A balanced family

RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE

As we celebrated our daughter Elizabeth’s birthday in February, my thoughts went back to the nine months of pregnancy in 1993.

I was apprehensive as I had heard and read a lot about morning sickness (ugh!), the likes and dislikes of certain foods, the dos and don’ts of pregnancy and many more behaviours.

At the Five Gardens, Matunga, Mumbai, where we stayed, I was told by my mother-in-law’s friends, that from the shape of my tummy and the way I walked that we were definitely going to get a boy. I loved Chinese food and papaya which I ate a lot of — only to be told when I was in the eighth month that these are not good for the foetus’ growth.

When I went for the sonography, my husband Peter and I were eager to know the gender of the baby, not that it mattered. Then there were no rules to knowing the baby’s gender. Peter, an only child, was very keen on a girl, and I come from a family of five girls and two boys. At the sonography clinic, the doctor refused to tell us the gender and said that we will know when the baby is born. When we insisted, he called us into his office and asked us to sit. He tried to talk us out of knowing. Finally, with much trepidation, he said, “Your baby is a sweet girl.”

Our joys knew no bounds, and this shocked the doctor. He then explained to us his fears of telling us, as most families sob their hearts out, especially if the baby girl is the firstborn.

While the aunties at Five Gardens continued to predict the baby boy, we began our preparations to welcome our baby girl. The nine months were an absolute joy. No morning sickness and I ate everything I enjoyed — probably that’s why Elizabeth is now a food researcher and chef.

And when she was born, my nieces were delighted that this gave them more girl power. They were now five girls vs four boys.

The surprise was when I took Elizabeth for a follow-up with the paediatrician. The ayah and nurse were happy but did not hide their disappointment at the firstborn being a girl baby. It should be a boy in an Indian family. As they checked her, one of them looked at baby Elizabeth’s crown on the head and predicted that the next child would definitely be a boy.

That prediction came true. When our son was born a few years later in Bangalore, one of the die-hards of baby boys exclaimed, “You are now a balanced family.”