Shy Moments 30

Muscle trouble

When I was 30 weeks pregnant, I went to the bookshop to pick textbooks for my son. Some books were high up. So I asked someone to remove them for me lest I lose my balance. Others were way below, again causing me to ask for the same help. After all the rigorous selection, the books turned out to be very similar making me spoilt for choice That forced me to sit on the floor so that I could take my time selecting. When I found the right books, I stood up and arched my back to stretch my belly muscles. Incidentally, that really hurt making me gasp. Everyone at the bookshop rushed over to ask me if I was in labor.

Bumpy Wedding
I was eight months pregnant with my first child when a close friend invited me to her wedding. Her wedding was out of town and some crazy traffic had me get there late. The ceremony was in a small, local church that was packed with pews. With my lateness, the only empty seats were in the middle. As I squeezed through, I kept bumping the people in front of me at the back of their heads with my big belly. When I finally sat down, I heaved a huge sigh of relief and wrote a note to put in the ‘suggestion box ‘requesting that they reserve a ‘pregnant pew’ for people like me!

Toppling shelves

I was five months pregnant when my seven-year-old required folders to carry his school papers. After a while of searching for them in the supermarket, he found them on the bottom shelf. ‘Here they are mum!’ He said in delight. In a moment of excitement, I forgot I was pregnant and quickly reached down for them. I lost balance but managed to get a hold of the shelf that had the books to avoid falling. Well, the shelf must have not been meant for that because its contents noisily came down. Thankfully, nothing was damaged. Neither did I fall nor get hurt. But as the staff came to collect the fallen items, I felt hot blood wash over my face—embarrassment.

Weepy Shopping
I had just done one of the most challenging bits of my seven months pregnancy picking items in a supermarket. But as I was taking my items to the counter, I remember I had not picked maize flour and I went back leaving the trolley in the queue. When I came back, my trolley was nowhere! The people I asked around there just stared at me blankly. Why me! Tears began making their way down my face involuntarily as I walked down the counters searching for it, thinking of all the energy it had cost me to pick every item; and now having to do it all over again. A minute later, a man tapped my shoulder and pointed at my trolley -peacefully waiting a few feet away from where it had been. Now that I was away, someone must have pushed aside to make room for themselves at the counter. These emotions!

END: PG30/50