This story is going to be based on hearsay of what my parents told me and even as an adult with kids, I find it very absurd. They are always quick to remind me of this story, so I've heard it a thousand times and I've heard it so much that I can say it even in my dream. It still has not stopped, Nigerian mothers are always a constant reminder of your birth story, here goes mine-
My dad was a soldier and my mom was a teacher after they got married, they had difficulty in bearing children. She had lots of stillborns that she had lost count of how many she has had. They went from one hospital to the other to get help but it didn't stop that from happening to her.
They even resulted to spiritual ways by going from one church to another but that still didn't put a solution to their problem. My mom was devastated and so was my dad. She was tired of ever having children but they keep on trying if there will be one that would survive and stay.
She got pregnant again and as usual but she wasn't looking forward to it or excited about it. She didn't want to raise her hope like she had done in the past. Towards her second trimester, my dad was posted to another town very far from home. It takes him almost 4 hours to get home when he leaves his post by 7pm, so most times, he gets home really late and they been living like that hoping they will post him closer before her due date. Some weeks to her due date, he pressed for a closer duty post but it still wasn't granted even though his wife was pregnant. So my dad put my mom in the care of one of our neighbor in case she falls into labor in his absence.
On that fateful day, she said she never expected to be in labor because she still had a week to her due date. Our neighbor that was supposed to be on her watch came to tell her that he will be attending a vigil, so he would not be around and she assured him she will be fine while he was gone.
And she was fine until around 10:30 pm when she started feeling a lot of pain, she thought it was one of those false labor, as an experienced woman, she paid no mind to it and went about her business. 10 mins later, her water broke and the pain that accompanied it was so unbearable.
She thought of what she could do and she knew help was far from her, so she braced up herself and decided she will do whatever she has to do. It was really late in the night, she will rather have the baby in the house than on the road while looking for a cab.
From experience, she knew she was far dilated, she might not even make it to the hospital. She took out her bleach and spirit that she has packed from the hospital bag and sterilized the floor with it. She took some of her clean wrappers and laid them on the floor. She laid on the floor and placed all the items she might need beside her and in the process, she heard my dad's footsteps.
He could not believe what was about to happen, he asked to confirm if what he's thinking is what was about to happen and she confirmed it. He ran out to take the car and get assistance from the other building. While he was gone, it was as if I was waiting for him to leave, my mom single-handedly pushed me out herself. There was blood everywhere, she used a sterilized scissors to cut the umbilical cord. In the pool of her own blood, she picked me up and was cleaning me when she heard my dad driving in with the car. She kept me aside and was cleaning up the bloody floor when my dad rushed in to carry her but he could not believe what he saw, he fainted!
The neighbor assisted in pouring water over him while he also helped in putting me and my mom in the car to the hospital. My dad woke up on their way to the hospital and was asking my mom what happen but she was clearly tired, she kept on checking up on me if I would survive it and luckily for them, I MADE IT! Their joy knew no bounds and after me, there had been more four normal hospital birth and we all survived it but up till now, I still hear it almost every week how my mother gave birth to me all by herself, especially from my dad. He still can't believe it or get over it.
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