‘Beginnings of Story X’

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The whispers of the night collided in his head, causing him to tremble beneath the thin, worn sheet. His bed was narrow and hard, held together by wisps of wood that he had pulled from the pile of throwaways behind the furniture factory. His ears were burning and he knew that they were speaking of him. Outside in the inky darkness, he knew that they were whispering about him. His forehead felt wet and he felt the drops of perspiration rolling a path down the side of his face, racing to catch up with the stream that washed between his thin shoulders. He felt a hand come down onto his shoulder then, and he caught his breath, willing the hand to disappear.

‘It’s too soon…it’s not my time…’ he began to chant silently, his gruff voice cutting through the dark, awakening his slip of a wife who, until only a few weeks ago, had been a smiling stranger at the water point in the middle of the neighborhood. She turned now and reached over to him. There was hesitation in her movement but he felt like she moved with the weight of the air in their one-room shack.

Tumble Into Love

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When the evening draws to a close,

and the moon begins to whisper

a trail across a blackened sky,

chasing after the remnants of an orb

that was swallowed into the earth,

it is then that you stir,

you tumble, it seems,

and, with every tumble,

love wades in deeper, stronger.

21 Weeks, 4 Days; February 10, 2015

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I saw you yesterday. The tech said you have long legs and everything looks great. She measured your bladder, some ventricle in your brain, the size of your head etc and I am so glad you are doing well. Heart rate was 153 bpm which is fantastic. I did see you moving your little arm about and you, at one point, turned your face to the ultrasound wand. We also got a brilliant side profile shot of your face and your little lips. Gosh, I cannot wait to meet you. Your Aunt Toni picked me up and came with me and it was really nice to have her there.

Well, my appetite, rather my hunger cues, have disappeared. I eat one meal and I feel full for hours and then all of a sudden, it hits me that I have not eaten since 1300 and it is heading to 2200. I have to really do better on getting healthy snacks in and learning when to say no to food because I will eat that small portion and then my belly will be distended for hours! Not a good feeling.

No major pains yet. I did try to take a nap at work the other day during my break and I tried to cradle my head in my arms, Continue reading →

18 Weeks, 5 days; Jan 21, 2015

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I told your grandparents (Papa’s parents) about you today. Well, the plan had been to call your Papa and then have him call your grandparents, your mother specifically, and then we would do an English-Amharic type of telling. Instead, this is what happened. Don’t worry, nothing bad. I had to buy a phone card and I called your Papa but it was way too early…0400 his time, I think…so it took him a beat to realize that, NO, I was NOT at the airport because my phone call showed up on his caller ID as a +251 number. He did get a bit excited that I was at the airport and had surprised him. He asked me twice if everything was okay and then when I asked about taking a taxi, it was like he startled awake and was like, no, let me come and get you…are you okay? Continue reading →

18 Weeks (?), January 6th, 2014

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So, I am not entirely sure how far along I am. Dr Lipeles, on Dec 30th, said I might not be at 16 weeks as I had originally been led to believe by my genetics ultrasound dating…I might be further along than that. He set me up with an ultrasound for 1/12/15 so we shall wait to see what the Radiologist reading says.

Your Papa and I came up with a name. I never realized that he actually listened to me because it was so sweet when he corrected me to include my last name as your middle name (well, for your American passport). We shall get you Continue reading →

15 Weeks 3 Days – December 26, 2014

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I told your grandmother about you and, boy, was she excited! I am really proud of the little video I sent to her. I waited for your Auntie B to tell her about your cousin first. Not sure why I wanted to wait but I thought I did not want to steal her thunder. Mayi was very excited though…she couldn’t stop thanking God and his mercies.

So, the pregnancy is going okay, I suppose. I spent Christmas nursing some cramps and period-like pains and I was almost panicking but I kept it together. I picked Continue reading →