I thought I knew motherhood …
Home at last!
It was great to be home with our newest member of the family, baby Kwame Ndung’u Muigai. But, the next two days were terrible. Kwame was crying for hours on end, and especially so at night.
The first three months were generally restless and marked with many sleepless nights for dear Kwame, my husband and I. If we were not playing with him, he would be vying for attention through wails. That saw us up at night playing with our sociable Kwame.
At first we put Kwame in a Moses basket next to our bed. But I was constantly worried that he might choke, considering he hardly used to burp after breast-feeding. This saw me checking on him every other minute. And so we resolved that for the sake of my peace, he be allowed to sleep between us, something that he enjoyed until the other day when he turned six months. My husband suggested that we try putting him in a different room. It is working.
Back to work
By the time my leave was over, my son and I were still having sleepless nights. So sleep would catch up with me during the day forcing me to take a nap in the rest-room or at the parking lot. However, since he turned five months, Kwame only wakes up to breast feed. Recently, I introduced him to supper and somehow that makes him sleep through the night. Then again, I have a great house-help who is alert and has a way with babies. I must say I am resting in the confidence of being able to leave baby Kwame in her care.
What I love most about Kwame
He is very jolly and hardly fussy unless he is hungry or wet. Even after injections, he does not extend his crying past the hospital environment. My baby has also limply started imitating a few of other people’s actions. There is nothing more interesting than watching him do this!
Unsettling moments
When he was born, Kwame had a stuffy nose which the paediatrician assured us would clear as he got older. However, three months down the line, my son was still struggling to breathe through a stuffy nose, so I took him back to hospital. At first the doctor told us that he had a massive growth in his throat. You can imagine what that statement did to me. The crusher was that he would have to undergo surgery immediately! We sought for a second opinion, and, thankfully, it was better news. The paediatrician explained that he had enlarged adenoids (glands located high up in the throat); and that was the reason Kwame’s chest had started being hollow because of struggling to breathe. The description of his condition, was relieving to say the least. At least it was nothing cancerous.
I look forward to …
Bathing him. I actually washed him in a bath when he was about two weeks old, despite my mother’s protests that he was too young. I asked my sister-in-law, Monica, to help me prepare for Kwarne’s maiden birth. And we bathed the sweet, little body, a delicate affair that saw us employ all measures at safe handling: but an affair that brought about some interesting activity as well. Now he is a powerful water-splasher. So much fun we have! I also love the way he looks up at me when he is breast-feeding. It ignites such a swell of pride in me, knowing that I am giving him the best, and his eyes so trusting-that I will not let him down.
Since Kwame
My Saturdays which were earlier occupied by shopping sprees, outings with friends and social functions are now Kwame-times. I just cannot wait to be with my boy! I now understand motherhood. The other thing has been my steadily increasing weight. I am working at it.
END: PG 23 / 56