February 28th, 2017
10:30pm.
That’s when the horror show started.
The day had gone pretty well, had been very productive even. I was at upper hill in the morning to meet a certain TV station owner about them buying a series i was done producing and the meeting had been successful. The prospects looked good. Right after that meeting i went to meet a renowned film director about a story whose script he wanted me to write. The terms were good and i left there satisfied, ready to get down to business.
I went straight home and told my sister to get ready. I wanted to treat her to a surprise dinner date. At around 7pm we were at Tribe, waiting for our orders to go through.
So, you might ask, where am i going with this?
I am trying to make you understand that it was a normal day for me. I felt good, i felt generous, healthy and as strong as i could be. I remember telling the Tv station guy that my u/s EDD was 6th march, but that i suspected i had two weeks or so. He then went ahead to tell me that i probably had approximately three weeks because my belly had not teremkad yet.
¨You still have a long way to go,¨he observed.
A sentiment my sister kept echoing.
¨i hope when i become pregnant God favors me with a pregnancy like yours. Look at you, nine months pregnant, due anytime now but you look like you are four months pregnant. Still looking so fit.¨
I felt both lucky and blessed alright.
So you`ll understand why when that first (mild) pain came, i thought nothing of it. I was getting ready for bed and my sister, being the millennial she is, was on her phone laughing out loud to God knows what. She was already in bed. The second pain came a few minutes later. Again, i ignored it.
However the pain became persistent, increasing in intensity and the interval between each episode becoming shorter.
¨Naskia ka funny pain,¨ i told my sister
¨kunywa painkiller itaisha,¨ she replied dismissively, not looking up from her phone.
The next pain was so sharp, so severe i sat up straight.
Then it hit me.
¨What if these are labor pains,¨ i asked in a whisper.
¨Get the fuck out,¨ my sister sat up immediately. She looked scared – more than i was- even though she tried to hide it.
Look, i didn’t even have my hospital bag sorted. Like, at this point i did not even know what clothes i would go with to the hospital. So i laughed it off. Must be false labour pains, i thought gloomily, biting at my lower lip and thinking that must be the taste of blood on my tongue.
As we waited for the uber to arrive, i called my baby`s father.
¨I am headed to the hospital,¨ i said as cheerfully as i could under the circumstance. ¨Not to worry though, i think it’s a false alarm. I will just go to the hospital and once they confirm that it is indeed false labor, i will be back in no time.¨
An hour or so later i was experiencing my first true terror. That cervix checking procedure.
I screamed as tears rolled down my cheek. The nurse (whereas doctor Salome was gentle, this nurse was crude, rough and outright evil) stepped back and stared at me in a cruel terrifying way.
¨Are you serious right now,¨ she barked. ¨You just got here na unatoa machozi. I pity you. You have a long way to go. By the time tukimaliza machozi itakua imeisha kwa kichwa,¨ she went away laughing an evil laugh as i was left wondering if that’s what they taught at med school. That tears come from the head.
¨Can i have some pain killers,¨ i asked the next nurse i came across.
¨Ni painkiller tu unataka,¨ she said in her loudest voice, making sure everyone in the vicinity could hear her. ¨see all these pregnant women around? All of them have been given their painkillers. Stay put, i will bring you some in a moment.¨
Sarcasm. Thank God i was past the point of caring.
Next post, i’ll talk about babyś legs scare, the horror that was the breast latch, lack of breast milk and how that led to her dehydration (how i almost lost her)
