Author: Onome Omodara

Hello, third trimester, finally oooo. I was so excited to enter the third trimester. I remembered the day my app said I was in the third trimester. I was so happy. Pregnancy feels long, so the third trimester feels like the hope that it’s all ending.

Nobody warned me about its challenges. I felt so tired easily, and I had shortness of breath every time I was stressed. Standing for too long became harder, so I had to sit down to do chores and other things which I did not like.

My baby was frequently moving, and it was so beautiful to feel those kicks and movements. Every day I am amazed at the beautiful creation growing in my womb, but at the same time, I wonder if I am ready.

Antenatal was going on smoothly. It was now once in 2 weeks. I enjoyed every session but let’s not lie. Can we sha bring out this baby because it looks so long? I could not take up many gigs because I got tired easily, and for someone who was always working, I was forced to take a break, and that kinda sucks.

This is the part where I would advise you to get a journal and write your experiences because the truth is doing nothing can make you feel like you are not doing enough; because that was how I felt. I would get so frustrated, but I learned that pregnancy and motherhood are a gift.

I enjoyed writing letters to my baby, and also, writing this blog post made me feel like I was doing something. I think my husband deserves a whole post because he made sure I stayed sane this season. He was very busy with his office, but he will always come and check on me every hour.

What really got me frustrated was that I wasn’t making more money like I would when I was not pregnant. God taught me a lot this season. I learned that he is my source, and I can never lack with him. Month 7 was intense because I got weak easily, but errhm, Month 8 is waiting for me. Pregnancy is indeed a journey.

I had my maternity photoshoot this month, and it was so much fun. My friend Korede who took the pictures, was so patient and kind. You can check him on Instagram; he is @upfront studios. When it comes to giving you the perfect memorable pictures, he is your best bet.

Before I end month 7, let me tell you a little about the power of confessions. I started confessing the word of God and His promises to me around month 4, but I wish I had started earlier. The word works, I searched for scriptures with the help of my friend Damilola aka my Elizabeth and my husband, and we came up with a rich confession that I said every morning. This confession strengthened my faith, and I also got some books with pregnancy confessions that helped me and gave me hope on so many days.

I also made a conscious effort to pay to what I watch and listen to. The truth is these things have a way of affecting your thought. Youtube was my favourite place. I watched a lot of positive birth stories, which gave me strength and hope. My favourite YouTubers on this pregnancy journey are Tomike Adeoye, Sisi Yemmie, Tolulope solutions, AyopeTV, Kelechi Mgbemena, Akah and Claire, Chisom Daveed and Tonia Godwin. I’m grateful to these women who chose to share their raw experiences. I learnt a lot about pregnancy, labour and life after delivery from these women.

I hope you still have your juice bottle because tomorrow, I will be sharing all that went down In month 8.

I’m so excited, y’all; we are almost getting there. This is the month that made me realize pregnancy is so long; it felt like the calendar was so slow. My baby’s movement increased, and sleep became a big deal. If I get four or five hours of sleep, that is a testimony. I would roll all night and watch my husband sleep soundly; I was always jealous, like how can you sleep so soundly in a few minutes, and I’m struggling to get some sleep.

I was getting tired already and just wanted the pregnancy journey to end. It was harder because I wasn’t getting writing gigs, and I couldn’t apply for a full-time job because I was pregnant. I felt so useless for days, I would complain to my husband every day, and he would assure me that I would get the big break. I am not used to doing nothing, so waking up in the morning and having just one gig felt like I was sinking. I remember talking to my friend Dami aka my Elizabeth, and she said to me, “Onome, motherhood is a purpose on its own; why not enjoy this phase and allow God to lead you”. Those words stayed with me, and I decided to start journaling.

I wrote letters to my baby each day and fam; it was soothing.

How did I forget to tell you about my church conference (SMH)? Wafbec was the highlight of month 6 (Wafbec is the acronym for West African believers convention. The Covenant Christian centre organized it. It was usually a 7-day programme with morning, afternoon and evening sessions.) Wafbec 2022 was such a spiritual awakening that gave me an assurance that God has not forgotten me.

How come nobody ever told me about feeling so hot? It’s like my body generated heat. I had to be in front of the fan every minute. It was not funny. I hated that I was sweating a lot, so I was itching my body every minute. There was nothing fun about that.

Another crazy symptom that showed up in month 6 was haemorrhoids. I had this before getting pregnant, but it doubled in size and became painful during pregnancy. There was a time I couldn’t use the restroom for about four days, I had the urge to, but I just couldn’t. I prayed and hoped for a miracle, but nothing happened. It was so painful each time I tried, so I reported it to my gynaecologist. He told me he couldn’t give me stool softeners because they could cause a contraction, so he had to do a rectal examination, which was about 20 minutes of pain. By the time he was done, I felt like using the restroom, and it all came out. Phew! The relief and joy, never have I been happier to use the restroom.

Pregnancy is an unfamiliar journey that takes a lot of resilience and strength; it’s also beautiful to know that a whole human being is growing in you. If you are pregnant, take it easy on yourself and don’t forget to ask for help when you need it.

Let’s meet tomorrow as I tell you all about Month 7. Thank you for being here.

This was a beautiful month. My bump was already visible, and I did not enjoy going out as much because I didn’t want anyone to know I was pregnant, lol. It is not for any spiritual reason. I’m just that kind of person who hates showing my workings. I want the world to see the results and be wowed. I would rather talk about the process, but pregnancy said, “No, baby, not this time; the world gotta see the workings.”

This was the end of the year, so everyone was preparing to travel home for the festive season, but all thanks to pregnancy, we had to sit down in Lagos and look for ways to entertain ourselves.

One evening, I suggested to my husband that we should go for a two-day vacation after Christmas. Surprisingly, he said yes (Going out stresses that, man, we complement each other well because I hate going out too, lol, I was not expecting a Yes). He told me to pick a location and let him know how much it cost. I was so happy.

I woke up the following day and started searching, I found one within our budget, and I was so excited. Well, something happened that shattered my dreams. My laptop of more than three years decided to crash; boy, that was devastating. I had a lot of deliverables, and I didn’t even know what to do.

I decided to borrow my friend’s laptop since she had an official system she uses at work, but the problem was that she was travelling and she had to take her laptop with her. She gave me for some days so that work could continue.

My sweet husband went to Ikeja some days later and got me another laptop. He had been saving up to get an external screen to help him work faster and easier, he planned on getting the screen in January, but he had to use the money for his screen and even pulled out his savings to get me this laptop. I wanted to cry (blame it on pregnancy hormones) because I was shocked. I didn’t even know how to thank him.

Ladies and gentlemen, you know what that means, I had to give up my vacation dream, and I was contented because this man had gone out of his way to make me happy. We decided to have a house party.

With the help of my friend Ashley, I cooked some sumptuous jollof rice, gizdodo, croaker fish coated in sauce and Chapman. It was a full menu; even though I knew it was stressful, it was all worth it. I had another dizzy episode some days later, so I was forced to take some compulsory rest.

One episode I won’t forget in a hurry was feeling pains in my lower abdomen, I can’t describe the pain, but it was hell. I couldn’t do anything, I have a high threshold for pains (maybe not so high), but you rarely find me crying about pains. This time I cried like a baby. I could not sleep. Nothing was working, my husband tried giving me massages, but it wasn’t working. My sweet friend Ashley didn’t even know what to do, I hate to see them worried about me, but I couldn’t pretend I was in pain for the first time.

When the pain refused to stop, I found my way to the hospital. I did a scan, and it showed the baby was fine. The doctor gave me a reason for the pain and prescribed some pain killers. I took the painkillers, and I felt better the next day.

I also had a mini gender reveal party with my husband, and Ashley was behind the camera. Keeping him in suspense about the gender was the sweetest thing. He would ask me if I’ve changed my mind, and he would say something like, “Hey, you won’t tell me now so that I know how to structure my prayers for the baby” I would laugh and tease him.

About a week later, we had the balloon set up, and I asked him to punch it as we did a gender reveal party. It was simple, sweet and funny. My husband had no preference for gender; all that mattered to him was that we were going to be parents!

I was happy to be back, but at the same time, the doctor warned me to take things easy, so I had to take a lot of time to rest. Before I knew it, it was cross-over night, and I was the happiest.

I started the year with no plans of getting pregnant, but God definitely had bigger plans. 2021 was a year I won’t forget, I couldn’t achieve much, but I was grateful to do the little but, more importantly, for this baby growing every day in my stomach.

That sums up month 5. Let’s meet with our popcorn tomorrow as I give all that went down in month 6.

Welcome to my month of Victory hehehehe. This was the beginning of sweetness. The vomiting stopped totally, and I could see the world. This was the month I could say I started loving my baby. I registered and started my antenatal.

This was also the month I met someone special. I call her “My Elizabeth”; she is Damilola Agboola; this woman was heaven-sent. We met at church house fellowship, she reached out to me after our first meeting, but I was still not in the mood. It was in our second meeting we bonded and became sisters. She just had a baby, so she could relate and connect with me.

Damilola fed me like a baby and treated me like a queen. She would pray with me and check up on me. There was a time I battled with fear. I had terrible dreams, and each time I told her, she would say to me, “you can’t lose this baby Onome”.

Feeding was better, but the challenge with month 4 was dizziness. If I do anything stressful, I will start feeling dizzy and throw up. I don’t know how to stay still; that was why the first three months were hard. I always want to be busy. I remember how I fell one evening in my bathroom. I was stressed this particular day. We were renovating the house, so there was a lot of moving. I was not comfortable seeing Jumoke and my husband do everything, so I went to join them. I also had to read for my exams, so I was stressed.

All I could remember was opening the shower. The next thing was that I found myself on the floor. I screamed for my husband, and he had to come carry me. My head and arm were bleeding. To make it worse, I threw up everything I ate that night. I became so weak. Once I knew stress was a problem, I avoided it because feeling dizzy was no fun.

This was the month my dad turned 70. Since the beginning of the year, I looked forward to this, but pregnancy happened, which meant I couldn’t be there physically. My siblings and I planned a surprise for him, so I really wanted to be there, but because of the dizzy episodes, I knew I had to sit down in Lagos.

My brothers made sure I didn’t miss out of the fun. We were on video calls and phone calls throughout the day; even though I couldn’t be there physically, I saw my old man look so happy, which was fun for me.

My stomach was growing, and I gradually added the weight I had lost in the first trimester. Life was good!

Tomorrow, I will tell you all about month 5.