You should’ve seen my reaction. I wished there was a hidden camera recording this moment. I was laughing on some, “Wait!…What?”. The hospital was just around the corner. A three-minute drive. We walked in and handed them the admission letter. The hospital porter offered to bring a wheelchair but I declined politely because I was feeling like my usual self. I called my sister to share the news and like me, she laughed. But the reality soon kicked in and I got very nervous. Luckily, she talked the excitement back into me and I gathered the courage to waltz into the maternity ward.
On the way to my room, I saw a lady who appeared to be three years my senior walking up and down the passage. Her time was near. I wondered if that would be me in a few hours. They took my vitals. I could see the terror in baby daddy’s eyes. For some strange reason, I started thinking about the fact that we didn’t have a car seat yet. A call came in. It was Koki asking me where they should wait for me. Snap! I completely forgot about lunch! I told him I was now in hospital and wasn’t sure when I would be out. I transferred some money for them to go by themselves.
As we were talking about lunch, I remembered that I was hungry too. The next meal would only be in three hours’ time, so I sent Mbali’s dad to get food and the rest of my bags from the boot. I was now strapped into a fetal monitor and couldn’t do anything except be mesmerized by the sound of my baby’s heartbeat. Mbali’s dad came back with food and a baby car seat, and then it was time for him to go. We prayed and he left. Then boom! Koki and Karabo walked in. My heart melted. The time I spent with them helped get my mind off things for a bit. The distraction I needed. The clock struck 8 PM and it was now time for me to move to the delivery room, so they too had to leave.
The contractions kicked in hard. As I laid on the bed looking at the clock mounted to the wall, the fear started creeping in. I thought that I would be a mother by the time the clock struck midnight. Midnight came and nothing. I couldn’t sleep. I was in pain. At around 3 AM (now Saturday the 22nd) I could hear a baby crying down the corridor. Fresh delivery. I wondered why I couldn’t hear any screams from the mother (again, I was expecting scenes and sounds from movies). If I wasn’t scared, now I was really scared. That time I had horrible diarrhea. 5 AM came and I was still very pregnant. The midwife came in, it was time to shower. Getting out of bed was a mission. I was experiencing what felt like five times my usual period pain. Luckily, the setup allowed me to take a shower while seated.
I had breakfast at around 7 AM. I couldn’t keep it down. The nausea was killing me. My doctor came in at around 9 AM and just as he was about to examine me, I threw up. Then he banned me from having any solids until after the delivery. This only made me crave hot wings more but I was stuck with yogurt and tea for the rest of the day. His words, “You’re going to give birth today”, kept me going. I’m still hooked onto a fetal monitor so my movements are restricted. Even the birthing ball I brought was rendered useless. 3 PM came and nothing. At 5 PM I heard another lady down the corridor screaming in pain. My midwife rushed in the room and ordered me to put on my earphones and play my favourite music. “You don’t need to hear that. You need to focus on you and your baby”, she said. I played worship songs and said a silent prayer. Thirty minutes later, my midwife came back beaming with excitement and signaled for me to take out the earphones. I heard the sweetest baby cry. She said, “That’s going to be you any time now”, and put the earphones back in my ears.
When she came to give me some gas-and-air, it was 6:30 PM and I was now crying from pain. It’s a good thing Mbali’s dad was not around because I was going to strangle him right there. Besides, I also needed to focus on my delivery and I realize now that having him around would’ve made it a bit more difficult. I don’t know what was in the gas-and-air but whatever it was knocked me out. I put both my phones on flight-mode and slept peacefully for two-and-a-half hours. Around 9 PM, I woke up screaming. The midwives examined me, called my doctor and started preparing me. Pushing time had arrived. I was extremely exhausted but elated that it was finally happening.
“Push!”, they said. And I pushed. One of them stopped me to ask what I was doing. I said I was pushing. She said no, I’m not. I’m just screaming. Then she said, “You know what, you don’t know what pushing is like. This is your first delivery. So don’t push. Instead, take a deep breath and pretend you’re constipated and are trying really hard to poop.” That concept was familiar to me, so I did exactly just that. I get the feeling that I may have let out a real one. I don’t know, I saw her wiping something off my bum. I didn’t even want to know, my baby was close and I could feel it. I took one last deep breath, pushed and there she was. My beautiful little princess. When I saw her, all the pain I was in left my body. I just wanted to hold her. I gave birth to the placenta, got cleaned and stitched up (I had an episiotomy). Then they handed her over to me and left us alone for a few minutes. Those first few moments are magic. Sacred. I could feel God’s presence. I still get teary eyed when I think about them. I shut my eyes and thanked God for this life that was now in my hands.
