The story is entirely fictitious and bears no resemblance to anyone whether living or dead. Please read, learn and share, someone has to know that they are not alone in this!
"Why can't I just be happy?"
"Why am I so sad?"
"Why don't I want to have anything to do with this baby for God's sake", Bunmi asked herself for the umpteenth time. So, who would give her answers? No one. Absolutely no one. Even her husband, Soji, was clueless. Why was she even thinking that far? She was clueless as well.
Bunmi had always been a lively person, in fact always bubbly. There was no dull moment with her. She was always the life of the party. Without her in the room, everywhere could just have been grey. She was a people person. She was hardly ever angry.
Meeting Soji was a blessing to her. He was everything she ever wanted in a man. Not that she had a list of things she wanted anyway, but he was the closest thing to perfection that she had ever seen. When he asked her to marry him, her joy knew no bounds. It was a dream come true.
They had a fairy tale wedding in Lagos with all the "bling bling" about a year ago. They couldn't even wait to start a family. LOL. Having a cute little boy and a bouncing baby girl would be nice. Having twins would really be lovely. You would just do all the wahala at once. And God was just faithful! Imagine getting pregnant just three months after the wedding!
Oh! There was just so much to be done. What with baby shopping and all. She remembered having seen some cute baby websites, Facebook pages and Instagram and quickly logged in to get ideas on what she needed. Soji was a willing partner as well and cooperated very well. Not only did he give her money for all she wanted, he also followed her on the shopping spree and helped design the baby's room.
So, where did all that joy go? She had every reason to be happy but she just could not reach within herself to get that happiness. She was so disinterested in everything around her, she lost appetite for food, she lost interest in having a shower or looking good. There was just this big black hole waiting to swallow her up and you know what, she did not mind entering it at all. Infact, that was the only thing that looked attractive to her.
Bunmi's mom had come to help out with the baby and wondered what was wrong with her daughter. She initially thought it was the stress of the pregnancy and delivery, But when Bunmi refused to feed the baby and screamed last night when the baby was crying for food, she knew that something was wrong. Something was definitely wrong. She called Soji aside this morning before he left for work and said, "Soji, eti e meloo" (means hope you are alert to what I am about to say). "O dabi eni pe abinsinwin lo nse Bunmi. Eleyi ko kin se oju lasan😔" (means, it's like Bunmi has a form of mental illness associated with childbirth and I think it is caused by the enemies)
Soji was alarmed. What kind of talk is this one early in the morning. Oju lasan ko, oju lasan ni, he thought. Mothers and their need to pin everything on village people. He could not tell his mother in-law that he disagreed with her. He just nodded his head and agreed that something definitely was wrong with his wife. He made a mental note to call his brother who was a doctor once he left the house. He did not want Mama Bunmi hearing his conversation.
"Hello, Broda Tope", Soji greeted his brother. after some pleasantries, he gave a run-down of Bunmi's behaviour since the birth of their son. Tope was angry that it took his brother that long to identify the problem and to notify him. "It is postpartum blues", Tope said. You need to bring her to the hospital immediately. He went on to explain the condition to his brother fully and that Bunmi would need all the social support she could get. Soji promised to get Bunmi to the hospital immediately, He took a leave from work and went back home to pick his wife.
Bunmi was admitted in the hospital, evaluated and was managed with drugs and psychotherapy. she was discharged after two weeks and within one month, she was back to her normal self. She however continued therapy and has not had a relapse since then.
On this special morning which was the first birthday celebration of their son, as Bunmi went about preparing for the party, dancing to the song on the speaker as she worked, Soji's heart filled with pride for the progress they had made in the last one year. with the corner of his eyes, he looked at his mother in-law and silently thanked her for identifying the problem and the support she gave them even though her she missed the cause of the problem😃 but abeg spare the woman, she had been so good to them.. His heart filled with pride as he moved towards Bunmi, hugged her tightly and gave her a warm kiss.
The End🙏
I hope to write a sequel soon discussing Postpartum psychosis and depression. i hope it will not take me another year though😆😃
All pictures from Google.
