About 40 minutes later, I was called inside. I entered through the large door and walked in. A few steps into the hallway, a couple of doctors were chatting aloud. I interrupted and told them who I was. One of the doctors came forward and introduced himself. He had the same name as mine. He smiled and said it's a girl. She was born at 1.40 PM. I was overwhelmed with joy, but had to calm down my insides and focus as the doctor had more information to pass. He pointed towards his left, my right, where a smaaaaall baby was lying on a crib, draped loosely in a green cloth and crying out as loud as her littleness would allow her. 'That's her,' he said. Strange I hadn't noticed her till then in all the excitement.
Every baby is an angel, but ours was ours. She was perfect. I asked the doctor if everything was fine. He was very positive. He told me they did all the tests, and she was doing great. He took Shruti's file from me and quickly glanced through it. He didn't have any comments, I assumed it was all fine.
I was worried the cute little one was left alone crying. In a helpless tone, I said to the doctor - 'She's crying". He smiled and said "That's good. If she's crying, it means everything is fine. If she didn't cry right now, that would have been a problem'.
I took a picture of my little crying daughter, her first picture ever taken, when I saw her the first time. It was a magical moment. I was asked to leave and that the baby would then be made ready to be shifted to our room! Shruti was still going to be at the recovery room for a few hours until she was fully out from the effect of anesthesia.
I came out. My mother-in-law was waiting anxiously outside. I gave her the news and showed her the first pic of the little girl. She kissed the screen of my mobile phone and was overwhelmed with happiness. I made some calls and gave the news to other close family members.
I was asked to go to the reception and fill up some forms for the admission of the baby. It sounded funny at that time that the baby was being admitted as a new patient. But if you think about it, it's quite logical as it's a new person with her own identity. Filling up those forms soon after your child was born was a tedious task. I was all excited, yet hungry inside as we had not had lunch. A few fields in the form were interesting. One of them was age - I had to fill 0 there! Writing my own name against father's name was emotionally charging and overwhelming!
I got over the task as quickly as I could, and went back upstairs where my mother-in-law was still waiting outside the operating area. Swati, my wife's friend, had also arrived and they were both ecstatic watching the baby's first and only pic till then. I inquired about Shruti and requested for meeting her. Meanwhile, our baby was brought out in a small crib, to be shifted to our room. I let my mother-in-law and Swati go along, while I went inside to meet Shruti.
She was in the recovery room, semi-conscious. I went near the bed she was lying on. We looked at each other and smiled. I held her hand. Before we could say anything, our eyes said to each other - she has arrived, the daughter we were waiting for!
