In 2008, I lost my only sister during childbirth. So when in 2009, I became pregnant, the tension in my family was just too much for me. I have had other children but because of losing an only sister during childbirth, my mum and the whole family became so concerned. To me the look in their eyes said it all. Each time I passed by, they would look at me as though they knew I was going to die at childbirth. My mother would call and ask me how I was doing as if she was expecting to hear that I was not okay. Everybody was afraid for my life and each time they saw me I would see fear in their eyes. To them it was as though I needed to support my faith with any other kind of ritual that Christ had not done by dying for me.
I had my two children by CS but I asked God that this one should be bearable. The other ones, I had so much pain that my mum could not leave me to go to work. Someone always had to be by my side. I did not want to experience that again this time.
One day, I came back from church and met my mum and my mother in-law ready to hold a vigil in my house so that I would not die during childbirth. Many times my mother would call me each time she wanted to travel and ask, “Can I travel?” At a point I started wondering why I even had to get pregnant in the first place. Some nights I would cry all night and my pillow would be wet but I thank God for my husband and my father who were always there to encourage me with the Word of God.
During the pregnancy, Pastor Nkechi preached that we should guard our hearts and be careful of what we hear and listen to. That made me realize afresh that I had to guard my heart and hold on to the Word of God because I knew I would come out of that pregnancy sound with my baby. At that point, my husband and I had to keep everybody away until I delivered because we knew the Bible said, “Affliction shall not arise a second time.” I knew I had faith, and even though my faith may not have been like that of my Pastors, I saw myself coming out of that pregnancy well with my baby.
When I was due, I opted for a cesarean section (CS) even though my husband tried to discourage me from having a CS. When I was being wheeled into the theatre, my mum ran away. She said it would be as though she was seeing me for the last time. My husband and my dad were there and as they were wheeling me in, I told God that as they were wheeling me in, so also will they wheel me out alive with my living baby.
While in the theatre, the doctors that came to infuse drip could not find my veins. They were just fiddling with my hands and at a point I said I did not want any drip because it was so painful. Then one of them said, “If this is painful, then what of the CS?” Then they called the senior doctor who was able to infuse the drip. The doctor in the theatre was not the doctor that had been seeing me, with whom I had rapport. This one was an elderly man who did not even talk to me. I wanted to ask him to pray with me but he did not even look interested so I decided to pray by myself. When they started, I was just singing. All I wanted was to see my baby because dying was no longer an issue to me. I knew I was coming out. As the doctor was operating he would turn and look at me because I was speaking in tongues. The clock was directly in front of me, so I could see that within 20 minutes they had brought out my baby and I said, “Wow, God You have done it!”
Immediately my baby came out there was power outage. Thank God for telephones with torch lights. It was with the light from a telephone that I was stitched up. While that was being done the power was restored. Everything was finished in 45 minutes. Then I was brought out to the recovery room. I was so eager to see my husband and my father to tell them that I was alive. The doctor who told me that I had not even seen pain came in and asked me what I was still doing there. She did not know that I had already gone in and out of the theatre. When I told her, she said, “And you are still smiling?” I asked her to tell my husband that I was out and she did.
At that time, my mother was nowhere to be found. She later told me that she saw when they brought out my baby to show my husband but she did not want to come because she had not seen me (the one she knew), so why would she come to see the one she does not know.
The healing process was so awesome. I was operated upon by Friday, and by Saturday I was up by myself unlike the previous ones. When people came to visit me, they were surprised to see me up and about. After my previous deliveries, I suffered so much pain that they would look all over Port Harcourt for injections to give me because the ones I was being given were not strong enough for me. This time, God just took care of everything. When I was discharged, my mum was able to leave me and go to work, unlike at other times.
I want to tell you that anything you ask God, He is able to do for you. The truth is that you don’t need experience to walk with God. You see, at the end of the day, the thing that came out of my mother’s mouth was that, “God don use basket fetch water disgrace bucket.” That is what God can do. I thank God that my baby and I are fine.
I just thank God and my pastors.
