I remember thinking I still had time. My due date was 28 November, and in my head, everything felt comfortably spaced out. My parents were supposed to arrive on 25 November, and I was really looking forward to that. It felt like everything would fall into place after that calm, settled time with family around. I was even hoping the baby would arrive only after 20 November, so I could still have a little more time just for the two of us. Our anniversary was somewhere in between, too, a small milestone I quietly wanted to cross before life shifted completely. Nothing about those days felt urgent yet. Pregnancy had been long but still predictable in my mind, something that would follow the date written on paper. I didn’t realise then how quickly that sense of time could change.

When Things Took a Turn

We had already been under hospital care for a while. During a routine growth scan, the midwife felt that the baby was slightly smaller than expected according to the chart. It was not an emergency, but it was enough for them to refer us to the hospital for closer monitoring. From there, a gynaecologist took over our care. From the 8th month onwards, we started going for weekly scans at Spaarne Gasthuis. Each visit followed a similar pattern, checking growth, blood flow through the placenta and umbilical cord, and whether everything still looked stable. It became a quiet rhythm of monitoring and reassurance.

The Day Everything Changed

On 11 November 2025, we went in for what felt like another routine scan at the Hoofddorp branch in the afternoon. We had even planned it like a normal day: go for the scan, then have lunch afterwards. Nothing about it felt like it would change anything. But during the scan, they noticed something unusual in the heartbeat. Every ninth beat, the baby was skipping one. That was the moment things shifted. We were immediately asked to go to the Haarlem branch of Spaarne Gasthuis, where they could monitor the baby continuously. That was also where delivery would eventually take place. And shortly after arriving there, they decided I needed to be admitted. I still remember the strange in-between feeling because my hospital bag was at home. Everything was ready, but nothing was packed. I had kept postponing it, partly because packing it would make everything feel too real. Even though my due date was still weeks away, suddenly, none of that mattered. We asked, almost insisted, to be allowed to go home for just an hour. Somehow, they agreed. We went back, had a very quiet lunch at 6 pm, and then packed everything in a rush. We even picked up some instant noodles, just in case we stayed longer than expected. And then we returned to the hospital that evening.

Labour Begins

Labour was induced that night using a Foley balloon method. It was uncomfortable from the beginning, with strong cramps through the night, very little sleep, and a body that suddenly felt like it was moving into a process without asking permission. By early morning, they checked and confirmed dilation had begun. The balloon had done its job. They broke my water shortly after. I had already planned for an epidural, and I received it around 9 am. After that, time changed again, not in urgency, but in waiting. Hours passed slowly as dilation progressed to around 4 cm. And then, almost unexpectedly, things began to move faster. Within a couple of hours, I was fully dilated. It was time.

The Moment He Arrived

He was born on 12 November 2025 at 17:49, weighing 2464 grams. The moment he came out is something I don’t think I will ever forget. The nurse placed him directly on me, still crying, still connected by the umbilical cord, and for a few seconds, everything else disappeared into that single moment. After delayed cord clamping, Rishi cut the cord. I then delivered the placenta and got stitches, while everything around me slowly shifted into a quieter rhythm again. The nurses cleaned him, and Rishi watched as they showed him how to change a diaper for the first time. It felt strangely grounding, like life had already started teaching us in real time.

First Hours After Birth

After that, he had skin-to-skin time with Rishi while I was helped to take a bath and settle. Because he was small, they kept us in the hospital overnight for observation. He had an ECG and a few blood tests done, just to be safe. Those hours felt less like a celebration and more like an adjustment, a slow awareness that he was here, and everything had already changed. The next afternoon, around 3 pm, we were finally allowed to go home.

Closing Reflection

What stays with me most is not the sequence of events, but that first moment when he was placed on me. Everything before that now feels like it was quietly leading up to a single image of him on my chest, crying, while everything else rearranged itself around that moment. And that is the moment I return to, again and again, when I think about how it all began.