Emily’s Balancing Act!
Getting Married while in Campus is a Big Enough Challenge. Add a Private CPA (certified public accountant) Course, A Baby Plus a Busy Businessman for a Husband! That’s Emily’s World, and She Copes Just fine!
Emily Nyaboke was a student at Alliance Girls High School, when she met Boniface Birundu who at the time was a second year student at University of Nairobi, studying Pharmacy. ‘We met at home when schools were closed,’ she reminisces. ‘He noticed me in the neighbourhood, and we became friends. We would date during my holidays. I completed high school in 2000 and joined campus. We got engaged in 2002.’
Naturally her father was not impressed at the way his daughter was going about organising (or as he saw it, disorganising) her life. ‘It wasn’t that easy, because my father had problems with me getting married before I completed my studies. Boniface assured him that all would be well,’ narrates Emily.
Married and a first year student at Kenyatta University, studying for a bachelor of commerce, she says she started ‘feeling funny.’
‘I suspected immediately that I was pregnant. I wasn’t myself. I went to a chemist and did a pregnancy test which came out positive. I was both surprised and happy. I called my husband and he too couldn’t believe it. We bought a pregnancy kit and I did a self-test to re-confirm.’
Soon she came to terms with studying while expecting a child. ‘The pregnancy was stressful in the first three months. I could not eat well and would vomit constantly.’
She was a boarder at the campus and would go home during the weekends. ‘Even then’, she says, ‘Waking up in the morning to go to class was a real problem. I would miss classes because of laziness and sometimes morning sickness, but I ensured I got the class notes for the lessons missed. Interestingly I performed very well; I got better grades than I had ever got before!’
Meanwhile she received lots of support from her husband and family. Like with other pregnant mums, she developed both cravings and dislikes. ‘The pregnancy made me dislike red meat. I also hated chicken and passing through streets with many restaurants which made me feel like throwing up. I also disliked traditional vegetables, especially managu. My mum-in-law would bring them for me but I never used to eat them. I craved ice cream and pizza.’
As the third trimester arrived, family life caught up with Emily and she had to defer one semester. Finally she had an eventless delivery whose labour lasted only five hours. ‘I went to the hospital at 12.30 p.m. and delivered at 5.30 p.m.’ It was a natural delivery and she was not augmented. Boniface was by her side. ‘He was there for me, he would remind me how to breath and also rub my back.’ Their reward was a baby boy, Felix.
After she delivered she had to get up-to-date with coursework, under the ‘summer programme’, a name for classes carried out during college holidays. ‘That was my plan of ensuring I caught up with my studies, while fulfilling my responsibilities as a new mum and wife.’
With a baby at home, Emily had no option but turn into a day scholar. ‘At the same time,’ she explains, ‘I was doing my CPA at a Nairobi college. I would leave Kenyatta University at 5.00 p.m. and rush to town to attend my accountancy classes which began at 5.30 p.m. and end at 8.00 p.m. It was a tough life! Now when I look back, I cannot understand how I managed.’
For the first three months she took care of the baby all by herself, opting not to employ a house help. Thereafter she hired one, but Emily still had her maternal duties cut out. ‘Every morning before I left for college I would breastfeed Felix and then ensure I had expressed some breast milk for him to consume later. He also took some formula milk.’
‘Leaving my baby every morning to go to college was not an easy task. I would feel disturbed, always on my toes. I remember the first day I was seated in the class and I could hear the baby crying. I had to rush home and see how he was doing. Luckily, sometimes my mum-in-law who lives nearby would come and take care of the baby.’
Her prayer as she rushed home was that she would still have some time to bond with her baby. ‘Thank God because most of the time my baby would still be awake when I arrived home. I would feed and bathe him.’
Her husband, being a businessman, was busy and usually came home late.
Emily viewed this as an advantage. ‘By the time he arrived I would be done with the baby. This way I had time for him.’
On Tuesday 6th February, Emily delivered her second baby, a girl. ‘For a second born, Boniface wanted a boy while I favoured a girl, even though a baby is a baby. Ordinarily we don’t check the sex of our babies; we prefer surprises. My husband believes, and I agree, that we should raise all our kids together, hence we do not want a long gap between them. He wants four kids, although from my point of view this one should be the last!’
Emily Delivers Baby Girl
Finally she had an eventless delivery; whose labour lasted only five hours. ‘I went to the hospital at 12.30 p.m. and delivered at 5.30 p.m.’ It was a natural delivery and she was not augmented. Boniface was by her side. ‘He was there for me, he would remind me how to breath and also rub my back.’ Their reward was a baby boy, Felix.
After she delivered she had to get up-to-date with coursework under the ‘summer programme’, a name for classes carried out during college holidays. ‘That was my plan of ensuring I caught up with my studies while fulfilling my responsibilities as a new mum and wife.’
With a baby at home, Emily had no option but turn into a day scholar. ‘At the same time,’ she explains, ‘I was doing my CPA at a Nairobi college. I would leave Kenyatta University at 5.00 p.m. and rush to town to attend my accountancy classes which began at 5.30 p.m. and end at 8.00 p.m. It was a tough life! Now when I look back I cannot understand how I managed.’
For the first three months she took care of the baby all by herself, opting not to employ a househelp. Thereafter she hired one, but Emily still had her maternal duties cut out. ‘Every morning before I left for college I would breastfeed Felix and then ensure I had expressed some breast milk for him to consume later. He also took some formula milk.’
‘Leaving my baby every morning to go to college was not an easy task. I would feel disturbed, always on my toes. I remember the first day I was seated in the class and I could hear the baby crying. I had to rush home and see how he was doing. Luckily, sometimes my mum-in-law who lives nearby would come and take care of the baby.’
Her prayer as she rushed home was that she would still have some time to bond with her baby. ‘Thank God because most of the time my baby would still be awake when I arrived home. I would feed and bathe him.’
Her husband, being a businessman, was busy and usually came home late. Emily viewed this as an advantage. ‘By the time he arrived I would be done with the baby. This way I had time for him.’
On Tuesday 6th February, Emily delivered her second baby, a girl. ‘For a second born, Boniface wanted a boy while I favoured a girl, even though a baby is a baby. Ordinarily we don’t check the sex of our babies; we prefer surprises. My husband believes, and I agree, that we should raise all our kids together, hence we do not want a long gap between them. He wants four kids- although from my point of view, this one should be our last!’
Emily Delivers Baby Girl
A few days to my EDD, my husband took two weeks leave so he could be with me during our baby’s delivery. My EDD was on 27th of January. We waited, but nothing happened; there was no sign of the baby! He had to go back to work, and left on Monday 5 February 2007.
At around 4 A.M. on the morning of Tuesday 6 February I could not bear the labour pains and I phoned my mum to come take me to hospital. I also called my husband in Mwingi, and told him about it. He rushed back to Nairobi, but only managed to arrive at the hospital at 9.55 AM…. I had already delivered. I had been admitted at around 6.3O A.M., already 8 centimeters dilated. I gave birth at 8.55 A.M.
END: PG 06/54-55