Pregnancy

The last miscarriage was in the summer of 2007 and by that point I had accepted I would be a mum to just my son who was now 6 years old. I was sad for him as I hated the idea that he wouldn’t have a brother or sister. I was an only child and always felt so lonely and never really felt like I had that person that had my back.

Some people think, seemingly mainly in North America, that the stigma around breastfeeding in the black community may have its origins in this.

I waited till I was 5 months before sharing. For one, I wanted to make sure I made it through my first trimester before breaking the news, which doctors suggest.

I had a lot of blood loss in the beginning of that pregnancy. It took me 6 months to be totally clear and not afraid to lose our baby.

It took an entire day for them to discharge me. For no apparent reason

A doctor suggested we book in a C- section as I was overdue and the baby could be in distress. However, she seemed perfectly happy in there. Her heartbeat, etc. Everything was fine. I declined. I was going to have that peaceful water birth in a dimly lit room with some jazz music playing.

I was off work for quite a while before my due date. That meant tons of time on my hands to research and re-research things to prepare for your newborn baby’s arrival. Boy, did I find more than I expected! The baby things to buy before birth seemed almost endless. I had to think back …