The Sunnyvale Sun

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Baby's birth is likely to become a family legend

By JASON GOLDMAN-HALL

In classical Indian music, Pallavi means the beginning or important thematic part of a song. If that holds true, 3-week-old Pallavi Anun Arand has an exciting life ahead of her, given the way she entered the world.

On Aug. 22, Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety dispatcher Josie Silva answered her last call of the day, expecting a typical medical call.

But on the other end of the line was excited, nervous 32-year old Arun Anand Natarajan, whose wife--Lalitha Sethuraman, 28--had just gone into labor in their Sunnyvale home. With Silva's help, Sethuraman would eventually deliver 6-pound, 7-ounce Pallavi Arun Anand in their downstairs neighbor's living room.

For several days leading up to the birth, Natarajan said his wife had been complaining about back pains, but didn't think the pains were an indicator of coming labor.

But by noon on Aug. 22, the pains were bad enough that no painkillers or warm water bottles could get rid of them. Natarajan went to work in Redwood City as usual, but was on the phone with his wife throughout the day as her pains got worse.

By 3:30 p.m., they were beginning to spread to her abdomen, and then at 4:30 p.m., Sethuraman said she felt her water break. Her husband--who had carpooled to work and convinced his co-worker to drive him home early--arrived home shortly thereafter, and the couple got ready to head to the hospital.

After sending their 19-month-old daughter into a friend's house--along with their house key--the couple attempted to walk to their car.

But they never made it.

"On the second-to-last step, I had the feeling that the baby was coming now," Sethuraman said.

"I was thinking, 'Are you saying you can't walk to the car?'" her husband remembers, laughing at the event. "But when she said that, I knew it was serious."

Because their house key was with their daughter, the couple had to go to their neighbor's apartment, where Natarajan called 911.

"If we had gotten in that car, she would have been born somewhere on El Camino," Natarajan said.

Silva said she originally thought the call was a typical labor call by a parent who had time to go to a hospital, but she quickly realized it was more immediate.

Using medical instructions specifically dealing with childbirth, Silva said, she walked Natarajan through the process to take care of his wife, which included getting her to lie on the floor rather than a couch.

Eventually, Silva said she heard the unmistakable sound of a baby crying.

"Later on, I thought 'Wow, that was amazing,' " Silva said.

Less than a minute after Pallavi was born, emergency personnel arrived at the apartment, and mother and baby were whisked to the hospital for care. Two days later, they were back at home--healthy, happy and still amazed.

"It was just an adventure," Sethuraman said.