Mja Mzito journal 4

My Moments of Joy…

The day we found out that we were going to be parents, my husband took me out for dinner and he started treating me like an egg. He treats me so well and doesn’t allow me to do the house chores; he cooks for me and makes sure I eat before he leaves for work in the morning. In the evenings he always picks me from work.

I would like my husband to be my birth partner, as he knows me better than any other person. He is the best person to be around me when I’m in pain. This pregnancy is a gift and I plan to stop working after delivering, to take care of the baby.

My Journey’s blue moments …

My worst moments of course, were the first three months when I was having morning sickness and I couldn’t eat properly.

Those three months were very difficult for me; I lost five kilos because I was not eating well and I was vomiting a lot. I only ate fruits and githeri. For three months I ate githeri continuously. At one point I felt I was being unfair to my husband, because he had to eat the same food I ate. But after a while the cravings for githeri disappeared. Now I’m craving for stones, and I try to keep off them because I know they are not good for my baby and myself.

I went for an ultrasound scan, because my gynaecologist had advised me to have one when l was 20 weeks, to check for any abnormalities.Additionally, I wanted to know my baby’s sex. I wanted a baby girl badly, and my husband wanted a boy. After the lady performing the ultrasound checked and told us that the baby was fine, she asked us whether we wanted to know the baby’s sex. We were like, ‘yes and no,’ then I got some courage and asked her to tell us. From the scan it showed a baby boy; his scrotum was visible. I was so disappointed—I cried. In my mind, I have always had this picture of a girl. I admired girls’ clothes and imagined how I would pierce her ears and adorn her hair. It was a bit depressing for me, but later when we left the hospital and went home I asked God to forgive me. I had waited for five years for a baby and at that time all I wanted was any baby. Now that I was pregnant I was being unfair to God, by choosing the baby’s sex. Once we knew the baby’s sex, we decided to name him ‘Nathan’, which means God’s gift.                                                                                                                                                                      Vicky Ogali

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