Never thought of myself as a family man but ladies and gents, the lion has been tamed! Ha ha! To be honest, I do love family, my sister, mum and all; however having my own never really played in my mind.<\/p>\n
But here we are, about a year later, as I jot this down am at Mater Hospital maternity clinic. Am here for wifey’s antenatal clinic visit. The last visit!\u00a0 I try to go with her whenever am available. These visits are on Tuesdays so I’ve missed a few because of work and all. So yeah! Let that sink in… Told you the lion has been tamed!<\/p>\n
We ain\u2019t in a hurry today, actually we haven’t been for the last few visits. Our appointment is scheduled for 8am. But I think everyone gets the same appointment time. Everyone gets there around the same time anyway, it’s chaotic. I thought Mater Hospital is well organized. So we deliberately go there late, it’s less hectic when everything has settled down; plus you don’t have to wait too long to see the Doc. Before we discovered this trick, we’d wait for hours on end, six hours plus.<\/p>\n
Quick breakfast, pancakes (my favorite), chicken sausages and a cup of coffee. I’ve become accustomed to this life, family life. Not too shabby. We’re ready to go. We decide to walk to the clinic today; we’ve heard from “reliable” sources that walking is good for her especially in her last trimester.\u00a0 So we walk. You’d think this is cool but No! There\u2019s this thing about a pregnant woman that makes people feel \u201cwoiye woiye\u201d. It\u2019s cool as long as it works in your favor, like that time we were at the bank and we didn\u2019t have to queue, that was awesome! But today am on the flip side. As we walk past people I can sort of hear murmurs, “why is he making her walk?” \u201cHata hawezi mlipia nduthi?\u201d\u00a0 A mathree drives by us, the tout looks towards me and shouts; \u201cBrathe, kumi! Mater ni kumi tuu!\u201d Am ashamed, I look away\u2026 Am frowned upon, we (I) soldier on.<\/p>\n
We (I) get there thankfully safe, no activists, no feminists, no lynch mob drama for making her walk.<\/p>\n
At the clinic reception, wifey takes a numbered form to fill out her details. Our number is 72, better than number 100 last week. The attendant takes our form and medical card. \u201cPlease take a sit and wait\u201d, she says.<\/p>\n
We sit and wait. We wait and wait. This is boring, I chat with wifey for a few minutes, tell her how now that I’ve come here so many times I should be the chairman of “men with pregnant women”, and for a brief second I realize how sexist that sounds. Wifey chuckles, she laughs at anything “funny” I say, not sure if it’s because of how lame my “jokes” are.<\/p>\n
Sitting here waiting makes my senses wonder, kinda like auto pilot mode, I stare; I stare at pregnant women, big bellies, small bellies, funny shaped bellies, all kind of bellies. Occasionally a big bellied man passes by, so those kinda bellies too, man bellies. \u201cI should ask him when he is due\u201d, I say to wifey, she laughs, that was funny am sure.<\/p>\n
Pregnant women are grumpy, they aren’t a happy lot; they’re impatience, restless, moody. It’s the pregnancy so am told. I don\u2019t remember ever seeing them talking to each other. They sit there occasionally going to the reception area to ask how far before it gets to their number. \u201cPlease wait madam, tuko number 60!\u201d the attendant retorts. They have a hard time those attendants. But wifey has handled her (our) pregnancy like a champ. I feel sorry for the male members of my aforementioned Chama. They sit there next to their partners; you can tell this isn’t their cup of tea but more power to them for being there for their partners.<\/p>\n
I like to take wifey out to lunch if we\u2019re far off in line, but not today, they\u2019re moving fast, not so many people here today.<\/p>\n
Wifey\u2019s name is called out, she goes into a room, this room I’ve noticed some women come out holding a cup, go to the washrooms and go back in. This puzzled me a few times so I asked wifey.<\/p>\n
Me: \u201cWhat are the cups for?\u201d<\/p>\n
Wifey: \u201cTo pee in\u201d<\/p>\n
*Weird silence*<\/p>\n
*Cricket sounds*<\/p>\n
Me:\u00a0 \u201cAih! Pee in a cup? That\u2019s weird, why?\u201d<\/p>\n
Wifey: \u201cRelax, it\u2019s to run tests to make sure you don\u2019t have any infections\u201d<\/p>\n
Me: \u201cOkay\u201d<\/p>\n
*Looks around to see who is holding a cup*<\/p>\n
So as it turns out, women are prone to various infections during pregnancy thus they keep checking every time they visit the clinic.<\/p>\n
After the pee business they check her weight and blood pressure. All clear! She\u2019s good! \u201cPlease sit and wait for the Doctor to see you\u201d, says the sister from the triage section.<\/p>\n
We wait, again!<\/p>\n
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