“Ok, just relax, you’re freaking out” David replied trying to calm me down. “First of all people don’t just get pregnant just because they slept with each other one night” David began, “Actually that’s not correct,” I interrupted, “A woman can get pregnant if she sleeps with her partner during her fertile window even if it’s just once.”
“But what do you mean by fertile window? Aren’t women fertile all the time?” David asked, looking even more confused. It was obvious he was clueless about the topic. “Fertile window is the period during a woman’s menstrual cycle when she has higher chances of getting pregnant. Outside of this window, chances of pregnancy happening are unlikely” I explained. “The fertile window is approximately 5 days before ovulation (when an egg is released from the ovaries waiting to be fertilised by sperm) up to 24 hours after. My ovulation is likely to happen in less than 5 days according to my calendar. Do you now see why I am panicking?” I asked, trying to make him understand what the fuss was all about.
“No,” he replied, looking at me like I was crazy. “How do you not see what I am saying?”I asked, starting to get a little upset at his seeming cluelessness. “I don’t see why you’re panicking” David began, “If I remember correctly, I asked you to marry me just last week and you said yes” he continued, “aren’t married couples supposed to have babies?” he asked, “but we aren’t married yet” I emphasised gritting my teeth. “We will be very soon” David replied, still not getting my point. “My Dad will kill me” I panicked, “for what?” David asked, now starting to look really confused, “If I get pregnant before marriage” I retorted. “Well, he doesn’t have to know, we can get married immediately” David replied, reassuring me. “But that’s still subject to my Dad’s approval” I said, “Are you saying your Dad won’t approve of us getting married?’ David asked, looking concerned, “I’m not saying that” It’s just that my Dad is a really tough man. And he has always emphasised that he wants me to be done with my studies and internship before getting married. He doesn’t want anything preventing me from getting my full medical licence” I explained. “But you’re done in a couple of months?” David pointed out, “by then, the pregnancy will be obvious. My dad will kill me” I panicked again at the thought of my Dad finding out I was pregnant before completing my housemanship.
My Dad is a very tough man, he’s your typical Igbo chief. Very well respected by all and very principled. To make matters worse, he is also an elder in the church, a no nonsense kind of Dad and I’m his only daughter. He has no idea that I’m dating David, only my mum is aware. I couldn’t even tell him about David’s proposal, let alone tell him about my trip to Maldives. I can only imagine his reaction if I asked for his permission to travel with my “boyfriend” in the middle of my housemanship, his looks alone would probably send me to the great beyond.
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My mum on the other hand is chilled. Since I’m her only daughter, we’re best friends. I tell her everything. She knows all about David, how we met and the proposal. She was oohing and aahing when she heard how he proposed “these your new generation bobos have changed the game” she teased when I gave her full details of how my proposal went down and when she saw my obviously expensive ring. Both my parents were not present at the proposal, the only family present were a few of my cousins that Ugochi knew. My mum was yet to meet David, but just by hearing about him, she loved him already. She was fully aware about our trip to Maldives but we both kept it a secret from my Dad. We had agreed that we would arrange a date for David to officially meet my Dad when we returned from Maldives. My Dad in his old school ways, did not believe in all the modern day proposal paparazzi. In his opinion, any potential suitor had to make his intentions known to the father of the lady before making any type of proposal to her. Anyways, enough about my Dad, back to the situation at hand.
“Hey, relax!” David said, squeezing my shoulder and looking into my eyes, “I will arrange to see your Dad immediately when we return. I will convince him to let us get married as soon as possible with the help of your mum.”
“It’s not that straightforward,” I replied. “I really wish I could get emergency contraception, but this resort is so far away from town and we might need a doctor’s prescription to purchase it over here.”
Emergency contraception is used to prevent pregnancy in women who’ve had unprotected intercourse or whose birth control method has failed. There are two possible options for emergency contraception, the morning-after pill, also known as plan B or the copper IUD. The copper IUD is a type of primary method of contraception but can also be used as emergency contraception. The advantage of the copper IUD over the morning-after pill is that it can prevent pregnancy if used within 5 days of unprotected intercourse. The morning-after pill can only prevent pregnancy if used within 72 hours (3 days) of unprotected intercourse. it is more effective the sooner you use it and is not intended for use as a primary method of contraception. Morning-after pills prevent pregnancy by preventing ovulation (release of egg from the ovary), fertilisation (union of the sperm and the egg), or implantation of the embryo in the uterus. Morning-after pills cannot terminate an existing pregnancy.
“Do you love me?” David suddenly blurted out interrupting my panic-induced blabbing, “Of course I do. What kind of question is that?” I replied, “If you really love me, then you need to stop what you’re doing. It’s driving me crazy” he said, beginning to get upset by my panicking.
“Last I checked, we’re engaged to be married. I haven’t said I don’t want a baby and we don’t even know for sure that there is one,” he began, “But if you really love me, then you should be happy about the possibility of carrying our child. You need to stop worrying, please. You’re ruining our vacation” he said, looking into my eyes. I could hear the sincerity in his voice and see the love in his eyes.
I had so much fear and respect for my Dad. I had grown up to fear him so much that I hadn’t even considered David’s feelings. “I’m sorry” I said, laying my head to rest on his shoulders, “I was just so terrified by the thought of facing my Dad, I didn’t realise I was ruining the moment.”
“Hey, we will face your Dad together if anything happens. You’re not alone anymore. I’m with you now” he said, stroking my face as I lay on his shoulders, feeling reassured in his warm embrace.
Find out what happens next tomorrow in episode 26 #checkwithdoctoro
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