Happy Birthday, Child !

I wrote this poem more than ten years ago, when my son who turned eleven today, was a new born, in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania. Since my original hand written copy is in India, I have reproduced it from memory as best as I could! Every single word is true though, like everything that I write!

'I have no company,' our daughter used to complain.

'Get me a sibling', was her constant refrain!
So I launched an exhaustive research,
To see what data I could unearth.
 I spoke to people with two kids and one,

And covered every aspect under the sun.

They all said,'It's tough, no doubt,

To have two kids running about.

You'll be exhausted, but you will revive,

And to tell the tale you will survive!'

But I was worried about India's population,

Should we add to an already over crowded nation?

But then our daughter grew really insistent,

And her demand became very persistent.

So my thoughts I cast aside,

And to have another child we did decide.

Soon we had good news to share,

And our daughter was happy beyond compare!

Hospital visits, blood tests and an ultra sound,

The baby was already making me run around!

Iron, vitamins and folic acid I took,

While Dr.Spock's trusted Baby Book

Was taken down from its rather dusty nook!

When at our daughter I had to shout,

Baby inside rapidly moved about.

To defend its sister, it already had the knowledge,

For it never reacted when I raised my voice in college!

A quick trip to Dar we did take,

And no trouble did baby make.

Buying baby clothes, diapers and rattles was fun,

And then the months began to run!

One, two, three, four,

Five, six, seven, eight,

And then our daughter could barely wait!

Soon from Dar my husband flew down,

All set to don the sterile gown.

But my due date went by,

And every day our daughter began to cry!

Across the world, family and friends began to pray:

'Oh God, why has she crossed her due day?'

The doctor began to talk of induction,

While I calmly waited for my contraction.

Then on the first Friday of February,

Suddenly to be born, baby was in a hurry.

To the hospital we had to rush,

And out came baby in a gush!

There it was, covered in mucous,

As the doctor snapped the umbilicus!

Our tiny little bundle of joy,

Turned out to be a baby boy!

Forty eight centimetres in length,

And eight pounds in weight,

He wasn't concerned that he was late!

With an APGAR score of nine,

Our son was absolutely fine!

Our daughter was thrilled beyond measure,

And to see the two children together,

Gave me my life's greatest pleasure.

They truly are a priceless treasure...