‘After Everything That Happened, I Needed an Easy Baby’
29.09.2022 - 13:31
/ glamour.com
As told to Photography by Abi Akintolayo, 33, emigrated from Nigeria at 13 and now lives in Dallas with her husband, Joseph, and daughter Imisioluwa, now three months. A pediatric dentist, Abi is an independent contractor with no paid family leave. She had planned to take six months of maternity leave, all unpaid.Return to the main article.Nothing about my pregnancy, birth, or postpartum experience is what I could or would have predicted.I thought I would love being pregnant—but I had hyperemesis, threw up constantly, and then developed gestational diabetes, and it was pretty miserable!I knew childbirth would be hard.
I just didn’t expect that my labor would last days, I’d have to push for three hours, and then I’d end up in the hospital for nine days with fluid on my lungs, migraines, and postpartum preeclampsia. I remember vividly when my doctor came on the last day and told me, “You’re going home.” I burst into tears. Don’t get me wrong—I was relieved, but after nine long days in the hospital sleeping maybe only 10 minutes at a time, I was exhausted.
Soreness lingered through the week of discharge. My legs had initially been so swollen, then after I lost all the water weight, my skin looked like I was 80 years old.I also never imagined that despite my plan to take six months of unpaid maternity leave, I would end up going back to work after three months. But that is life!After everything that happened during my pregnancy and at the hospital, I needed an easy baby.
Thankfully, I lucked out with Imisi. She is so peaceful and happy. It has eased the pressure so much.
After she was born, I told my husband I don’t know if I can do this again. Now I’m thinking, Maybe give it a year and a half. It’s true what they say: Your
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