Saturday 2 January 2010

My Year Twenty O 9 In A 1 Pager !

It's been an overwhelmingly challenging 2009! Although the number of posts on my blog dramatically reduced, there was sure a lot I could've penned down and shared with you all. The house hunt in the 1st quarter saw Abhi and Me shift from our old 6th floor apartment [with a non-functional lift forcing me to climb 112 steps a day] on Midland Road to this new 1st floor Home on Grove Road in Luton.

Shifting home when you are 8 months pregnant can be a daunting task, especially when the lift to your apartment does'nt work. But Anshuman (Abhi's long time friend) was our God Sent Angel who came to the rescue and everything fell into place. It was now time for my In-Laws to arrive and yes the much awaited Baby !! :)

I've had the most memorable Pregnancy (Doing Yoga, Pilates, Swimming, Brisk Walking on the Treadmill, Using the Cross Trainer), Labour (26 Hours in Labour with 4 hrs 38 mins of Active Labour) & Birthing (Forceps & Episiotomy owing to AVANI being a healthy 7.7 pounds at birth on June 1st 2009 9:08 PM UK Time) experience one could ever imagine.

The only thing that broke my heart was AVANI needed special care immediately post birth and was at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit for 7 whole days and later we spent an additional week in the hospital owing to the Intravenous Antibiotics she was being given to prevent her from catching on any infections in future. Those will remain the Llllloooonggessssttttt 15 days of my life !! I counted every second till we were home.. truly !

Soon there was cheer all around - I was a new 1st time Mum with Abhi by my side and both my Parents & In Laws to offer me all the help I needed - And I truly needed a lot of it !!!!!! When all felt well, both our [Abhi’s n Mine] Parents were sent off on a Europe tour - Paris, Venice, Florence, Rome in their 1st Lap. Switzerland & Vienna in their 2nd lap. London, Stonehenge & Cambridge on days in between.

It felt truly very satisfying to see the 50+ Mums in Jeans & T Shirts, Trousers & Kurtas and the 60+ Dad's in Dark Sunglasses, branded sports shoes & posh Cameras ! :) It just felt like they deserved every bit of this experience - they'd worked so hard all their lives, this was truly their most memorable break - one that will be treasured by every member of our families for generations to come. "AVANI ne Avani Daakhavli" soon became my Mum's patent saying ! :)

Come October and the Home felt empty. We had started to miss the presence of each of our parents and soon we started to count days to December - that time of the year again when we fly down to India ! :) It was a treat to walk into our very own hard earned 3 BHK apartment, currently under construction in the plush suburbs of Baner. This purchase truly remains a landmark achievement of our wedded years together. However, the Salisbury Park Residence too, has its own charm and its very own irreplaceable place in our lives. Christmas Day we celebrated our 4th and our 1st ever Anniversary with AVANI ! :) The last 4 years have been a very realistic journey together, full of up's n down's and surely the bond only gets stronger with time.

We continued the tradition of hosting our friends over for a New Year's Eve Party. This time we added one more couple to our Social Circle and it only gets bigger with each passing year! :) The 3 weeks of holiday in India felt too short and soon we were back to the snowing Luton and into The New Year 2010!!


AVANI's Birth, Purchase of a 2nd Home in Pune, A European Holiday for our Parents, & Getting back into Shape in just 8 Weeks Post Birth were things that proved 2009 to be a Landmark Year of my Life ! Hope yours was equally memorable and herez Wishing you and Your Loved Ones a truly Fulfilling 2010 ! God Bless US ALL!

Lotsa Luv N Luc As Always,
- Sayli :)