I was practicing breathing and squatting exercises throughout my second and third trimester, hoping this would ease the process. My mother-in-law would often call me to say, “No matter what you do, it is pain like never before!” But I was determined to make it as smooth and easy for me and for my little bundle of joy. Recommended Read:  Benefits of A Prenatal Massage Friday 23rd Sept, 2017: I was checking emails, having breakfast like every other day when I started to feel slight unease and a few contractions. The first few times, I ignored it because if nothing else in the last 9 months, I had learnt that every contraction is not labor! Then I started noticing a pattern to the contractions and I decided to time them. They would come and go at intervals of about 10-15 minutes. They made me feel slightly uncomfortable, but I was able to carry on my routine activities. By evening, the contractions were at 6 minute intervals. At this point, I told myself, “It is time to call my husband!” I called my husband, his mother, my parents and asked them to come over as soon as possible. My husband was at work, which was about 20 miles away from where we stayed.

All that glitters is not gold. Isn’t that what we’ve always been told? Well, what if you’re Midas? Believe me, if you are, then it’s not a superpower. It’s a disaster. There was a time when I was making tens of thousands of dollars a week. And then, I started gambling. In just five years, I made millions. But I also ruined my life. Ironic, isn’t it? In the wink of an eye, my gambling turned into an addiction. The kind where I’d even forget to eat because my brain was preoccupied by the idea of making money – an insane amount of money! My condition deteriorated to the point where it became a compulsion. I was in fact, diagnosed with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, or OCD. I’ve gotten better since then of course. A lot better. But before I get to the part where I got cured, maybe I should start at the beginning and give you a better idea of the absolute mess I made of my life… The road I shouldn’t have taken I was a freelance programmer. After graduating from one of Texas’ finest colleges, I decided to go freelance. I just never saw myself as the guy who could work in an office, throughout the day.

I pondered for weeks and months as to whether I should write about this. More than the time and the effort, it takes courage to admit on paper that you have an eating disorder! The biggest question I had to answer was, “Why should I share this story on the internet for everyone to read and mock me?” And then I thought that this would help hundreds of people like me, and if it can motivate even one person to change for the better, the effort is worth it! I say I suffer from Bulimia nervosa , and I use the word “suffer” because it is a constant battle within myself even today. I do not binge and purge like I used to before but I would be lying if I say the thought does not cross my mind sometimes as a quick fix for my problems. How did my binging start? It all began about 15 years ago when at a tender age of 14 all I ever wanted to do was be ‘popular’. At that point in my life, I felt, like many young girls, that the only way to be popular was being a non-base cheerleader. In hindsight, I can safely say that being a cheerleader or being popular when you are young barely affects anything in your later life.

Graduating from one of the premier business schools in the United States, I had a vision. A vision that involved becoming the next Rockefeller. I got a job in a great firm with an enticing pay package. The future was crystal-clear to me. I’d invest my hard earned cash in stock. When I got the required capital, I would start my own business. I was on Cloud 9! What I didn’t realize was that my life at that moment was simply the proverbial ‘calm before the storm’.In my first year of work as an Assistant Project Manager, I realized that I’d literally signed away 5 days of my week wholesale in my 3-year contract! My life moved from weekends to weekends. I gained a good knowledge of the stock market. I befriended some of the brokers working in the opposite skyscraper. My net worth was constantly on the rise. That was the only thing that kept me going. And what I lost in the process was something I wasn’t even aware of. I had no time to work out. I was living on processed foods. 5 cups of coffee a day and about 20 cigarettes a day. Whiskey, every night, just to get a good night’s sleep.

There are some instances in your life which cannot be forgotten. They either bring tears of joy or sadness but cannot be erased. These instances shape you into who you are. One such instance of my life occurred on 9th May, 2017. Memory flashes I left from home for work as on any other day, with my hair done up, swaying my Prius keys and waddling through my porch. The highway 138 in California was a part of my daily commute and little did I know what was in store for me on that ominous day. I was driving, tapping my fingers to the Evanescence streaming out of my car-radio. The next thing I remember was my car enveloped by smoke, my body covered in blood, and dragging myself painfully out of my car. What the cops said was that there was a pothole in which my front left tyre got stuck and I lost control of the vehicle at a speed of 100 mph and crashed into another car in the next lane. I was rushed to the San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Centre. While in the ambulance on our way to the hospital, I remember experiencing mixed feelings like never before.