I felt like my whole world was finally coming to an end, how could I possibly be pregnant with Tolu’s kid? As if it wasn’t bad enough that he dumped me for that walking toothpick, now I had to carry his child too?
The next day I went to a hospital different from where I worked, to do a blood pregnancy test just in case there had been an error with the home testing kit, I wished!
The test came out positive to further confirm my nightmare. I became so desperate I went to meet one of my colleagues who is a gynaecologist (specialist doctor for women’s health). I
opened up to him and begged him to terminate the pregnancy for me. I even promised to pay him handsomely but he blatantly refused because it was against the law and he was at risk of losing his licence if something went wrong and the news became public. As much as I
hated him for saying no to me, he had a point. I’d probably have done the same if I were in his shoes. There was no way I was going to let any quack destroy my destiny in the name of termination of pregnancy, and the only other option I had was to take abortive pills and I was
too scared to even try it.
Don’t ask why because I don’t know why myself, I just imagined all kinds of complications and decided against it. This shouldn’t be a surprise to you seeing as I’m a doctor, trust me we’re such scaredy cats… we love prescribing pills and pricking people with needles but can’t withstand a taste of our own medicine, so the next time any doctor
gives you the “it’s just a little prick” speech when they want to prick you with a needle, just roll your eyes at them. I’m just kidding, be nice to doctors, we are your best friends!
Little by little I began to come to terms with the fact that I may actually end up having an unwanted child, there was no escaping it for me. Eventually I began to like the idea of being a mum, although I never planned it to happen this way. I had a good job with good income so I could afford to have a child. I didn’t have a man but I felt it was better to have a child of my own, rather than to die lonely waiting for Mr. Right to finally arrive at my doorstep.
READ ALSO : Old Enough Yet Unmarried – Episode 14
I was determined to keep the pregnancy secret until at least it started to show, but
unfortunately the pregnancy was determined to expose itself. One day Yemi was making dinner in the kitchen. I don’t know what on earth she put in the food but the smell made me nauseous. I tried to ignore the feeling but it kept building up and suddenly I felt a gush of
fluid suddenly rush up my throat.
I ran to the bathroom as fast as my legs could carry me but unfortunately the fluid was faster than my legs—I ended up making a disgusting mess in the
corridor.
Yemi heard my retching noises from the kitchen and ran out to see what was going on. She looked at me suspiciously when I told her I was throwing up because I had malaria, You’d think she’d help me clear my mess but she just patted my back saying “you’re a doctor I’m sure you can take care of that,” and went back to continue her cooking, can you imagine that? I wonder what I was busy doing when God was sharing caring friends round because I definitely ended up with the leftovers.
I’m sure you must’ve guessed that I had morning sickness. For those that don’t know, morning sickness is nausea and vomiting that occurs in pregnancy, it’s thought to be caused by hormones released in the body during pregnancy. Although it’s called “morning” sickness,
it can happen at any time of the day and usually stops after the first trimester of pregnancy.
Women are at increased risk of having morning sickness if it’s their first pregnancy, they are
carrying more than one baby .eg. twins, they have a family history of morning sickness or
history of morning sickness in their previous pregnancy. If you’re currently experiencing morning sickness, it might help to eat smaller frequent meals, avoid food or smells that make you feel nauseous, reduce your intake of fatty, spicy or fried food and avoid taking large
amounts of fluids at once.
Yemi caught me vomiting a couple more times after that incident and confronted me. “You and I know this is not malaria, so you had better tell me what is really wrong with you,” she said in a stern voice. I couldn’t hide it anymore, it was bound to come out in the open eventually so I confessed to her that I was actually pregnant. I told her how Tolu had been deceiving me all along only to dump me for a younger girl. She asked if Tolu knew about the pregnancy.
“Of course not,” I replied. “And I don’t plan to ever tell him,” I added.
“Well he is the father of the baby and he deserves to know,” she insisted.
After much persuasion, I saw reason with her and decided I would let Tolu know I was carrying his child.
One Sunday afternoon after church, I drove down to his place. I knew he’d be home because he made it a rule to always spend his Sunday afternoons at home with Dade, I just hoped
that his crazy wife wouldn’t be home too.
Feeling very nervous, I rang the doorbell and waited anxiously for someone to answer.
Luckily it was Tolu who answered the door, “What do you want?” he whispered, looking over his shoulder like he was checking to see that no one was coming behind him.
“I came to see you,” I replied, feeling a little hurt that he wasn’t even a teeny bit happy to see me.
“You shouldn’t be here and you know that,” he replied sternly.
“Well I had no choice since you stopped picking up my calls. I had to see you, it’s important,”
I replied.
“I’m sure whatever it is, it can wait until tomorrow,” he said, attempting to close the door in my face.
“It can’t!” I shouted, struggling to push the door back, “I’m carrying your baby! “,as soon as I said that, the look on Tolu’s face changed immediately. He suddenly looked terrified, like he had seen a ghost. I was beginning to think his reaction to the news I had just given him was
exaggerated then I noticed he wasn’t even looking at me, he seemed to be staring behindme. I followed his eyes, turning my back, curious to see what was more terrifying than the
news I had just given him.
Sure enough my curiosity was satisfied and I began to wish I had thought carefully before making the trip down to his house. Standing behind me was the mad woman herself. All this
time I thought she was inside the house. She wasn’t even home, she had walked in on the last few seconds of our conversation and was now ready to tear me apart.
“What did I just hear?” she shouted, throwing her handbag and other items she was carrying to the ground. She had every right to be angry and I was certainly in no mood for a fight. I
was just going to walk away and leave her and her husband to sort their issues out but before I could catch my breath, she ran to the overflowing trash can nearby, pulling out an empty bottle and smashing it on the floor. In the blink of an eye Tolu disappeared, locking the
door behind him. Everything happened so quickly then, before I could make a move she was already charging towards me with the broken bottle in her hand. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest, my whole life flashed before my eyes, I could already hear heaven’s
call, the trumpet had sounded in my head.
So this was it? This was how my life was going to end? I had imagined different ways to say goodbye to the planet earth but dying by the bottle wasn’t one of them…
– by Dr. O
Find out what happens next…….