Two red stripes

It was the day after Ghana's general election and the country waited keenly for the election results which was expected to be announced 24 hours after polls closed. Being a journalist, and having taken part in two general elections, I was glad that probably for the first time, my colleagues and I would not have to spend days waiting at polling centres, monitoring TV and radio as we awaited the Electoral Commission Chair to announce the winner for the 2020 elections.

Well, our expectations were cut short when the 24-hour deadline set by the EC Chair elapsed. "Not again," I said to myself. I hadn't planned to sleep in the office this year so I went to work on December 7 in my jeans trousers, sneakers, a branded t-shirt, with no toothbrush or face towel to clean myself should need be.

I had no option. I had to sleep in the office while the results from some polling stations trickled in. It looked like a long 24 hours with no end in sight. As I waited, all I did was doze off intermittently.

I had barely eaten much but my tummy was bloated and the discomfort associated with it made it difficult for me to do any work. Worse of, my eyes were heavy from the lack of sleep from the previous night. My colleagues who had gone home the previous night started coming in to start the new day and having had no sleep or bath, I tried to keep my distance from them. 

The 8th of December was quite a dull one since no one knew when the EC Chair was going to make the announcement. I tried to sleep but sleep eluded me. But anytime I tried to do some work I'd just doze off. My tummy was still bloated and this time it hurt badly, especially in my navel area. I wondered what the problem could be as I tried using the toilet several times to ease myself of the discomfort, but all to no avail.

I pulled through the rest of the day, barely eating anything as my stomach would not give me space to. This time round when night dawned, I managed to catch some sleep. I woke up to a very painful discomfort and that was when I advised myself to go home and have some rest.

The journey home was so difficult. The pain was intermittent and the 45 minute drive from my office to the house was like a five hour journey. I held on my belly as I drove, feeling nauseous and feverish. I decided to pass through a pharmacy to get a drug to ease the discomfort but when I got there the only thing I asked for was a pregnancy test kit.

We got married in August 2020 and although we had decided to hold on till after a year to start having babies, we changed our minds probably two months into the marriage. Funny enough, after reversing our decision, I was anxious every time my menstraution delayed and would get a pregnancy test kit just to be sure I wasn't overthinking things. And as much as I wished the results were negative, I was always disappointed when it was.

I had just checked at the end of  November and it was negative and so I wasn't expecting anything different. Moreover, how I felt had nothing to do with pregnancy symptoms. I had probably over eaten or eaten something bad, I thought to myself. So why did I get the pregnancy kit instead of an antacid to ease the discomfort? I thought again.

"Well, there's no harm in finding out. After all it will be negative," I thought again.

I quickly rushed to the bathroom when I got home and quickly run the test. I wasn't anxious. I just waited only one red stripe showed on the stick. "I said it. I'm not pregnant," I said in disappointment to myself.

I would usually throw the stick away right after but this time I just left it on the sink. Maybe I was hoping the reading would change by some miraculous happening. It was possible. I had read that on a friend's blog. But I didn't wait. I just took a shower and had the needed rest. 

But my mind raced and in my restlessness I went to the bathroom to check the stick. 😮It had two red markings. It was positive. I am pregnant. 

WOW. I didn't know whether to be surprised or scream. I just didn't know what to do. 

But truth be told, some part of me was sad I was. Another part, indifferent. And the other...happy I was. I didn't have to try hard. And I thank God for this gift.