewilderment that acronyms always brought out in me. The nurse assigned to the task of making the entries looked at me when I continued gaping in confusion, LMPLast Menstrual Period.

I deduced that the first day of my LMP would thereafter be written in capital letters at the top of every consultation sheet because that day is the Day 1 of the pregnancy period. 40 weeks, I learnt, and not 9 months, was the count. Oh, well. That was the easy bit. She, then, delved into history.

Are the cycles regular?

Is the bleeding heavy?

How many days do you usually bleed?

No, the cycles have never been regular.

Yes, the bleeding has always been heavy and,

I have no idea when the bleeding stops because it is erratic on most months.

We have to set that right first, Dr N announced making less of a fuss about my predicament than I believed it deserved. She put me on a folic acid course and a buffet of capsules. Folic acid or folate, a synthetic form of vitamin B, is a pregnancy superhero. Taking folic acid, at least a month before the pregnancy, helps the vitamins remain in the system, thereby preventing spinal cord birth defects in the baby, a defect that can happen in the first few weeks of the pregnancy. Dr N asked me to come for a series of follow-up visits to monitor the fallopian tubes and their status of rupture.

What if they dont rupture on time? I asked, worried that I may fail in this after having a clear record of passing through life with flying colours.

Then we will help it rupture using an injection.

Turns out, my fallopian tubes did need a nudge or a poke, literally, after which the fertilization was possible. Dr N marked my fertile dates and advised me to schedule a relationship, as she termed it, on those dates. It sounded fun. Scheduled sex. A romantic setting. Aphrodisiac foods. Candles, perhaps, and music, of course. A slow dance to set the mood. But the husband, blessed with two left feet, would never agree.

What I did not know then was that the pressure of scheduled sex every alternate day in the hope of guaranteed results would be enough to put us off the baby-making process. After a few of those sessions that culminated into a tiring day at work, we prayed that we would succeed, for the sake of easing the pressure off of our performance more than anything else.

I did not know that getting pregnant could be tough. Looking at the ease with which our ancestors procreated, I thought that I, with my MBA degree and fancy job, would never fail in this simple and natural process. After the end of the first cycle, the nurse noted down my LMP and Dr N put us on scheduled sex yet again.

Well, this time we shall make it. We have practiced enough.

Look for signs of fallopian tube rupture. It will happen mid-cycle. You will feel the pain, a friend mentioned. Perhaps I should also stop exercising and any strenuous activities during the second half of the cycle. Just in case. But our efforts were all in vain.

If you are stressed, it wont happen, a good soul advised. Hold hands and walk in the park. Relax. Think positive thoughts. Go on a holiday. Just the two of you.

If this month we dont succeed, we will take a trip to Puducherry, the husband promised, being the person who always exhausts the easier options before taking the difficult step.

Well, this time I decided to take it one day at a time. I will listen to my body. I will not worry about succeeding. I will not stress about the results. And, I will definitely not go for another follicular scan. I was running out of excuses at workplace. Why would I have so many medical consultations mid-afternoon?

Despite my firm resolve, I silently counted the days after the 28th day from my LMP. I wondered if the hCG hormone or the human chorionic gonadotropin hormone had made an appearance in my urine or blood already. A pregnancy test kit would tell me even before the doctor would and that too without going through the wait outside her office. So, I called my pharmacy a week after my period was due and asked them to deliver a test kit home.