Prayer, patience, faith, and trust in God are paramount in life as we conclude our long journey to motherhood.
Having come close to losing the pregnancy, I accepted and allowed the doctors to guide me through the remaining journey to motherhood by paying attention to all the instructions until the due date.
At 36 weeks of pregnancy, my bundle of joy was delivered by C-section, a baby my doctor called a miracle. Given the challenges I had experienced throughout the pregnancy, I had earlier been advised by the doctor that we would not wait for full term and labor pains.
Finally, that was how my first fruit of the womb was welcomed into the world after the doctor advised me to allow my body to heal and give time for the hormones to normalize before trying for another child.
After three years, I conceived again but unfortunately lost the pregnancy at three months. I then conceived four more times but lost the pregnancies each time. Conceiving was not my problem; keeping the pregnancy till full term was the problem.
I’m sure most people are wondering why I never gave up trying for another child, given the fact that I had already lost five after the birth of the first. Well, my faith and trust in the Lord were never shaken, and I believed that if he made me a mother once, he would do it again.
Relatives and many friends advised me to seek help elsewhere, believing I was bewitched, a narrative that I never accepted, since doctors had diagnosed me with hormonal imbalance and had first-hand information on what that imbalance can do to one’s body.
In early August of 2000, while in the field working in Eastern Uganda, I felt so ill and went to see a doctor, who asked me if I was pregnant. When I told him no, he said let’s carry Human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) test.
The doctor insisted after examining me, and I agreed to just stop arguing with him. The test turned out positive; I refused the results and was sent for a scan, which revealed that I was six weeks pregnant. It was strange since I had not missed any periods.
Quickly, the doctor recommended complete bed rest and kept me under close medical supervision. I stayed in the hospital for two weeks. The doctor said I was out of the woods, so I went back to work.
However, three days later, I was rushed back to the hospital, bleeding heavily, and examined. I was told they could not help me and referred me to another hospital, where the doctor suggested dilation and curettage (D&C), a procedure that removes tissue from inside your uterus.
The medical team prepared me for theater and the procedure; the moment I climbed the theater bed, power went off at that hospital. All the neighboring places had power, and they turned on their generator, which failed to work too.
Through the whole examination and preparation, I was in prayer and told God to do what he believed was right for me. I did not ask him to save my baby, but to do his will according to what was best for me.
Following failure of power and the generator, I was asked to wait but from outside theater, electricians checked the connections and reported no technical problem and wondered what could have been the problem.
Stayed overnight at the hospital, next day a scan was done and everything was back to normal, bleeding had stopped, uterus closed and no need for a D and C.
I traveled back home to Kampala, carried the pregnancy under the sharp eye of the medical team till full term, and it was delivered by C-section the next year in May.
That was my long and painful journey to motherhood, filled with challenges but with faith, trust in God, and the medical teams. I am a very proud mother of two beautiful, blessed souls from God.
