19 Grand Children Arrive.
After a gap of two years Nuzhat was expecting again. Hena was quite
stubborn type in her childhood days and would badger her mother a lot. Nuzhat
however, never got annoyed and would do as the obstinate child would dictate.
Doctor Saheb observed Hena’s behavior and predicted her to be an extra
intelligent just like her mother.
This time when the labor pain started, Reyaz had gone on duty. I took her
to the hospital. Somehow again the private cabin was not available. Despite the
fact that she was herself a doctor, both her children were born while admitted
to the general ward. PMCH was in a state of mess at that point of time. Tetanus
was wide-spread and the ward was under remodeling and the plaster of the walls
was scrapped to be re-done. Mona had left by this time but Dr. Raj Verma was
still there. The baby was born with a healthy weight and was very
fair.
Private cabin was allotted subsequently. As I came back home to collect
the necessary items for the cabin, I was surprised to see Hena clapping and
singing repeatedly “Tonu Baba has come” She had thought a name for her little
brother on her own at that tender age. Hena too went to the hospital and was
pleased to see the new born baby. After a few day they again went back to
Purnea.
After eight years of Khalid’s birth, Talat was expecting again. The lady
doctors in Monghyr were skeptical about the child’s growth and movement. This
had an impact on Talat’s psyche too. After 6 months, Sohail brought her to
Patna. Usually we were consulting Dr. D.Singh but she was away to America at
the relevant time. The doctors there didn’t give an encouraging report as the
growth was not proper and even suggested the termination of the pregnancy. It
was shocking to hear this as Talat was a diabetic and had conceived after such
a long gap and was a very sensitive child. I decided to leave the fate in the
hands of Allah and applied for a private cabin in PMCH. I however, insisted to
consult Dr .D Singh once before the operation. He would always listen to me
when I insisted like this and in most cases my suggestions did yield a positive
result. As she returned from America I took Talat to her clinic. After
examining her, Dr. Singh was rather shocked over the negative diagnoses of the
other doctors earlier. “everything is normal –the movements are
OK- just the baby is slightly weak- that’s all” she declared. She
prescribed some medicines and assured us “all will be fine – don’t worry”.
After completion of nine months, she was admitted to the hospital. The
caesarian operation was performed at nine in the morning of 28th October.
This was the first caesarian case in our family. Dr. Khatibur Rahman was the
anesthetist and within ten minutes, the nurse reported the birth of
a boy and informed that Talat will remain there in the recovery room
for some time. I was worried about the health of the mother and the child and
kept strolling for some time. Something prompted me to go in and have a look.
What I saw was that the baby was uncovered lying there in the cot and was
virtually blue near the nails and lips. I rushed to the doctor’s room where all
of them were having a nice chat over tea. As I raised the alarm all of them
rushed to the room and the baby was immediately put on oxygen by Dr. Khateeb.
When Talat regained consciousness, the first thing she asked was “is the
child is alive ?” Before we could really convince her she will go back into
unconscious state. This went on till evening. Eventually I decided to approach
the nurse to hand over the baby to us. She talked to the doctor over phone and
the doctor told her to do as she was asked us. The baby was first shown to the
mother. It was the month of October and winter had crept in. I asked Sohail to
get a baby blanket from the market and also put on the electric heater. All
possible means of providing warmth was tried and after a while gradually his
color turned from blue to normal and after a while cried for the first time. He
was given milk after 12 hours of birth which he consumed normally.
Sohail congratulated me and also announced the sighting of the moon for
Ramzaan and said he is going for the Namaaz of taravih. Doctor Saheb when he
came from the office and he complimented with the words “experience matters a
lot”. Sharique as the baby was named, could be saved only with the grace of
Allah for which I remain thankful to Him. Haliman Bua was there to take care of
the baby. Till a few months Sharique stayed in Patna he kept bothering his
mother and others. He used to suck the entire milk from the bottle in one
single breath and this led to formation of gas and thereafter would cry for
hours. Doctors suggested a few medicines but they did not help.
After three months, they went back to Monghyr. Haliman Bua could not
go with them and she came back to us for cooking and she continues to do so,
even now.
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Chapter
INDEX.------------------------------------
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