Breakfast at the Joels

So breakfast in our household is normally a hurried affair. Each person eats or is fed as the food arrives. However today Sunday June 3 2012 ... it felt a little special. No there was no special occasion today. Just ... good old eggs ... and pretty pictures taken. Each one had a slightly different variation of egg. As Suresh says ' You can never mess up making Eggs!'

Here is what we had

Ziva - Wheat Kanji mixed with hardboiled Egg Yoke with a small spoon of butter mixed in. And on the side a slice of pear and to drink some good old milk! (Breast mlk!)  Ziva has just been introduce to egg. I am not certain if she likes it.

Isaac - Eggs beaten up with onions and sausage. Right as it was cooking up I spooned over the top some cheese and covered the pan. On the side was a small piece of sausage, some tomatoes and a slice of pear. Isaac decided to start with the pear and then worked up to the sausage and left the egg for last. To drink ... some good old Bournvita!

Suresh - Eggs beaten with onions, sausage, coriander and a lot of black pepper. Just as I had done with Isaac, I spooned in some cheese and covered up the pan. On the side a small piece of sausage, a slice of pear and toast. To drink ... some Litchi juice!

Me - Oatmeal with almonds and cranberry. On the side the white of a hard boiled egg i.e. leftover from Ziva and a slice of pear. To drink ... good old milk!

To School or to HOMESCHOOL that is the question

I do not want to be one of those people who force my ideas on other people because I feel convicted. I do not want to be one of those parents who go around convincing other parents to homeschool. Everyone has a reason and everything under heaven has a season. I am in a season of schooling and boy am I confused. There is a part of me that wants to send my son to school and there is a part of me that believes I may be able to give my son a better education at home. I have been hearing some scary stories about kids Isaac's age (2.5 years old) being evaluated for lack of speech or lack of knowledge. What if my child is shy in front of strangers? What if he is a slow learner? What if he prefers soccer over his math book? Which school and which teacher will accept my son the way he is and wait for him to grow at his pace. After all we all say 'Each child is different'. In a class of 20 students does the teacher have time to learn about my child the way I have time for him. This being said right now I have very little time since I spend my minutes scrambling between Isaac and 9 month old Ziva.

While I am contemplating homeschooling I have seen a few people around me and have a few bones to pick about the conversations I have heard
I do not believe school is the devil like some people claim it to be.
I do not want to condone school. I went to school in a class of 52 students and I turned out just fine. I do not believe my parents had another way or my mother had the support system to homeschool me. So this is not me saying school is bad this is just me saying there is now another way available now that may be conducive to me and my family.
I do not believe homeschooling is the bestest way of education!
I do not believe all are called to homeschool.

Reasons I feel should not be used to homeschool
My child will pick up bad habits at school. Uhhhhh  They can pick them up numerous other places ... the park ... cousins... Uncles... aunts and especially parents! I kept using the SH*& word around Isaac yesterday as I tried to clean up the basement and things kept falling from my hands. I know my son can pick up bad habits from anywhere. Its up to me on how I train him away from it.
To bring up more God fearing and biblical orientated children. I think I can do that even if Isaac and Ziva went to school. We have numerous examples of people who were not homeschooled who love the Lord more than anything in the world. Again it is for me to train up my child.
To protect my child. I am beginning to learn that there is only one person who can always protect my children. I submit both of them to HIM. I will do my best to protect them ... but I can do nothing but through him!
School is too competitive. I do not believe it is school that causes competition. I think parents play an equally big role in putting that thought into their children's hearts and minds about being better than someone else. Rarely would you find a parent who would say 'Do better than what you did last time' i.e. improve yourself.

Reasons I am nervous of homeschooling.
I do not want to justify why I am homeschooling or why I am sending my children to school. I want to do it because I feel convicted. Because God has put it in my heart.
I do not know if I am able. Patient ... reliable  ... accountable.
I like structure and discipline in my life. I would like my children to be in bed at a particular time and awake and bright eyed at a particular time. I am still not certain homeschool in conducive to as structured a life as school especially in India.

Reasons I am nervous about school
I do not want my child to spend 2 hrs of his day in a school bus
I do not want my child to spend those 2 hrs on the bus napping. If he needs a nap he should be at home in bed restful not bumpy!
I do not want my child to lose his creativity if he goes to school.
I do not want someone who does not know my child to decide where his aptitude lies after a series of written tests.
Especially between the ages of 2 and 7 I want my child to have to option of 'doing something different today' - like go to the park and pick up stones, read some books ... or go grocery shopping with me (Very educational that grocery shopping trip !)

Why would I send my Child to school?
Well I do not know if Isaac will enjoy school unless he goes to school. I do not want to spend my life wondering if I deprived my child of some joy he would have gotten if he had gone to school. 
I do not know if Isaac will 'benefit' from school unless he goes to school.
Suresh loved school. He says he has some really good memories from school. Of course Suresh was also one of the more brilliant students and an all rounder and walked way with best student of the year and best sportsman of the year in his 12 grade. This past weekend Suresh's sister (Zoraida) was here and she handed me a book and said 'I thought you would like to keep this for Isaac.' It was a short stories book and she said Suresh got one of those every year for General Proficiency. The book Zoraida handed to me was from Grade II. I gave it to Suresh and his eyes lit up. I guess School memories can also be some good memories.

I have met numerous homeschooling families in the US and I am thrilled by my interactions with them. I love the idea of chores and children helping parents at home and sibilings sitting down together to study. I know one particular family where the kids have to go to bed at  8:30 pm and they have to be awake, make their beds and clean up before coming down for breakfast all before 6:30 am.

In India I know I will have the issue of parents around asking me why I am not sending my child to school. But I have watched my sister brave those issues and hope to get some pointers when I get stumped with hard questions. I have also watched my nieces and nephew enjoy themselves and sometimes complain as they immerse themselves in math, science and languages (Hindi!)

I occasionally ask Isaac -' Isaac do you want to go to school' Isaac so far has replied ' NO'
Then again Isaac says NO to everything.

For this year Isaac is not going to join any school for nursery! I will revisit my blog in about 6 months to see where we stand. I also like Faith's way of going about this --- one year at a time (http://faithfullmama.blogspot.in/2011/01/weve-come-to-decision.html)

So hows life in India?

It has been just a little over 6 months since we moved to India. A lot of people have asked me ' How do you like India?' or 'How do you like Bangalore?' ....

Do I like it?
And how has it been?
Frankly telling you even though I was the instigator of the INDIA MOVEMENT, I was definitely a little afraid of how it would be in India. After all we had been out of India for 11 years.
Things have changed a lot! People we love a lot have passed away (My dad and Suresh's mom specifically) and new people have come into our lives. While we were making the decision to return, Suresh was concerned about the financial aspect of things and I was concerned about the emotional (and family politics) aspect of things.
So here is life in India for you from the Joel's

PART 1 - EMOTIONAL
Well we have not yet been drowned in family politics. I guess I can thank the Lord for placing us in Bangalore. Bangalore is kind of like the centroid of three places - Mumbai, Kochi and Chennai. Between Suresh and me our family is dispersed between these three places. We have a sprinkling of cousins and friends in Bangalore but not the kind that will tell you how or which car to drive :). That being said it is wonderful to be close to home.

Suresh has rubbed off on me also in the past 11 years and his nonchalant manners come very handy when there are 6 people telling you to feed your child and 8 people shoving food down your child's throat. So the theme is to nod your head, take what you like and leave the rest at the table and calmly walk and away .... and remember DO NOT LOOK BACK!

But enough of me ... Isaac and Ziva are having a blast. I could think of no other place where there would be 6 people telling me to feed Isaac and Ziva and 8 shoving food in Isaac's mouth as he walks past them. Invariably the food is something I DO  NOT approve of like chocolate at 12 noon .... Excuse me its lunch time! The funniest was my aunt giving Isaac a candy while we were waiting to go from a wedding to the reception ... her point ' He's hungry' Isaac quickly munches the candy down and the goes back to my aunt, puts his chin into her handbag and says 'He's hungry ... He wants more' (Yes Isaac occasionally talks about himself in third person). Some six candies later he was bouncing off the wall with Suresh trying to control him and maintaining his 'nonchalant' looks.
But with a series of Appacha's (Grandpa's), Ammachi's (Grandma's), uncles and aunts around, Isaac and Ziva are enjoying family and hugs and kisses.

We have been to Kerala two times in the past 6 months and once to Chennai. The Chennai trip was especially fun because it was Suresh's sister Zoraida's little girl Amy's first birthday. A very special day indeed and we are glad we were close enough to make the trip!

We also went for our first family vacation in a long time with my sister and family and it was a blast!

 

                                                 (He's not a tame lion you know!)

I haven't yet had the need to partake in any serious family decisions and for this again I am grateful.

Part 2 - FINANCIALLY -- FILTHY RICH
I am just kidding ... no we didn't turn millionaires when we moved to India! But it seems life in India is much more affordable for  the salaried!  In the US for quite some time we were a DINKS couple. Double Income No Kids. But it seemed very difficult to save anything significant. We were probably bad spenders and along the 11 years in US we have learnt a few lessons in debt/ spending/ budgeting.(Thanks Dave Ramsey:http://www.daveramsey.com/home/ ) Life was always comfortable but I would never really call it luxurious. We did take a few good vacations (London/ Paris/Germany/ Hawaii x2/ Mexico/ Canada/ Korea) ...  but all well planned/ well saved up vacations!

Now we are a SITKS : Single Income Two Kids. But financially life is good. No we dont own a house or two cars. In fact we are using Suresh's mom's old car which works perfectly well for our little family. We rent in a lovely quiet neighborhood far from the city with a huge park within the community. As I have told many a friends and cousins who ask  ... I wouldnt care if the house was a hut instead ... but the park is to die for! I wouldn't have made it the first couple months in Banglaore (when I didnt have help with child care) without the park and 3 hr play times twice day!



We are also avoiding a significant expenditure every year ... $5000 for an India trip!

Food in India is CHEAAAAAAP ... Well you can get really expensive food if you want but we are freaking out on some street junk still. The chaats,  dosas and Katti rolls are  yummy and a family of 4 can eat a stomachful (with no repercussion the next day) for under Rs. 200 ($4). My cousin introduced me to this wonderful place called Adayar where my two year old sits alone and downs an entire masala dosa with no adult help.

Masala Dosa - $1
Watching Isaac eat it - Priceless

Suresh and I were discussing our finances the other day and for those of you who do not know we are big Dave Ramsey fans! Well per Dave Ramsey we have completed most of our Baby steps - i.e No debt, have 6 months savings in our bank and about 1/2 way through saving for a house! We had only 2 of the baby steps covered in the US. (http://www.daveramsey.com/new/baby-steps/)
This being said I think it would be far besides me to not acknowledge the 'big Guy above' who has taken care of our every need so far. Thank you Jesus ... I know You will get me through the rest.



Part 3 - The Maid ... The Nanny ... The Cook ... The Dog walker and The Car cleaner
Life in India is not all that easy. Unlike the US you cannot leave vacuuming / sweeping for once a week! No it is a daily chore. Cooking is not as simple. Now  that you  are in India you get all the spices you need for your gravy .... you better use them all. Washing you car is a daily chore not once a month and time is precious so you rather not walk your dogs.
Even before we had a Gas stove in our house we had a maid who swept from top till bottom of your three level house and wiped down all the windows. Even before we bought a fridge or a microwave we had a cook. Suresh spent the first one week without a fridge and this lady (cook) was so phenomenal that she was able to cook for him exactly one meal! I.e. No leftovers! I remember I was in Bombay, still waiting for our stuff to arrive when Suresh called me and as we were chatting he mentioned now nice it was to have hot steaming FRESH food every night!

The maid now is our nanny -  a promotion she more than willingly accepted. She absolutely dotes on Ziva. Isaac is slowly warming up to her. He spent the initial few park visits howling, for me. Now he willingly says goodbye and is jabbering with her as she pushes the stroller to the park. Interestingly Isaac speaks no Tamil and our nanny speaks very little English. They understand each other perfectly. She is for us now Isaac and Ziva's Aunty who gets introduced to all our guest like she is part of the family.
I must say we are getting spoilt rotten. Isaac and Ziva's aunty does all chores in the house including putting in clothes for wash/ folding them and putting them into their respectful place in the wardrobes!  The other day I came back from grocery shopping and had about three big bags. I had to drop it at the kitchen floor and run off after Isaac to put him down for a nap. His nap became my nap and when I woke up two hours later all the bags were emptied and each item put in the correct place! There was this feeling of wow ... I must be on a vacation or something. The downside of this - I have gained 4 lbs in the last two months.

So ... I guess I can conclude Life in India is wonderful so far.

But .... there are annoying things too  and I will talk about it at another time. We also have a long TO DO list with respect to government paper work that we are afraid to approach. ... All that for next time.

APRIL FOOL! REALLY!!!!!!!

The phone rang this morning. It was the home phone ... the one that never rings. I walked toward it saying just that to Suresh and Amma 'No one calls on this phone I wonder who it is' . At the other end was my cousin who lives a few km away from where we do. In a desperate voice she says 'Can you call my home in Kerala. My mom called (i.e. My aunt) and she seems to be crying and not saying anything!'

I have felt that racing in my heart before ... two years ago and then once before that 4 years ago! I quickly told my mom to tell me my aunt's phone number my heart thumping within me and my fingers shaking. My mom seemed calmer than usual! As she slowly completed  the phone number  she calmly says 'Remember its April Fools!'

Neelima not funny ------ not funny at all

I hate people with a poor sense of humor and this morning I hated myself because I lost all my sense of humor. The fear of bad news no matter what kind over the phone still scares me. Jesus I wonder when you will take that burden off me!

Last Sunday the message in church was about being relieved from slavery. During the message I realized I was a slave to many things.  But this morning I realized I was a slave to something very emotional. It seems the fear of loosing someone is set so deep within me that even after I know its not true I am still unable to find humor in it! Only Jesus can set me free from being a slave!


Neelima .. YOU Got me .... But not FUNNY ... NOT FUNNY AT ALL.


Aiju .... no more fun parties for Neelima chechy.

An Outsiders View

So there are so many things that seem usual to us, that we fail to realize somewhere someone may think 'Why that's weird!'
We recently entertained Rebecca Teubl from the Canaan Fellowhship and had a chance to view India and our surroundings from her perspective. Boy was it fun! There were so many things that Becky asked that made me wonder ... 'Wow I really didn't realize how unusual the world thinks this is!'
Here are a few things that came out from our conversations with Becky and her questions for us.

MASALA CHAI
'Why do you guys do this to yourself?'  This is the question Becky asked us when we told her what Masala Chai was i.e Spice Tea. Now if any of you are thinking .... hmmmm Pumpkin spice latte .... uhhh NO. Below is a short of list of the ingredients
* 100 grams powdered ginger
* 25 grams cloves
* 100 grams whole black peppercorns
* 60 grams cinnamon, broken small, or 40 grams ground
* 1/2 nutmeg, crushed
* 35 grams green cardamom pods
As you can see this chai is indeed spicy. But for me and Suresh ... its like spiced latte ... but better :).


RIGHT IS RIGHT AND LEFT IS WRONG
I dont mean which side of the road you walk on. (By the way there is no rule for that .... not even for which side of the road you drive on sometimes). This is for which hand you use to eat your food. This was among the first questions Becky asked when she arrived. 'Is it OK to use your left hand to eat?' Ummmm No. Most people in our generation don't really care or wont look twice. You may get the occasional stare like Yeeww use your clean hand i.e. Right hand. Mainly because the left hand is meant to take care of 'other' business. I have watched two of my cousin's being forced to become right handers! One of them now uses his left hand for everything else including writing but not to eat his food. As Americans would says 'Scarred for life'.
As I now watch Isaac be ambidextrous and use both hands at the table to eat his food, I am almost rooting on him being left handed. Why? Just because! I also hear people in our generation call out to him ... 'Use your right hand Isaac ... Use your right hand!'

FINGER FOOD
And going on to the most basic skill that every Indian is taught. Eating with your fingers. We have frequently had non-Indian friends over and Suresh would encourage them to eat with their hands saying 'This is how you eat Indian food'. I never realised how tough and probably frustrating it is to eat with your fingers when you are not used to it. As we watched Becky try her level best and make good use of chappati's as pseudo spoons, we realized how much we had taken for granted our being able to use fingers with so much ease.  But A for effort for Becky being able to handle the art of finger food in India :).


THE ART OF KISSING


The picture above is taken at Mahabalipuram, right after Ziva got ambushed by a group of young girls. They were so excited to hold her that they pinched her cheeks and flustered her. We walked away laughing and a little while later Becky asks 'Why do they do that?'. She was referring to the way the girls would use their fingers, touch Ziva's cheeks and then touch their lips with those fingers. I have seen this so much that I never really thought it odd. Suresh provided a pretty decent explanation 'Hygiene'. Makes sense. In India no one really restricts themselves from showering affection - especially on a 6 month old baby. So the old wives tale told was if you kiss a baby on her cheeks, her cheeks will fall out and she will look ugly. My grandmother has yelled at me so often for kissing my niece's cheeks ... sometimes even wanting to eat them. So a provision for that is a peck on the forehead or the age old 'touch her cheeks and kiss your fingers'!


LAND OF COWS
Yes at every nook and corner. Cow's / buffalo's/ sheep and any other cattle you can think of. But this particular sight has actually worked out in our benefit. Benefit - we have a two year old son who is crazy about animals. So much so that we were driving through some very bumpy roads in Chennai and very nervous that Isaac would throw up since he gets car sick, when we hear a squeal in the back seat. As we turn around to look for damage, Isaac just yells ' PASHUUU' (Cow in malayalam). We turn to the road to see six cows on the right corner of the road, hanging out together almost like they had come together for CHAI!
Becky you are right - Isaac is in the right country for his likes.

TRASH CANS GALORE
As we drove from pleasant Bangalore to humid Chennai all of us except Becky caught a cold. As Becky kept saying  --- ' If I dont fall sick it is a sign that I serve a powerful God' - A good tag line to have when you are on a two week vacation.  We were on one of the many trips in the car and Becky was helping wipe Isaac's nose for him and then exasperated she says ' You guys need more trash cans .... or plastic bags or something to throw trash in'
Me: 'Becky plastic bags cost Rs. 4 here even when you buy groceries!'
Becky: 'Next time I come to India, I am getting you lots of plastic bags from the US.'
I can't wait for my hostess gift next time Becky ;)
But it does seem that even Suresh has been complaining more and more about no trash cans around the house! Time to go shopping :)

On the whole we had a blast with Becky and learnt a lot more about India :)

The strangest looks! 'ITHU AITHU STATEEN ANNU' (Which state is she from?')

I have been getting some strange stares in India these past couple of months. No I am not being pretentious or behaving like an outside. I dress normally ... Tie my hair up normally and walk normally. So what is causing the stares? Isaac and Ziva. I know I know they are so darn cute! But that is not the reason. It is the stroller and the Baby Bjorn (carrier).
When I first walk down the road everyone stares and smiles at Isaac on the stroller ... then their eyes drift to the dangling legs near my waist and the stare continues till I walk past them. You really could not see Ziva's head till recently

Couple of interesting conversations that have occurred due to the Baby Bjorn
1. A lady in the elevator:  'Usko garam nahi lagta hai? (Does she not feel hot?)
2. Another well wisher 'How does she breathe?' (Yes I am trying to suffocate my baby!!)
3. A lady crossing the road with me smiles at Isaac on the stroller and then stares at the legs and puts her face over the Baby Bjorn to look in and says ' Arre isme baba hai!' (Oh my there is a baby in this!)
4. And the last one is too comical occurred at a railway station in Bangalore. We were on our way to Kerala to see my Grandad. I had Ziva in the Baby Bjorn and in order to prevent her from crying I was bouncing about a little bit. A bunch of young kids standing with their parents  -- seemed like a large joint family were  -- well staring. They all began giggling as they saw me. Suresh had gone away to bring some luggage to where I stood. One boy took up some courage and in a rather accented (Indian) voice asked ' What is your name?' I smiled and said 'What is your name?'. He squirmed and looked at his sister wondering what I had just said. I went a little closer to them and asked him again speaking a little slower and still bouncing with Ziva 'What is your name?'. He says 'Shalu' and grins. Seeing that I was friendly all the girls (ages 7-17) crowded around to touch the visible part of Ziva's head/ forehead. By this time Suresh and my mom had come and were talking to each other in Malayalam. I continued to exchange words with the kids in English and then tired to pull Isaac into the conversation. An older man, probably in his 50's, who was part of the group realizing that my mom and Suresh were speaking in Malayalam came up to my mom and asked her which part of Kerala she was from (in malayalam). Then turning to Suresh and pointing at me he said 'ITHU AITHU STATEEN ANNU' (Which state is she from?).  Poor man made two big blunders
1. He assumed I was not a Malayalee and some foreigner!
2. He assumed Suresh was a Malayalee!!!
Reason for assumption : Baby  Bjorn
Suresh and my mom stare at each other not knowing why he is asking such a strange question. I smile and in my anglicized Malayalam I saw 'Njan Malayalee aanu'. Stunned silence followed by a burst of laughter! Me - very proud of my Malayalam :)

Something electric ... A Birth Story - Ziva Esther Joel

Bringing up Girls: James Dobson Page 3, Paragraph 3, line 2
'..., but I love her like I did when we were first introduced in the delivery room. Something electric occurred between us on that mystical night, and it endures today.'

I cried when I first read this ... It reminded me of holding Ziva for the first time. It reminded me of holding Isaac for the first time. But more Ziva since the book I am reading right now is 'Bringing up Girls' by James Dobson. Thank you Dr. Dobson for that word 'electric'

I am reading this book on the suggestion of good friends Benji and Sonia Arthungal. I have just finished a few pages and already I love it. I know I will read it many times in the years to come. Thanks Sonia and Benji!

When I read the sentence above, I relived the night Ziva was born and I just had to write down her birth story. Birth stories are big in the US. In India no one really talks about labor or the birth much. But I think maybe one day, when Ziva is getting ready to write one herself, she may enjoy reading this one.

It was close to midnight and I was on the computer. I cannot remember exactly what I was doing but I remember something to the effect of exchanging emails with Priya (Kanchan) and Becky (Kurikeshu) about wearing a Saree the following Sunday at church. I was almost positive I would not be wearing a Saree since I was ready to 'pop' and would either be too big to wear a Saree or lying on the bed with a little babe! Check the list of email below ... the last one sent out by me at 11:36 pm August 15 2011. (Ziva was born at 3:59 am August 16th :)). I was sitting on the excercise ball and thinking maybe its time to go to bed and right about midnight I trudged up the steps wondering when my little girl would come.





I had just about gone to sleep when I felt the pain. Not so bad I thought and then a few minutes later yet again and I thought still not so bad. I got up because yet again I needed to use the bathroom and this time a sharper pain. I came back out of the restroom and woke up Suresh. In whispers we spoke to each other not wanting to wake up Isaac who was lying between us. I told him to time me and we held hands. Every time I squeezed his hand he was supposed to note the time and then when I let go tell me how long the pain lasted. After a couple of repetitive pain spasms coming and going and me wondering if Suresh was sleeping, he quietly came close and said ' I think you need to wake Amma - I think this is it! Your pain is 5 mins apart and lasting almost 20 seconds'. (If anyone is wondering if he was accurate well he was since he choose this most opportune moment to download an Android App called 'contraction timer'!!!!!!!)

In the US the rule is Do Not call up your midwife/ doc unless your pain is 5 mins apart and last for 1 minute. So we were definitely on our way. I slipped out of bed and Isaac stirred. I woke Amma and Isaac walked out of the bedroom looking for me. I quietly went down to the living room and started timing myself, while Suresh and Amma desperately tried to put Isaac back to sleep. We called the midwife and I guess because of all the commotion Isaac woke up yet again. Suresh went back up to put him to sleep and Amma waited by me as I tried to ride out spasm after spasm. And then my water broke!

Amma quickly ran up and Suresh came running down to find me on the floor of the bathroom curled up. I told him I had 5 mins before the next one and that we needed to get into the car. As we got into the Mini Cooper and drove. I thanked God for the seat warmer! We were at the light near Howard County Hospital waiting for it to turn green and I remember looking at the watch and seeing the time as 3:20 am. Suresh was getting ready to break the light since it refused to turn green. I on the other hand just wanted to wait there since the stops were much more comfortable then the minor bumps on the roads. We finally drove straight and took a U-turn. We checked into the hospital and as I tried to register and give my insurance card ... I just sat on the wheel chair. Suresh, who had gone to park the car came in and remembers signing in and looking at the time as being 3:29 am.

We were taken up to Labor and Delivery by the ER personnel and I remember telling Suresh 'Please I want the epidural OK' Almost as if to say that if I fainted out of pain they should take in my request of still knocking me out of my pain! You say weird things when you are in pain. As we got our room I kept telling everyone around I wanted an Epidural 'please'. The midwife, Jackie Notes, who was having a busy night came in and examined me and as everyone else kept telling her of my request for an epidural, she simply grinned and said 'Honey - no time for an epidural you are having a baby right now'. I turned to Suresh and said ' I can't do this' and was getting ready to cry when Jackie looked at me and with a stern voice said 'Rohini just listen to me - You can - Listen to me and we will get this done in less than 10 mins. I promise!.' I really didnt believe her at the time but she must be really good at what she does because Ziva was born some 10 mins later! I knew there was a reason I like my midwife group - they were a bunch of stern, strong, no fuss women :). About 8 mins into all the pushing ... Suresh was trying to encourage me with a 'Push push ... blow blow' when Jackie turns to him and says 'Hush! Now Rohini listen to me ... dont listen to anyone take a deep breath and one more push and we are done'
And just like that ... SHE came ... pink and squirmy ... it was an ELECTRIC moment.