Getting to know Krisha

The three weeks that Krisha was with us erased all the painful memories of her two month hospital stay. It is strange how the human psychology makes us forget the pain and look forward. Seeing the baby she finally was in spite of the ordeal she had been through since birth was unbelievable. Even as adults many of us would not have been able to sustain it.

Looking back at her time at home, it is amazing how much we could pack in terms of understanding her, behaviour patterns, likes and dislikes. I think she was on a fast track so that we would not miss out on anything. She needed the human touch and would be most comfortable in someone’s lap. The minute you picked her up she would calm down and blink her beautiful doe shaped eyes languorously at you. This was probably her way of being close to us in the short time that she was with us. 

She loved being out in the open air, if she was crying the best thing to do was take her out in the balcony and she would instantly calm down and close her eyes, enjoying the breeze and fresh air. In the mornings when she woke up I would bring her over to our bed and she would sleep on my chest. It was the best feeling in the world to know that I could give her the comfort and more than that the comfort that she gave me.

She loved sleeping on her stomach. It took us a couple of days to figure it out. She always cried when laid down on her back. Maybe it was the trauma of being in the hospital bed flat on her back for her entire life of 2 months. She did not like sudden temperature changes when we changed her diaper, clothes or took her for a bath. I always took a deep breath before starting, to block put the crying and resolutely singing and talking to her so she would calm down. It worked sometimes. 

Slowly she was beginning to enjoy the things that all babies took for granted. She would ask for milk when she was hungry, giving us the most obvious signal possible, opening her mouth wide and moving her head searching for the bottle. Having her feed from the bottle without spilling or getting through a diaper change without upsetting her were big achievements.

When Krisha was in the hospital one of the nurses had advised us to get music for her as it generally has a soothing effect on babies. I will always be grateful to her for doing that. We compiled music for her, rhymes and lullaby's on my music phone which played by her bedside 24x7. She really seemed to calm down because of it. I have all the rhymes almost memorized by heart and love every song for the comfort it brought my baby. So I think it would be safe to say that Krisha loved music. Now also when we listen to that CD it feels like we are playing her special songs, will cherish it forever.

Although Krisha did not smile so often, mostly while she slept, she had an intense look and could really follow and track very well, even more obviously than Kaira. Her senses seemed very heightened and alert. I was so lucky to be able to capture her smile in this picture.