Our Krishal has reached a special milestone today – It’s a Double Digit Number “10”. Where has the interesting journey over the 10 years with you been my Big Boy? Feels like a blink to how fast you have turned 10.
It was in the early morning hours of Sunday 8th of August, there was a Quarter Moon with a Star and the Sun was rising over the Horizon when our Krishal eagerly came into this world at 24 weeks only, with a weight of just 700grams (just 200g over a block of butter) and a length of 30cms, his body was the length of a pen. It was the Moon with a Star and Sun rising above the Horizon, which gave me faith and was my belief that God will make everything fine, eventually. As soon as he was born, because of being extremely premature, he was not given straight into my arms but the nurse quickly took him to get him straight onto the ventilator, but what melted both my husband & my heart was even at that littlest gestation of 24 weeks, when the nurse took him and showed Krishal to his Dad, Krishal opened his tiny little eyes and made this noise ‘aaahh’ when he saw his Daddy. I know Daddy is going to get tears when he reads this and Mummy is just pouring away writing this. What a beautiful creation God has made, it was really unbelievable and it just touched both our hearts.
He was at the Auckland Hospital NICU for 6 weeks followed by 3 months at SCIBU in Waitakere Hospital. We could only have him for kangaroo cuddles, which both Dad and I used to look forward to so much once he was off the ventilator. Doctors and nurses could do so much; I brought my life to a halt, gave up my work and career and just constantly prayed and begged for our baby to improve every second. I used to sit by his incubator every day from early morning till late night praying every second but the final decision is always in the hands of the creator above. We had never seen any miracle in life as such until we had Krishal and we call him truly a “Miracle Baby”. They say if it’s meant to be it will be and God accepted to our prayers.
“Dear God, on our son’s auspicious day of birth today, we ask nothing from you, but we just want to say, THANK YOU for giving us our Krishal, for giving us the strength to deal with what we have gone through in life and which has definitely made us appreciate every moment of the Life better.”
It was the most joyous moment of our life when we could bring our baby home and I could actually hold him in my arms for as much as I pleased. He was a real chubby baby given all that fortifier at the Hospital his cheeks were literally sagging. Krishal had this funny hair style just above his forehead and was called TinTin by many. His favourite cartoon was “Pingu”, Jiten & I had no idea how he surfed this cartoon on the computer just after he turned two and got hooked onto it, so it was Pingu day and night. I could hear the Pingu’s voice even when the cartoon was not on, hehe. Then he also found Pocoyo and his favourite DVD, Winnie the Pooh, which he also used to watch repeatedly, like zillion times.
Krishal is a cake-a-holic and ice cream-holic like Mummy. He is always the first to compliment me if he likes any dish I make. He is very caring and if he ever sees tears in my eyes, he would come to me and distract me by giving me a toy, just playing my trick to me and that just melted Mummy’s heart. Krishal Bhai is very protective of his little brother, Jaysal, even though from time to time, there are few episodes of boxing, karate and judo every now and then, but back to being best buddies in no time. Krishal has no patience, everything should happen like yesterday, no wonder he was so impatient to come into this world so quick and a typical Leo….stubborn, determined and you cannot bribe him with much, but is the most genuinely caring at heart.
It is still not known as to how I fell into the high risk category. Was it from the rigorous movement of my tummy muscles because of that one hour of laughter I had with my colleagues, or was it from the Campylobacter food poising that I had in February 2010, maybe the same time I fell pregnant and did not know of.
The morning of the day my water broke, I had the appointment with my midwife who said my pregnancy was going really well and that the baby’s growth was in line with the gestation.
When my waters broke, I didn’t quite know what was going on, was it something to do with bladder as I couldn’t even think that it would be to do with water breaking at that stage of gestation. I even went to work the next day till that evening I called my mid wife as to what had happened who advised me to rush to National Woman’s straight away.
There I was examined, had scans and blood tests were done and I was in an absolute shock till the doctors said that the baby needed to stay inside two more weeks, then only it can survive as the survival rate is from 24 weeks only. All that she was explaining to me was going over my head till the point she said, “I am sorry” and the reality hit me and a tear rolled down my right cheek.
So I was advised to walk really slowly and keep my feet elevated while sitting or sleeping. I was given antibiotics and steroid injections to grow the baby’s lungs faster as it was the fight against time and his growth. And it was quite a miracle how Krishal stayed in my tummy further 2 weeks until I went into natural labour from the evening of 7th and gave birth into the early hours of 8th.
Not having a mum, who had passed away when I was little, this was the time when I craved for her the most. Also during the hard times, the true colours and integrity of people come out. I had some of my in-laws’ side of family who instead of supporting me, were spreading unnecessary rumours, not respecting what our decision of not wanting anyone to see our baby just then. So that is when I decided to draw a line in my life and decide if I was going to worry about what they were saying or be a rock for my son. That’s when I cut my ties with them, the best decision I had made ever. My Father and Mother-in-law were supportive of me and that is what mattered to me the most.
Also, during tough times, we also get a lot of people who don’t really care but are simply noisy. Listen to your inner voice and if it doesn’t feel right or supportive in situation like this, just cut off yourself from all the negativity and stupid questions. Focus on being calm and try your best to get the positive and happy vibes by being with like-minded people. It is very crucial for the Mums to have a calm state of mind when expressing to feed your baby and give them healthy, happy–minded expressed milk, which is the Liquid Gold for them, especially to enhance their immunity and growth. So during the toughest time like this, it is very important for Mums to be positive, I prayed most of all as I find a lot of power in prayer. I feel the doctors can do so much, the medicine can do so much, but at the end of the day, I believe that the one above is the final decider.
However, on the Positive Side, what better and auspicious day then today to thank the two Beautiful Ladies, in particular who helped me during this difficult times. HansaMami/Aunt who kept me at her house during the day and fed me Good Healthy Food for two continuous weeks after my pregnancy became high risk and UshaMami, ( My Eldest Mami/Aunt ( who also brought me up and took me everywhere she went with her when i was little), who flew all the way from Florida, leaving her daughter & my Uncle behind to be with me and support me. Since my Dad and Step-Mum were in India for my Dad’s heart by-pass surgery at the same time, and my youngest aunt, BinaMami and family had just migrated to US so it was difficult to impossible coming back or she definitely would have if she was still in Fiji. So My Eldest Aunt took the step to come over, taking all the situation in our family into perspective. Thank You Ushamami and Hansamami. We will forever be grateful for this. Also a Sincere Thank You to all those who had Krishal & us in their Prayers, those who Genuinely Cared for us and helped us in any way possible. You know who All You are and Please Accept our Thank You. And how can I not Sincerely Thank Justine Brooker who has had so much patience with me going through several changes & editing of this story. Thank You So Much Justine, for all your Kindness, Generosity and Patience. And Last but not Least to the Great Medical Team of Doctors and Nurses, including the warm-smiling Receptionists greeting all the Vulnerable Mothers every morning and helping in cheering them up, A BIG, HEARTFELT THANK YOU from DEEP WITHIN OUR HEARTS.
WhiIst my time at NICU with Krishal, I wrote a journal, built some good friendships, I listened to the nurses & doctors, took advice and also questioned at times, if anything didn’t make sense to me and stood up for my Baby when I felt something did not feel right.
As you grow older Krishal, You and Your ways remind me of your Grandad, ChandrakantDada and I hope he was around so I could have a laugh with him about the similarities you both have. He is very good at writing and art just like Grandad, and a healthy boy who loves soccer, swimming and cross-country at school. He also performs at the Productions and Auckland Diwali Function, for the largest Indian Bollywood Dance School – Indiance in Auckland.
We are Very Very Proud of your determination and hard work and your achievements so far Krishal and pray for many more in life.
Krishal, always remember you are a true fighter from when you were just a little foetus stage of 22 weeks and you can get through any hurdle that may come in your life, and having the right attitude and mindset even in the toughest of all times, will take you far, Son. We Love You Dearly.
So, on this note, Our Dear Krishal, Your Daddy, Mummy and Little Brother Jaysal Wish You A Tremendous ‘10’ as you trend into it. Happy Birthday Our Big Boy/Bhai. Wish You Lots of Love, Laughter, Happiness, Best of Health, Great Education, Wealth and Success on Your Special Day and Forever. May you have loads of fun at school and develop into a great person, with great values. We love you a lot, Krishal, and Jaysal says “Bhai thank you for being my Best Buddy”
On this extra special day of our Krishal’s 10th Birthday, we would like to Pray for every Treasured Baby at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, that may God heal each of You Little Angels and Your Parents from all the emotional pain. May your growth & health progress quickly and you grow into healthy happy babies, get to have lots of cuddles with your Mummy & Daddy and get to go home soon. This is Krishal and Our Prayers from our heart and whoever reads this please join us for the love of babies who are the Gifts from God.
Happy Birthday Our Miracle Boy, Our Superhero.
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Happy 10th Birthday Krishal and many thanks for sharing your journey with us Bhavi
We get a lot of positive feedback from families in a neonatal unit who read these stories and feel strength, hope and positivity knowing that they are not alone going through these experiences and feeling certain emotions.
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- The Little Miracles Trust provides support to families of premature or sick full-term babies as they make their journey through Neonatal Intensive Care, the transition home, and onwards. We do not receive any Government funding and are entirely reliant on the generousity of individuals, companies and organisations in the form of donations, value-in-kind donations, grants, sponsorship and fundraising events to supplement operating costs and fund our services and initiatives.
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