Mrs.O's writing room.

They say to prevent puffiness and swelling in pregnancy, drink lots of water – I drunk water like my life depended on it but still managed to look extremely pumped. I know ladies who give birth on their due dates like clock work, me? it just doesn't happen. A week after my due date, am still twiddling my fingers. I read about celebrities who claim they lost baby fat by breast feeding – I’m exclusively breastfeeding, constantly hungry but can’t seem to shed off the pounds as fast. I have been told to stay away from porridge, drink lots of water, eat fruits and I will be on my way to a slimmer me. Let’s wait and see, it’s a month already and I still look fresh out of hospital. Talking about fresh out of hospital, I have met moms with 2 day old babies and their tummies are as flat as ironing boards, wonder how they do it, me? Well lets just say Mich is still convinced there is another baby in there. I have heard about the tradition of  belly wrapping , where moms wrap their waists...

I curiously scanned Amani’s mouth when she yawned, just in case I’d missed to see the teeth that magically appeared at feeding time. I could have sworn there were teeth in there somewhere – but all I saw was her cute pink toothless gums. In the first week my nipples were extremely sore, things got steadily worse when I begun to sense what felt like sand paper when she suckled. She yawned again and there it was - a pink little tongue, I wondered how that thing could do so much damage. Like the bible says, the tongue is a small part of the body but it makes great boasts – it’s tiny but my! The things it can do. Breastfeeding became complicated. I stuck with it nevertheless; this is the most expensive, nutritious food Amani could ever eat, quite apart from the fact that we need to bond, she builds antibodies, it strengthens her stomach walls and helps my uterus contract. Week one We are first timers, am trying to recall the feeding tactics and all she knows is to suck and suck she doe...

The scale tipped one fine day when Sam and I went in for an ultra sound scan. Out of the blue the radiologist blurted out “it’s a boy!” We were surprised that she took it upon herself to tell us – we hadn’t asked and we didn’t pursue it any further. Meanwhile Mich continuously prayed for a little brother. We joined the band wagon and believed with him. When this little person finally made their debut, I had the doctor and the other medical staff roaring with laughter. As soon as I heard the first sound of the baby’s cry, I was thrilled! My heart went “feregeshe”- I was all jelly inside. I said “wow, that boy has a real strong cry”, Dr. Asa then asked, “How do boys sound?” before showing baby to me and what do you know?! “IT’S A GIRL!!” A pleasant surprise! Absolutely the bestest thing that has happened to me this year. Now I must confess that I’m such a tom boy in my ways, I don’t know how to be all girly girly but I will try. Amani means strength in Runyankole/Runyoro/Rut...