The joys and tribulations of pregnancy

IT has been a pregnancy season for members of my network and inner circle.

No, I am not pregnant. I am a just a support department regarding pregnancies.

I am sure someone read the first sentence and was like here we go again what is Fadzi up to? Relax.

I am not pregnant and I have no immediate or future plans in that line of reproductive health.

I can imagine being pregnant and going for the first antenatal clinic visit.

So picture me seated by the clinic. Of course I will take a book to read while I wait.

I am sure that I will be engrossed in the book and then a nurse or another member of staff will walk up to me.

Remember I am grey haired and I am a ‘priority client’, others refer to me as a senior citizen, and who am I to deny myself benefits derived from my grey hair that is a result of a genetic make-up.

Should I be explaining to those that offer me ‘priority client’ status that I am not a priority?

The grey hair has taken me from the back of queues right up to the front and of course when that happens, I give the individual assisting me one of my best smiles and a thankful thank you.

Occasionally, there I will have people staring, these are the ones who either do not believe that I should be accorded the status that I would have just received or those who know me and actually know how old I am.

I do not consider myself rude so I will acknowledge those that know me with big smiles and a wave and then focus on being right at the front of the queue.

Back to my being at the antenatal clinic. I am so sure that a member of staff will come up to me and say politely, “Greetings Mother. The person that you are waiting for is not yet here?” Assumptions are dangerous.

I have since accepted being called Mother or Gogo. Those titles too have their benefits. A story for another day.

Depending on the level of my hormones on the day I will either be very courteous or just blunt.

The answers will either be “Why do you think that I am waiting for someone who is not yet here?” (hormonal imbalance) or “No. I am not waiting for anyone.” (well-balanced hormones). Whatever the level of hormones, I am confident that I will be whisked inside for a confidential talk and then the process will begin. Interesting.

From the moment that I was informed of pregnancies within my network, I began to notice pregnant women everywhere. It was like I had been blind to what was happening around me. There were pregnant women everywhere, in the supermarket, on public transport, at the bank, food outlets.

To be honest, there was a time that I felt I was a magnet to pregnancy.

I even experienced sympathetic pregnancy symptoms! Talk about morning sickness, cravings, fatigue, back ache, all these I have had a fair share.

I am so glad that the majority of the pregnancies came to full term and now there are busy nursing their babies.

The babies born within the circle are all boys. There is still one circle member who is pregnant and seriously counting down the days. There may be others who are still to tell me that “We are expecting!”

I respect people’s rights and will not ask even if I suspect! I wait to be told or to see when the bulge goes public! There are no two pregnancies that are the same.

Within the circle of my pregnant relatives I realised that others took to more bathing while others reduced bath time.

Still others ate for football teams while others survived on literary nothing! Others developed smooth skins while for others acne was their portion.

One pregnant member of the circle even developed acne on her arms!

There was change in meals, with others waking up to sadza in the morning and snacking at night. As I always say, hormones have no manners they will behave as they so wish!

Being a pregnancy buddy has been some experience for me.

It is by watching my pregnant members that I realised that I should be content with the daughters I have and not consider getting pregnant!

When one is pregnant they are a bundle of emotions. It is one condition that requires careful handling and understanding.

Not just for the one who is expecting but for those around the pregnant woman.

When I was pregnant with two of my daughters, I could not tolerate meat especially stewed beef.

Once in a while I would visit and really enjoy eating the beef stew that would have been prepared there.

Strange is it not? The people that I stayed with would be surprised when I got home and announced that I had really enjoyed a beef stew where I had been.

Then someone would attempt to make a beef stew and I would complain that I could not take the “smell.”

Colleagues and I were sharing our pregnancy experiences and really noted that each pregnant was peculiar.

Each pregnancy was in its own class. One colleague queried why some young girls who got pregnant and did not want anyone to know that they were pregnant never seemed to experience cravings or any sickness and could eat whatever others decided for them without any issue.

From the 10th to the 16th of February every year is pregnancy awareness week.

The primary purpose of the pregnancy awareness week is to strengthen pregnancy education and stress important issues that promote health pregnancy and safe motherhood.

It is important that pregnant women should attend antenatal care as soon as they suspect that they are pregnant during the first trimester.