The Many Faces of Alisha

These are some of our favorites so far...

Smiling Begins Mommy and Daddy's Hearts Melt

I realize when she sleeping the smiles aren't really smiles but my goodness seeing them still makes Amit and I both melt. Alisha has the best smile. It seems like when she smiles nothing else matters. You forget you've had no sleep or taken a shower in days.

A Picture with Alisha

Nobody cherishes a good picture with Alisha like me. I am not the most photogenic and not keen on having my picture taken. We had some visitors coming over so I bothered to blow dry my hair and look semi decent. Here is the result.

Mommy's Obsessions and 1st Time in the Bjorn

Okay so Alisha being a newborn meant that she slept a lot the first couple of months. I could not resist getting the sweetest pictures of her while she slept. Another obsession: her feet. I love them. I wanted to put them in her announcement but Amit wouldn't let me. But I'll have my revenge and post them here. Also here is a picture of Alisha in her Baby Bjorn for the first time. We tried it out at Target. Alisha got a lot of attention. Everyone commented on how small she was and how cute.

The "Bunny Suit"

The "Bunny Suit" was a great gift from Alisha's Puneet and Nitin Mama's and Deepa Aunti. Amit and I thought it was the cutest thing and took tons of pictures of her in it.

Alisha's 1st Bath

Alisha's 1st bath went well for Amit but not for Alisha. She cried the whole time. There were only a few pictures and we were still trying to figure out how to get our pictures to not be blurry.

Alisha's 1st Christmas

Alisha's first Christmas was spent at home with family. She met her Great Grandfather for the first time. She was only 10 days old at the time. We had just moved into our house and didn't really bother too much with decorations. Amit insisted though that for Alisha we had to do a little bit so he put up lights by the fireplace. Alisha got a few gifts from her Dadi/Dada and Mona bua and Arvi uncle. She got some great Christmas booties from Swati and Shweta Buas that she is wearing in the picture. I had bought a couple of Christmas outfits for Alisha. I must say my favorite was the Christmas "Rapper". The next day Alisha's "belly button thingy" fell out and she was able to take her first real bath.

Maternity Leave

I have to thank my mom and Alisha for their good timing. Because Amit has his own business he had already let me know that he wasn't going to be taking too much time off. My mom gets some time off between Christmas and New Years and it worked out great because she was able to come over almost everyday and be with Alisha and I. She would make sure I ate, which wasn't a big priority at the time for me. I was busy trying to get on a pumping schedule. My attempts at breast feeding did not work and I figured it wasn't worth the stress to me or Alisha to keep trying. I was happy that at least she was getting breast milk. Alisha slept a lot but I had the nesting bug and probably spent more time cleaning in the months after she was born than I had in my whole life. Night time feedings and the days are now a blur.

The Next Day

We successfully got Alisha to the doctor in the morning but not without my anxiety attacks in full force. The doctor said Alisha was doing just fine but that he had lost some more weight and only weighed about 6 lbs. The doc asked us to bring Alisha back to the doctor the next day just to make sure she hadn't lost any more weight. I love ALL Pediatrics for this reason...they are open Saturday and Sunday (a God sent for worrisome moms like me.) By the next morning Alisha had successfully put on 2 oz. so she was back on track :)

Coming Home from the Hospital

Alisha was born on a Monday and by Thursday night we were going home. I have got to say I was petrified of taking this small baby home. I am always afraid the moment something wonderful happens to me that something bad will follow. I have to give credit where credit is due and give it to Amit because he really took the reigns on this one. I had also developed a slight case of the baby blues and was crying for no reason at all. Adding to the stress was that we had to get Alisha to the pediatrician first thing in the morning.

Alisha's Arrival

Alisha arrived on Monday December 15, 2008 at 10:03 in the morning. She weighed 6 lb, 7 0z and was 20.5 inches long. She made her way into the world via c-section. The doctor told me I could be in labor for 8 to 14 hours or I could meet my daughter now, and of course I could not wait. It turned out that c-section was the right decsion because Alisha had the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck. Just goes to show God always knows best. Daddy was super excited to meet his daughter for the first time and stayed with her while I was in recovery. Later when we had our room Alisha was greeted by her grandparents, mama's, bua's, and in the next few days everyone else there was to meet.