A simple definition of pregnancy is a condition in which a female carries one or more developing offspring within the body. (Ok, the movie ‘Twins’ performed by Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito where Arnold was pregnant and had a baby was only fiction!). I did not study medical sciences (neither was I paying attention in my j.s.s.3 class when we are taught ‘The Reproduction System’ in Integrated Science) but I know there are few stages during pregnancy a woman is supposed to go through. Or there are signs a woman should feel at the early, mid or towards the end stage of her pregnancy.
So, yes, I was dumfounded when I heard this story. A family friend of mine in her mid 60s traveled for a short break. Her daughter who is in her late 40s promised to go pick her up from the airport on her return. Now, Mama (as I would call her here) was at the airport feeling all relaxed from her little break in the sun, when she decided to call her daughter (Naomi) to say she would be arriving an hour later than expected. Naomi promised to be at the airport after she felt she should branch in at the hospital which was quite close to her house for a ‘quick chat’ with any doctor on duty. She had felt a sharp pain in her belly that morning while putting some lotion on her leg.
When the doctor looked at Naomi and pressed her belly, he decided to carry checks that surprised her. Lo and behold Naomi was rushed to the theatre, she was in labor!!! The shock and the confusion almost made Naomi go mental. While she was trying to ‘push’, she thought of her car. She had only paid for an hour visit to the hospital at the parking bay, now who knew how long she was going to be in theatre for?
She thought of Mama who would be expecting her at the airport. What was she going to do? Her husband who was in his 50s wasn’t planning of another child after they had three children who were now in their early 20s. She had thrown out or given away all her baby items two decades ago. Her life was so ‘normal’ now. Where was she going to start from? As different thoughts invaded her mind, all she could hear was ‘steady now… and push’. And with one last scream, out came out this innocent little boy who had no clue of how he had just come into the world, or what was on his mother’s mind during his quick delivery.
As the medical staff took her to another room after cleaning her and baby up, her mobile phone which had been on all this time in her bag, rang. It was Mama, now waiting to be picked up at the airport! Naomi, felt very tired. What was she going to tell Mama? Who would believe her? If she told Mama about the baby, Mama may collapse at the airport. All she could utter on the phone was “Mama, please give a taxi man my address and come down to the house, I’m really sick”. She begged the doctor to call her husband because she couldn’t even think of anything better to say. Anyway Mama eventually came down to her house. The doctor had already called Naomi’s husband and not before long; the hospital was full with her family and well wishers who came to see before believing.
So that was how I heard the story.
Some of the questions people were asking her were things like; did you not miss your period all these while? Did you not feel flutters at any point? What about baby movements and kicking’s? Did you not feel your belly expanding? Ok, not a lot of pregnant women experience ‘morning sickness’ but did you not feel sick or tired or sleepy at any stage? How about cravings? Where you eating your normal foods? Did your sexual appetite increase or decrease?
There were just too many questions. I did not blame them. Just like me, I wanted to know more. Naomi is only a UK size 16 so you would not consider her as ‘fat’. She had no idea she was pregnant. She did not even want to be. She said the only thing she could remember feeling was a bit hot and flushed during the cold winter but she assumed because of her age that she was entering her menopause.
Now, I believe anything is possible. So if you are in your 40s and you’ve given up hope about having a child, there is still hope for you. On the other hand, if you are in your 40s and you’re playing around unprotected, thinking that you are now ‘safe’, think again. Baby shops are always stocking up new things for those it could happen to.
