It was a regular Saturday so the chores aligned themselves as the day went by. I was sure there was some distant back pain but as our traditions boldly spells out that women especially those married and already bearing the tags of being mothers, rarely get sick, I ignored it and immersed myself in a week's laundry.

My lean heavily pregnant self cleaned everything in the house before dragging a heap of dirty clothes out with a few basins.

The familiar pain made rounds on my abdominal floor and the need to stand either saw me arched for more than necessary and left me unable to bend again. For hours, I beared with it.

The afternoon found me finishing off the dirty shoes so it was evening already when I got time to take a rest finally. I took a quick cold shower to sooth my burning back and added a lil bit of salt in the water to see if I would manage to ease the now recurring pain.

I knew what it was but comparing to the last time I felt it, I thought it would be days before I see the end of it. I didn't know that it differed from pregnancy to pregnancy or that I would be caught unawares in a few hours time.

At around four pm, my back was caving in and the need to get to a hospital was paramount. With the neighbours being younger girls enjoying their weekend with loud music and stories of their thrilling romantic experiences, I was left with the option of sending my then four year old son to go get me a friend; a more experienced woman who could handle midwifery if it came to it.

He met a friend along the way and they decided it was better to play first.

An hour later the reality of not making it to the hospital hit me and I started getting ready just incase whoever had been growing inside my womb for the last nine months decided to be born before anyone who could help showed up.

It was my first time to apply that home science lesson that I had shyly taken at grade six.

The teacher had mentioned a razor blade for the umbilical cord cutting, a clean firm thread to tie it with and surgical spirit which were all in place thanks to a reminder from the few antenatal sessions that I had managed to take myself to.

I just never thought it would come to it.

You see, my first born had me in labour for three days and being as naive as I was, I was expecting such... but this one didn't last more than five hours and at 6:15 pm, she was born.

Her sharp cry filled the small room that was her new home and disrupted the young girls having a time of their life outside it's walls. I could hear one of them asking whose child it was since we didn't have a young baby in the premises before wondering out loud who had seen me in a few hours.

I had managed to get her to quite down and wrap her with the waiting warm clothes by the time they were getting to knock on my door.

While still standing at the door, they claimed to have heard a baby and said they were just checking in on me and I jokingly laughed asking if they thought I was strong enough to birth a child alone... they retreated. At that time, I was dealing with the my stuck placenta.

And as it turns out, my son returned with help just when I was through.

That was exactly 16 years ago today... it was the day that the heavens gifted me with my only baby girl and handed me the opportunity of witnessing the fiercest of my species turn into a young fearless girl.

...maxxy

Happiest of sweet sixteen small foot... saying that I love you often never quite captures the intensity of how much! You are my heart 🧡