Eleven years of motherhood… | Wahu Kagwi

I can’t believe I’ve been a mother for almost 11 years!!! Where, oh, where is this time going?? Look at my Tumiso, almost my height! Fitting comfortably into my shoes, and yet just the other day, she was burping and peeing all over me! Time…it just passes by way too fast.

My former campo classmates and I have a good laugh at how our lives have taken drastic twists and turns, since “just the other day”, we were tu-young freshas on campus. In addition to the luxury of choosing who is hot enough to take us out, we were happy to check back into our rooms after 6:30am, ‘fresh’ from a night out on the rave.

Even the slightest imagination of what I would be like as a mom was a source of laughter for my girlfriends, because nobody (not even myself) figured me as the maternal type.

But remember when I first got pregnant…. this is where I tell a little bit of a story no-one really knows, but just before I got pregnant with Tumi, about 3 months to be exact, I did carry a pregnancy, that I unfortunately lost. I can’t explain the kind of loss I felt…. I will share this in detail in a later blog.

Therefore when I found out I was pregnant again, I had such a cocktail of emotions going through my body. I was excited, nervous, happy and scared. All kinds of emotions during pregnancy! First of all, God had given me another chance at motherhood, and second, it was nerve wrecking to imagine losing a baby again.

Turns out I had a deficiency of a certain hormone. For the love of me, I can’t remember which one, but whatever it was, I needed to supplement it artificially. In addition I needed to keep my stress levels low, or else I would have a repeat miscarriage.

The doctor ordered me to stay clear of any stressful situations, including stage performances and just like that, I dropped the microphone. It wasn’t even a discussion for me.

I remember I had to keep going for hormone jabs, 3 times a week for the first couple of months. On my butt!!!! My butt guys!!!! Needless to say, me and that nurse got to know each other on a whole other level. Hahaha! But there’s no pride when your baby’s life is at stake. Wueh! You quickly just let the nurse do her thing, and help guide her to an area your have not been dungwad yet. Hahaha!!!

I remember checking myself into hospital to induce labor. Why? Because my sister in law had just given birth, in the car, a week before. Ya, you read right, she gave birth on the way to hospital, and by the time they were getting there, all the doctors had to do was cut the cord, clean the baby and hand him to his parents. I mean…. What kind of drama is that? Reason for all kinds of emotions during my last days of pregnancy! And on that backdrop, was I really going to wait for my water to break? Hell no!

I remember that first labor as if it was just the other day. Tagging on my husbands dreadlocks, wondering how on earth I got ‘conned’ into getting pregnant! Hahahaha!

Then I remember the joy; the joy when I held Tumiso for the first time. The tears that flowed uncontrollably as I put her to my bossom to suckle for the first time. It was such an emotional post-pregnancy experience.

Then came my Nyakio; she was a well calculated one. An easy pregnancy, a walk in the park delivery. The 2nd baby I guess is always that way.

Lol, my friend tells me, that if I think number two is easy, wait till I get to #3! She says she doesn’t know when her 3rd kid potty trained. She just woke up and found that the toi doesn’t need diapers anymore! Hahaha!

So funny, she and I were in campus together “just the other day” happy to go to class with hangovers (we all have pasts, don’t judge) and now, all we talk about is babies, schools, nannies and all that good stuff.

There’s something so special about being a mom. It’s just one of those titles you don’t earn from a school, it’s not a job you train for, nor is it one that pays you in cash, but in kind, with the hugs, kisses, giggles and “I love you’s” It’s not a job you quit.

I can tell, because my mom, who is now in her golden years, has never retired from being my mom. Even now, she prays, she offers advice, she’s there to hug, to comfort, and to cheer on all five of her children, through this journey called life.

So to all you mommies, young and old, here’s to all the late nights, the hospital runs, the postpregnancy weightloss battles, the stretchmarks, the hugs, the burps, the kisses, the tears, the whole nine yards. It’s a rollercoaster ride like no other, full of all kinds of emotions during pregnancy and after, but we love it. Don’t we???? — One love, Wahu.

Wahu Kagwi is a Kenyan musician, mother and entreprenuer. She is wife to Kenyan musician David Mathenge aka “Nameless”. Wahu shares her pregnancy and parenting experiences at the Babylove Network and loves to receive feedback to improve her own parenting.