Thursday, August 28, 2014

Drive to Work


The next morning, I woke up at exactly six. I woke Fred up as he is such a heavy sleeper. He never hears the alarm. I went to the bathroom, showered and prepared myself for work. I was feeling so lazy. As Fred was dressing up, I went to the Kitchen and started preparing breakfast. There was no eggs, no bread or juice. I went for the only option available; milk and cereals. I added the bananas that were remaining.

Fred came in after a few minutes and stood at the kitchen counter then asked. "This is what we are having?"

"Yes."

"This looks like an appetizer. I'll be hungry after a few minutes."

"Just have that, we can go have coffee later in the office restaurant." I assured him. "We need to do more shopping in the evening."

He took the bowl and started eating while standing up. After a few scooping a few spoons of the cereal, he was done.

"Really?" I asked a bit shocked on how he managed to be done in a few minutes.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing." I said. "Let me finish and we go."

After I finished my breakfast, I quickly washed up the utensils then I met him in the bedroom. He was wearing his watch. I picked my handbag, looked at the mirror for a minute before we went downstairs to the car park. Fred drove us away.

There was a bit of traffic towards town. Ever since we moved these sides, the distance has been longer meaning we usually leave the house a bit earlier than before. As we sat in the traffic listening the early morning show, I lowered the window next to my side. Big Mistake! As soon as the window was down, the traffic started moving. All the fumes of cars entered into our car. I immediately felt nauseous. I wanted to puke!

"Oh God." I cried.

"What?" Fred asked getting concerned.

"I'm not feeling well. I need to throw up."

"No, no, no. Do not puke in the car!" He shouted.

I could not wait until we reached the office. So I quickly went through my bag, got a shopping bag and threw up inside! Not once, not twice but three times! When i finished, I raised my head up and found Fred looking at me with his mouth wide open.

"Man, I can't believe you just did that. Yuck!"

I looked away as I did not know how to respond to him. I opened up my bag again, found some tissue and wiped my mouth with it. I  dipped the tissue into the now "full' shopping bag and closed it tightly at the top. I placed it gently on the mat. I could feel Fred's eyes on me. But I didn't care, I felt good! I opened the window a bit more and closed my eyes. The breeze was so soothing :-)


Thursday, August 21, 2014

Fears

We left the hospital in a jovial mood. Not only was I pregnant, I was ten weeks along! I was happy that I wanted to call everyone and tell them but I was held back by the advice the Doctor gave us. He asked we be patient until about twelve or thirteen weeks. By that time, the doctor would be sure of the health of the baby and would have the results of the test he took back.

At the house, I sat down on the couch while Fred ran around the house like an excited kid who was expecting something from his mother. He prepared some fresh juice, served me and cleaned the utensils after. I couldn't help myself from smiling. Why didn't he ever do this often?

“You are acting really good today?”

“Acting?” He asked.

“Yea, you don’t normally do this.”

“You need to rest. You are pregnant. I don't want anything hurting you or the baby. " 

“All will be okay baby. Don’t worry.” I assured him.

He kept silent for a while then shook his head.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing.”

“For the longest time since we got married, I have been having fears that maybe God won’t bless us with a kid. You know what we did. We were young, yes, but was that decision good?” He started. “I was scared. I am still scared the hell out. Will this pregnancy go well? Will I be a better father? Will the baby love us? I did not know what to say. I just looked at him. He was trying hard not to tear up as pain was written all over his face.

I held his shoulders trying to console him. Tears flowed down my cheeks as well.

"Fred, you shouldn't be scared. You should be strong now. I need you more." I said.

“Yea I know.”

“I was scared too. I was wondering if God punished us for the abortion as we have been trying but no luck yet. All I know is, God’s timing is the best. Let’s pray that this bundle of joy will bear fruit. I am so excited to be a mother.”

“And you will be a wonderful mother.” He said while rubbing my belly in a circular motion.

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Antenatal Clinic




“I’ll have to send you to the Gynecologist. Do you currently have one?” The Doctor asked.

“No.”

He scribbled something on a printed paper and gave it to me. “Take his and go to nurse at the reception. She will direct you to his office. He will be able to advice you more on the pregnancy.”

“Thank you.” I said while I took the paper and we walked out.

We talked down the corridor hand in hand to the nurses’ station at the receptionist. I handed one of them the piece of paper. She smiled, congratulated me and offered to walk me to the office of the Gynecologist. It was located on the East Wing of the hospital five doors away.

She knocked the door and let us in. Apparently, we were the only patient at the moment so the doctor saw us immediately. He greeted us and asked us to sit. The nurse gave him the paper.

“Congratulations to you two.” He started.

“Thank you.” We both replied in unison.

“From the tests, I see you are about ten weeks. You need to start antenatal immediately. The purpose of antenatal care is to monitor your health, your baby’s health and be able to advice you on the way forward until full time.  I’ll have to open a file for you so that it will be easier for us to access the pregnancy.”

He reached to his desk, opened a drawer and picked a blue folder. He wrote my names on the slip on top of the folder. He opened it and inside there was a few papers which was to be filled.

“Okay, I’ll start by asking you questions just to know about you.” He said.

I nodded. Fred squeezed my hand. "How old are you?"

"28"

"Have you had any previous births, miscarriages or an abortion."

I was silent for a while before answering. That question caught me off guard.

"Yes."

"Which one in particular?"

"An abortion."

"How long ago?"

"About two years ago."

"Do you take alcohol?"

"Yes, occasionally."

"Do you smoke?" 

"No"

"Any family history I should know about?"

"Heart issues. My dad had a heart attack."

"Alright, I will have to take your blood pressure. I will also ask you take a urine test which will assist us in checking for gestational diabetes and pre-eclapsia. I will also advice you to stay off alcohol until the baby is born."

"Okay."

He checked my blood pressure and recorded the results in the new file he had opened for me. Out of curiosity, I asked if it was okay and he replied smiling that all was well. I later went to the lab where I left my urine sample. I will get the results in my second visit.
 


 

Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Ten Weeks


All three of the pregnancy sticks were showing positive results. No doubt I was pregnant! I didn't know whether to cry or not. Fred and I had been waiting for this news for a while now and it wouldn't have come at a better time. I lifted my head up and saw Fred staring at me. He mouth was wide open while his hands. I laughed and asked him what was wrong.

“Are you sure you are pregnant?” he asked.

“Yes.” I replied while collecting the used sticks to throw them in the hospital.

“And can you tell how many months it is?”

“No, not yet. I’ll have to go to the hospital to get that checked out.”

“Wow, that’s good.” He said while holding his head. “ I can’t believe am finally going to be a dad.”

He stepped closer and hugged me. He then planted a kiss on my lips and forehead.

“Let’s go to the hospital right now and check it out.” He asked.

“Ahhh, okay. Weren’t you going to the toilet first?” I reminded him.

After he was done, I picked up my handbag which had my insurance cards and together we drove off to one of the hospitals in our area. We were lucky as we only found two people waiting for the doctor. We filled in our details and when our turn arrived, we were shown into the doctor’s office.  The doctor, Dr. Morrison, was a tall slender built guy who looked like he was in his late forties. He ushered us in and pointed to the seats infront of him.

He read the form that I had filled in the details then asked me questions regarding my menstrual cycle. He traced back my history on when I become sexually active and if I was on any contraceptives. I answered all of his questions. He then drew blood from my arm and asked for us to wait for him on the reception as the results come out.

After a few minutes, the nurse called us back in and found Dr. Morrison waiting for us. His facial expressions could not reveal to us what he had in store for us.

As soon as we sat down, he started.

“Congratulations! You are pregnant.”

I smiled.

“Thank you doctor.  May I know how far I am?” I asked.

“Yes, you are about ten weeks along.” He responded.