It was the 4th week of May, 2025. Neo was already 10 months inside his Mother’s womb by then. The Doctors said we can expect him to come out any time after the 9th month completed. But our pal was a great swimmer. He was swimming his way inside the endometrial fluid for so many weeks now. He was getting too comfortable inside the womb. So comfortable that the doctors were concerned now as to why Neo had not yet crowned himself to get out.

Obviously, he was getting good care from his mother, also the warmth and love, so he may have decided to extend his stay inside the womb longer. But the Gynecologist drew a line. She said, its getting late now. She gave us two choices, induced labor or c-section. But she was quite happy to proceed with any decision we may decide. She gave us a couple of days to decide. She also mentioned that pains may start anytime and the water can also break at anytime so be ready.

We went back to our home. The hospital was 5 mins away. It could be the discussion with the doctor or it could be a genuine thing too, Shraddha started experiencing some labor pain type sensation late that night. We went to the hospital. We were asked to sit in the maternity ward / room. Neo’s mother is relaxed but anxious now. At this time the regular gynecologist was off duty, obviously, it was quite late in the night. So we were told that the floor duty doctor would visit us.

The floor duty doctor came in a few minutes, she saw the readings, she said everything is alright. Phew!

Neo’s mom asked her opinion on whether to choose induced labor or to take c-section. She gave an honest opinion after feeling the womb with her palms. She mentioned that the baby is still free floating (which was absolutely right) and then she mentions that induced labor can get very painful and that we should choose c-section instead. Neo’s mom was not fully convinced. She saw that the doctor was quite young and may have thought that she had less experience. But although she was bang on, we did not take her advise.

The next day we went to our regular gynecologist and Neo’s mom wanted to go with induced labor. The gynecologist suggested Neo’s mom get admitted for the night so that she can sleep off the pain.

Neo’s mom was not sure about the checking in at night. She thought that the main doctors won’t be available so we decided to get admitted the next morning. We reached there around 10 am. The labor pain started the earlier night but in phases. And the compressions were around once in a few hours. The compression should start recurring every 5 to 7 mins to begin with. Neo’s mom got admitted in the maternity room and the compressions were beginning to get closer and closer (the nurse had now induced labor to Neo’s mom).

90 mins post induced labor, Neo’s mom felt that she couldn’t take the pain anymore and that we should call the gynecologist and choose the c-section option instead. So by 2 pm Neo’s mom is taken inside the operation theater.

I was at the cafeteria and I think I was having a cup of coffee before Neo’s arrival. We also had Neo’s Uncle and Aunt (Neo’s mom’s elder sister) visit us from Mumbai a few days ago, they were also with me in the hospital that day. We got a call from the operation theater in-charge asking us to come to the first floor. He did not mention anything else. So we took the elevator and reached the first floor. We were let inside a preliminary gate outside the operation theater’s main door.

We waited for a few seconds outside the theater. Then they were asking a helper to get a NICU stretcher.

Looking at the size of the stretcher, I realized this was for Neo. But wait, there could have been other deliveries too. So I was waiting patiently along with Neo’s Uncle and Aunt.

Finally, the NICU duty doctor came out of the operation theater smiling. She mentioned it was my child and did not reveal the gender yet.

I captured the first glimpse of Neo in the bright lobby lights of the operation theater’s preliminary chamber. He was covered in a bright green cloth from head to toe. His face was visible. The bright hospital lights seemed to disturb him a bit. I was not crying till this point.

The moment I started saying “Hi Neo. This is Appa. Can you recognize my voice?” he makes eye contact (we were told in the parenting course that if we speak to the child regularly while they are in the womb, they will recognize our voice and that they will make eye contact). The helpers and everyone started saying that he looks exactly like his father. Then came down the tears, uncontrollably. Then the helpers notice that I am crying and one of them said, “these are tears of Joy instead”!

The last time I had cried before that was decades ago, probably for my first promotion early on in my career or something. I don’t even remember. I didn’t even cry when I lost my father in late 2023. But here you go, tears of joy rolled out as if the overhead tanker was switched on.

Then the floor doctor went on with the gender reveal. For some reason, I always knew the child would be a male. Neo’s mom wanted a boy even more. And there he was, a boy!

The Uncle and the Aunt were also very happy and excited for being one of the few and first ones to witness Neo’s arrival. Neo’s mom would have witnessed his arrival firsthand of course (inside the operation theater). She later told me she was also crying after she saw him for the first time. She probably took a selfie with him too, ha! Damn, she beat me to it. I had no idea where my phone was anyway, I was looking at Neo!

That sums up the moment of Neo’s arrival!