ACCEPTING WOMANHOOD: MY JOURNEY THROUGH PREGNANCY

Hello sisters !I know every woman feels very happy when they get pregnant and the experience is something, a joy that a pen can barely explain.On In February 2014, when I was barely 18 I was told by a medical doctor that I was pregnant. At that moment, two things ran through my mind,,,,I was too young and I was not ready for marriage but early pregnancy and its experience is a story of another day. Today I want to share with you the experience I had during pregnancy which still continuous till date.I was told that excess saliva in the mouth and spitting it out was a sign of pregnancy and an indicator to your surrounding that you were pregnant and this happens during the first three months of the pregnancy and I thought that luckily it has a finishing period so I was okay with it. I patiently waited for these three months to pass for me to enjoy the joy that comes with pregnancy or for things to go back to normalcy but this didn’t happen.As if feeling sick was not enough, I had to endure excess saliva all through the pregnancy. The saliva was not bitter nor sweet was it tasteless and disgusting. it cause me to stay away from public places because I had to keep spitting it out and in times when I must went out, I had to move along with a towel or chew a gum. This continued until I gave birth so I thought that maybe it was because it was my first experience.Then the second pregnancy came, I was sure the experience will be different but no. I had excess saliva in my mouth throughout the pregnancy. I remembered there was a time I visited a medical doctor to ask why I was going through it and he shocked me by telling me I was the first woman he has heard of and seen that had excess saliva throughout her pregnancy so he encourage me to remain calm. It hindered so many things in my life like my social life, school and work so I hated the experience and told my husband that this was our last baby and he accepted. I just thought everything about my life was different so when I gave birth I decided to go in for a contraceptive jadelle and from 2016 I stayed and look after my two kids and my adopted daughter.But last year, I decided to try again which I did and early this year, I was informed I was pregnant. I thought I was ready to endure again so I told myself will swallow the saliva when it comes. I saw history repeating itself and when I tried to swallow it I throw up. I had a job as an administrative assistant in a small company and the experience of spitting out excess saliva is unbearable. I had to keep a litre of container by my sit in order to constantly spit in it. There are times I ask myself if I was curse because in my whole 26 years, I have never heard or seen a woman who is going through what I am going through. There are nights where I wake up throwing up in bed because I almost swallowed or I swallowed it and I end up staying up throughout the night. 32 weeks into my pregnancy right now and it has been a tough journey but this is what I have come to realise and accept some few months back, we are all unique in our ways and the journey through pregnancy is different for every woman. For me I have excess saliva, I spit it out like every 3 seconds and I throw up each time I try to swallow the saliva and to you it might be different. But what I know we all share is the joy that we feel when we carry our babies. What comforts me right now is the joy I will experience when I have her in my hands. Though sometimes the saliva overwhelms me and I feel like giving up, my comfort comes from the fact that it shall soon be over. With this in my mind, I am slowing and mentally preparing to receive my baby with a serene mind.

Thank you for reading my story.