The Cocoon

The baby was literally a 'bundle' of joy. A nurse handed over the baby, in a white soft extra long towel that was wrapped three times around it, to my mother.

Newborn baby wrapped in a white blanket resting peacefully in grandmother’s arms, close-up view with blurred grandmother’s face

I have never seen a real newborn this close to my eyes, though I had seen many photos,ads and movies of babies. But this time it was unimaginable!! This is my own baby.

(I had reached too late to see my son when he was born)

We did not put a baby inside to grow you know. For the past seven months she was inside her mother growing from a microscopic organism to this tangible being. I thanked the bioengineer and his technology.

But I didn't know that there was a bomb ready to go off in a minute or two.

The doctor sent for me to his cabin. All my relatives who got to see the baby turn by turn, also accompanied and guided me to the cabin and waited outside impatiently.

The doctor asked me to sit in front of him. He said,

" You know the baby was taken out early and she didn't come out on her own".

"Serious male doctor sitting in chair giving important advice to worried new father in hospital setting

"A premature baby?"

"Yes a 'preterm' baby coz she didn't complete the minimum 37 weeks of gestation"

Things were getting unpleasant and the joy and surprise were short lived

But his words the previous day echoed in my mind.

"We can't keep the baby inside as the mother is being given medicine for BP. Since the medicine is used for thinning her blood the baby won't get sufficient nutrition and immune power and....but those can be supplemented externally once we taken the baby out"

"Are you listening?" His voice shook me back to real time.

I nodded reluctantly and anxiously waited for his next words.

"Now the baby is out and in the next 30 minutes she is sure to develop some complications"

My heart raced against time. I asked "What type?

"Breathing trouble and might have difficulty suckling her mother's milk ..normal for such babies"

'So?"

"You have to shift her immediately to a speciality hospital as we don't have such facility here for the newborn"

"Oh my! What about her mother?"

"She would be here with us. She's not in a condition to take discharge. It's hardly a few minutes after her caesarian"

Exhausted woman resting in hospital bed wearing gown after cesarean delivery, showing post-surgery recovery moment

"So what are my choices...of hospitals?"

He named three hospitals which were 100, 40 and 5 km away. I considered the odds. It's the rainy season and the roads were filled with potholes that were filled with knee deep water. So I chose the closest hospital which was generally infamous except for the paediatric department which boasted of a UK returned doctor to my fortune.

There were two reasons I chose this hospital. One was for the Dr and the department and the other was for the time this doctor had given.

We arranged a taxi soon after the decision was taken and together with some elders proceeded to the hospital.

Grandmother gently holding newborn wrapped in white blanket, close-up view with soft focus on baby’s face

She was held in my mother's lap with both her hands.On the way she let out some mild cute cries. Her eyes were tightly closed when she cried.

I wondered when she would open her eyes and see everyone. May be after a week or so.

I recollected my old school days when everyday after reaching home from school how I ran to the attic to find out whether the four newly born kittens opened their eyes. It takes two weeks for kittens. May be human babies take one week?

Four newborn kittens with eyes closed nursing from their mother cat – black and white, orange tabby, gray tabby, and multicolor tabby fur patterns

As soon as we reached there at the hospital the baby was taken to Neo Natal ICU.

Then began the hours of waiting. Every time a nurse comes out I got up expecting a call for me. But it never happened.

Then a doctor came and called out the relatives of twin babies admitted in the NICU.

"One of the twins had only one lung. It's not going to make it. But the other one..It's weak but we are trying..Let's see"

I had never known a doctor saying this way upfront on face of the relatives of a patient. Not even in Bollywood movies.

Then finally the call came. "Baby of .."

I jumped to my feet, "It's me"

"Ok come in removing your footwear, inside there will be hanging green coat, gloves and head cover, wear them before entering the second door"

At this, a question which has been taunting me for long dawned upon me and I dared to ask my mom sitting beside me

" Mom tell me how am I going to recognise my daughter from a lot of babies, coz we hadn't seen her enough. We saw only a tiny part of her yet small face that too for a very short span of time"

She started laughing. She laughs for every silly things. But this wasn't silly was it? Ever thought of this? A lot of movies were made on this subject of exchange of babies. Anything can happen at a hosptal right? I felt my doubt was genuine.

But she didn't stop smiling. I knew somewhere in her mind I successfully sowed a seed.

Nurse shouted "Don't you want to see your baby?"

I removed my sandals and entered through the first door. I saw the green loose coat, cap, mask and gloves on a table in a dimly lit hall.

Checking whether all ok I pushed open the spring loaded double door at the end of the hall.

Ohh my god!!! I entered a new world of blue light. I looked around and was awestruck. Before my mouth closed the doors behind me closed softly.

Neonatal intensive care unit with modern incubators and medical equipment for premature babies

Ii seemed that I was teleported to a futuristic lab where machines cloned human babies..straight from the page of a Hollywood sci fi movie.

There were 5 rows of babies in glass cages with blue or yellow light next to each. I was standing in between the first and second rows.

I stood awestruck thinking which row I have to look for. I heard a sweet voice from the end of the third row. "Come this way... here.."

I inched towards the nurse.

My God how am going to identify my daughter if the nurse asked which baby is yours! I marched past each baby on either side reading the name of their moms, sex, their weight and days of birth.

There were babies as small as 60 days and as low weight as 600 g. Some had dark black thick hair and many had none.

I noticed each one had a lot of pipes going to and coming out of it. Finally I reached to the nurse and she said "This is your baby"

She pointed to a glass cage near me. There was yellow light shining on her body.

I watched my daughter rather closely. She was sleeping calmly. Her tiny chest was going up and down with the rhythm of her breath.

Her soft body too had pipes coming and going out of her body.

Premature newborn baby lying in neonatal incubator with IV line and monitoring equipment in NICU

I stood there and thought had she stayed a little longer inside her mother she would have been saved of all the pain she had gone through soon after the birth.

I asked the nurse finally the question that has been pestering me. "How are you sure that this is my baby? You haven't seen me or her mother"

She giggled first and said in an assuring voice "Don't worry sir, it won't happen as you thought. The baby comes here with all the documents and as soon as it's brought in we tie a tag on the baby with all the details"

"Mm that sounds better" though I was not convinced.

But why she is not opening her eyes? It will take two weeks for her to open eyes?

She giggled again. "Sir she's not a kitten. She can open her eyes on the very day she was born but will take time to focus. But now she's sleeping"

I saw there was another nurse also with her. I checked what they were doing. They were struggling to insert canulas on one of the legs of a small baby next to mine and was finding it difficult.

I asked "How do you so mercilessly pierce the body of a soft cottony pack of cuteness? You don't twitch even once?"

She said "That's why we never keep relatives of babies when we prepare for administering IVs. We want to save the babies sir. For themselves and for their parents"

When the great engineer in the sky makes a flaw, a few on Earth rise and bend time to set it right.

...... ...... .....

"Dad what are you doing?"