Daughter’s craving for a sibling calls for a second try at motherhood
My journey’s best moments
When I touch my bump and realize that I am carrying a new life in me. It is exhilarating!
What’s bad
I feel bloated in the morning; I curb this by drinking plenty of warm water. I also feel dizzy and get headaches when hungry, which means that I have to eat more often.
Rosemary Kiumbi, pregnant with her second child shares her joyous discovery with Rebecca Njoki.
This is my second pregnancy. My husband and I planned for a baby after our firstborn daughter. Lakshmi Muthoni. turned six. One day I found my girl talking to an imaginary sister. She was in her bedroom, all by herself. I called the dad to listen; this was a wake up call, we knew if was time to get her a sibling.
Then again she has a sister in school, a girl she really likes but who is far much older. She tells me all about what they get to do with her sister while in school—the developments in their friendship and how happy she is with her. I came to the conclusion that all these were signs of a child longing for a sibling.
Was it easy getting pregnant?
When we started frying for a baby. I would buy the pregnancy test kit but the results were always negative. On the third month. I bought several and kept them, hoping to use them at a later date. But I missed my period the Friday that I expected them.
Come Sunday. I retrieved a pregnancy test kit and locked myself in the bathroom. Heart pounding, I saw the much anticipated line on the kit. I was pregnant! The results were positive! I called out to my husband to come see it tor himself. He first thought 1 was kidding, but then the evidence was there. We later called my mother whom we learnt did a jig.
No one is as excited as Lakshmi. She actually talks to the baby. She will place her ears close to my stomach and listen. She calls the baby my small sister. I hope it turns out to be a girl, for her (Lakshmi’s) sake. But she is quite mature so we are not expecting much drama with the arrival of the new addition to the family, though I am still not sure how she will react on seeing her dad divide his attention between the two of them. To groom her for the forthcoming baby. I have started training her to share what we eat between the three of us. That is, her, the forthcoming baby and I. She has warmed up to the idea.
Any notable changes?
My tastes and preferences have changed. I have stopped taking herbal tea though it was previously my favourite beverage. Lately I have been craving for masala chips, something I find odd. I also get dehydrated at night, thus I have to take a lot of water. But I believe that all this will end after the first trimester. I have also gained weight and I tire easily.
Too good to be true!
This pregnancy is definitely different from my first. Most of the time I find myself giddy with happiness, unlike in my first when I was quite apprehensive. Sometimes I think it is too good to be true and that one day I will wake up and realise that it is all a dream. But hey, the bump on my stomach is growing day by day. It is lovely, a testimony to the fact that I am expecting.
It is special; I am looking forward to this baby because my family is growing, a pleasant change which everyone has been longing for. I will now be saying that I am a mother of two. Quite impressive, I think. Though there is joy in bringing a life into the world. I want this to be my last pregnancy. So much responsibility accompanies a new life. My husband and I would rather raise two children.
END: PG17/28-29