Sanjay Awad

Dolly Bhatter, 31, Founder, Brand N Buzz, a PR firm in Mumbai, talks about the importance of having a supporting family when it comes to being an entrepreneur, and finding  quality time to spend with her son, Amay

PHOTOGRAPHS BY: SHIVANGI KULKARNI
HAIR&MAKE-UP: SANGEETA RAWAL
BY: SANIA DHIRWANI

Dolly Tilani Bhatter’s tale of love, is one that has people crossing oceans to be with their one true love. For Dolly, it wasn’t only about crossing oceans, but about entering a whole new world when she and her husband decided to marry, not just across continents, but across communities, as well. Dolly grew up in New York and spent 15 years of her life there before moving to India at the age of 24, when she married Vijay, the love of her life. Vijay is the owner of India-Forums.com, one of the most popular Indian television portals and Dolly ventured into Public Relations when she opened her own agency.

Pregnancy Woes & Wows
Both Dolly and Vijay wanted to spend quality time with each other, travel the world and build their respective careers before they started planning for a baby. Dolly says, “Five years into the marriage, we felt we were now ready to take on the responsibility of another life, and decided to start a family.” But not everything is how you expect it to be. Dolly’s first pregnancy was terminated as the baby was diagnosed with CDH (Chronic Diaphramatic Hernia). Dolly says, “We were advised that it was best to not bring a life into this world, which would suffer and possibly pass away minutes after birth.” Post that, the couple were advised not to plan right away so they waited for some time.

Second time around, it was an unexpected pregnancy for the couple. “We found out on November 16, 2015 that I was pregnant. As I was spotting, none of us actually realised that I was pregnant. Joy knew no bounds after the doctor announced that I was expecting,” Dolly says, excitedly.

Like with most expecting women, the first trimester is tricky. Dolly was advised to be on complete bed rest. She says, “A workaholic by nature, it was demanding for me to stay in bed all day and just sleep. I was on progesterone medication and injections that made me nauseous and dizzy the entire day, as I could hardly eat.”

Unforgettable Baby Shower
Post the first trimester, the rest of the months went along without a hiccup. Dolly and Vijay decided that their baby would be born in New Jersey at her parents’ house. They flew to the USA in the sixth month of her pregnancy. They flew in advance so as to incur no risks at all. Dolly says, “I had started prenatal yoga in my 22nd week and continued it through videos till the day I delivered. While I was in the US, my doctor had conducted a class for all expecting mothers which was taught by a certified nurse, explaining the entire delivery and labour process.” Although Dolly did not read any pregnancy books, she kept herself informed by reading about it online. Her curiosity kept her engaged and she kept researching and absorbing whatever was necessary.

Dolly’s baby shower arrangements were on in full swing before she left for the USA. Reminiscing, Dolly says, “I had one of the most memorable baby showers which I will cherish for a lifetime. My best friend and my sister-in-law planned the most perfect baby shower that included my close family and friends. All the decorations were hand made and everything was done with so much love.” Dolly was fortunate enough to not have one but two baby showers. She says, “My office team also threw me a surprise baby shower, which incorporated a dance to welcome the baby, along with some delicious food and games. I was overwhelmed as I hadn’t expected a celebration at work.”

D-Day
Dolly went into labour five days before her due date. Although she did have a rough couple of days in the end. She came down with rashes and was in the emergency room the day before her delivery. Dolly says, “I was expecting that I would have to get labour induced as the baby wasn’t ready to come out. But then on the morning of July 11, 2016, I experienced slight pain. Before I knew it, we headed to the hospital and were informed that I was five centimeters dilated.” Dolly was given an epidural which elongated the delivery process but also provided some relief. She says, “Vijay and my mother were by my side during my labour. While my in laws and my best friend were waiting excitedly in the family area in the hospital.”

For Marathi film, television and theatre personality, Aditi Sarangdhar, life in the limelight got a lot more exciting after the birth of her baby boy, Arin

BY CHARLENE FLANAGAN
PHOTOGRAPHS BY AKSHAY KULKARNI
HAIR & MAKEUP BY SACHIN GATHE

Hollywood superstar, Kate Winslet, once famously said, “Having children just puts the whole world into perspective. Everything else just disappears.” Closer home, our very own green-eyed goddess, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, is noted to have said, “I don’t know about changing my perspective because motherhood is such a glorious blessing and I am very thankful for that. It’s such a beautiful experience. I so strongly recommend it. It’s bliss, love, and fulfi llment of another level.” There’s no doubt that the life you’ve come to know drastically changes when you bring a child into the equation, and for Aditi Sarangdhar, it was no different. “I have been part of the Marathi film industry, television and theatre scene for the past thirteen years. As an actress, it has been a great journey. But, nothing compares to the adventure life has been after Arin came into this world,” she says.

The baby way
“My husband Suhas Revandekar and I fell in love and later married. We’ve been married for almost five years now. Ever since we thought of tying the knot, Suhas was keen on starting a family. But, we did want to spend some time together before we decided to make a baby. It was after four years of marriage that we both felt it was time, and the planning soon began,” says Aditi. The couple were a little sceptical about their chances of conceiving since Aditi was now 35, and Suhas was 43, and were repeatedly told that they would encounter some difficulties while trying to get pregnant. Fortunately, life had a wonderful surprise and the couple were
successful almost immediately.

“We were lucky that we didn’t need to consult any fertlilty experts, and we conceived naturally. Before I realised that I might be pregnant, Suhas and I were vacationing in Australia. We’re bit of adventure junkies so I was scuba diving, skydiving, bunjee jumping, the works!” she recalls, excitedly. The couple always wanted to start a family, and their trip to Australia was indeed fruitful. Once back, though, the couple were back to the grind and went about their days as normal. “After we returned home, we got back to our routine— I started my shows, shooting, meetings, events, getting up early in the morning, hitting the gym—it was work work, work as usual,” she says. Then one day, it all changed. “I suddenly began feeling an intense wave of nausea and was throwing up continually. That’s when I realised I had missed my period, and took a home pregnancy test to confi rm my suspicions. When the test showed positive, I shared the news with Suhas and we were over the moon! This was perhaps one of the few times I’ve seen him this elated,” she says, with a big smile on her face.

Pregnancy symptoms
While the couple couldn’t be happier to share the news with their family and friends, as well as be pregnancy buddies with her younger sister, who was also expecting her first baby, Aditi did have a rough fi rst trimester when it came to the symptoms. “Despite being a reatively smooth pregnancy, I experienced a surge in pregnancy hormones that manifested in nausea, irritation, mood swings and a whole lot of drama,” she says. Quite befitting for an actress, we think! Unfortunately, this meant that Aditi frequently threw up, experienced a lot of food aversions and couldn’t really eat what she wanted to. “I couldn’t eat anything except for salads and fruits for days at a stretch,” she says. This also meant that she couldn’t really brush her teeth properly as the very action caused her to throw up, resulting in tooth decay. “But apart from the nausea and morning sickness, pregnancy was quite a joyful experience for me,” says Aditi.