Sareena was born in Los Angeles at Cedars Sinai Hospital on January 5, 2016. You can read her birth story here. This is the day my happily ever after & whole world began.
This is very first picture that was taken of her! Her first breath took ours away.
From the second she was born she was immediately plopped onto me for skin to skin bonding. This is a very crucial part of bonding & helps regulate infants’ heartbeat, breathing, temperature, appetite, stress, sleep, etc. It took me a minute to realize that she was on me, I couldn’t believe she was finally here! She never left my or her daddy’s side at all throughout the hospital. She is our perfect little potato.
Sareena was so tired from all her hard work that she was hungry, crawled up to me, latched on and began successfully feeding. I was in such awe! I was also cupping her butt and she pooped in my hand.
After a few hours, the nurses took Sareena to measure her & weigh her. This is her first cry! I actually felt like a part of me was missing and wanted to cry myself about her being away from me, even though she was just a couple feet away and it was for a few minutes!
She was born super squishy and chubby, we couldn’t take our eyes off of her. I actually thought she looked hilarious but in an absolutely adorable way. We couldn’t stop staring at her. She looked like a perfect combination of her aunts from both sides, her Mausi & Akki. Sameer was so obsessed and couldn’t stop admiring her beauty. He was in such a daze.
Look at her, posing since she was a few hours old… For her first selfie.
With Nani (Maternal Grandma)
With Akki (Paternal Aunt)
With Aji (Paternal Grandma)
With Azo (Paternal Grandpa)
Drogo always sensed my pregnancy, but when Sareena’s Akki took one of her baby blanket’s to present to Drogo, he became OBSESSED. He would not stop sniffing the blanket. I think he realized what a huge responsibility he has of taking care of a little baby. So here he is saying “I must protect my tiny human.”
Uncle Ron & Aunt Alana came to visit!
With Nurse Katherine at Cedars right before we left!
I still remember vividly that the only time she really cried was once during the middle of the night and none of us knew what to do. We called the nurse, and she was like, is she hungry? No she wasn’t. Did she need to burp? No. She became hysterical with her cries. Did she need a diaper change? Yep…. all that shrieking was for a wet diaper! It didn’t even occur to us. So we were always diligent about that from then on to prevent her from crying again due to wet diaper discomfort!
My favorite moments were the times we were left alone to be a family of 3. There is something so peaceful and magical about becoming new parents and getting to know our baby on our own, it’s a bond that nothing can compare to.
Reflecting back on these pictures make me so happy and I’m glad I have a space where I can post my cell phone pictures & write about her casually. Sareena is already growing up so fast I want to cry! This is motherhood unplugged. Where every post will be raw & real. This is a backstage pass to our parenthood 🙂