Friday 7:30pm, while giving Kendi her bath before bedtime.

Me: RETCH! Kendi, bed piny (sit down). She is standing in the tub and losing her footing.

Kendi: Mama bedi? (sit down?)

Me: RETCH!

Kendi: Reaches out to grab the bar of soap, now that I’m ‘busy’ and can’t stop her.

Me: Kendi, we mulo sabun no (stop touching that soap)

Kendi: Mama, sabun? (soap)

Me: RETCH!

Kendi: Reaches out for my water bottle that I’ve placed on the bathtub rim. ‘Mama, pi‘ (water)

Me: RETCH! ‘OK, madh‘ (OK, drink)

Kendi: Tat you mama (Thank you)

Me: RETCH! RETCH! RETCH! ‘You’re welcome baby’

 

Saturday, 1:45pm, The mall.

Me: Sick and tired (again) and feeling like death itself!

Kendi: Mama, ball! (Runs towards ball pit)

Tawi (my younger sister): I’ll take her.

Me: Oh thank you. I’ll just be here (pointing at the ground and wondering how I’m going to take a nap and not look homeless, or drunk)

Kendi: Mama, ne ball (look, ball)

Me: mmhmm, trying not to talk so as not to lose my lunch (Well, to be fair, I already lost my lunch, so basically, lose my stomach lining)

 

Monday, 7:00pm, Kendi’s bath time

Mueni (Kendi’s nanny): Msichana, bath time (Girl, bath time)

Kendi: Very matter of factly ‘no bath time’

Me: Kendi, bath time girl. Bed (be) a good girl

Kendi: Crying and grabbing my leg. ‘No mama, no bath time’

Me: Dragging the little lady up the stairs. She is crying and I am essentially half carrying, half dragging her upstairs. It’s a pain on my body and my heart. And I feel sick again.

I am having a difficult time being pregnant this time. I am much sicker (or maybe I don’t remember how sick I was last time?), I have more aches and pains, and each waking hour is spent figuring out how not to throw up, again. And (and this is the big ‘and’), I have a toddler to take care of. A busy toddler. A curious toddler. A very quick, very heavy, very playful toddler. How do people do this?

I do have a saving grace though- Martin. He brings me water to drink as I’m retching over the loo so that at least I have something to throw up. Bless his heart.