When I had my first baby in 2019, there was another woman in the ward who put to bed shortly after me.

It was just two of us new mums in the ward, recuperating and waiting to be discharged.

I noticed she didn’t talk too much. She didn’t get a lot of visitors unlike me, except for her husband who trooped in once or twice looking tired each time he came to check on them.

Just like me, it was also their first baby so I was excited for them. They didn’t really look too happy though. The husband gave off that vibe of a man who was hurried into fatherhood before he was exactly ready. He kept grumbling whenever the nurses instructed him to go buy this or that items.
His wife would keep quiet and wear a mournful expression on her face.

They didn’t look sooo young so I privately wondered why the man was kinda angry with having a baby at his age. I sha kept quiet.

My visitors kept trooping in.
Colleagues, friends, family. One popular celebrity saw my post on Facebook that year and even came to congratulate me.

My ward roomie kept staring in awe. One time she asked how come I was so famous 🤣

My visitors filled the room with so much gifts that my bed space got crowded with packs of diapers and other baby things.

As I noticed that this my ward roomie appeared lonely and didn’t really have much, I passed her some of the gifts. She eagerly accepted them and looked happy, and I was glad to eventually see a smile on her face.

Actually, before I started sharing the items with her she was always coming around to borrow diapers and baby wipes because she didn’t have any. The nurses admonished her husband and told him to go and buy those necessary items, the man grumbled and went out and we didn’t see him till the next day.

The woman wasn’t even lactating properly, they asked him to get baby formula, he yelled at his wife and asked with which money nau? And walked out.

When one of my visitors brought tins of baby formula I quickly passed them to her. I was lactating optimally and didn’t need them. She was grateful.

We spent 3 days in the ward to carry out jaundice tests and a few immunisations on our babies before we could be discharged.

The last evening I was there, the woman’s husband entered the ward beaming with smiles and carrying a big nylon bag.

I was drifting off to sleep as he was telling his wife that one of his rich friends sent him some money so he was able to buy pampers and many other things.

As he tried opening the nylon bag to bring out the items and show her, the woman quickly pushed the items back inside the bag. She whispered to him not to bring them out and display them like that.

When the man asked a confused why? She said in a low tone that I had been dashing her a lot of things and she felt I would stop if I saw that she now had enough.

I heard the rustle of nylon bags as they quickly stuffed the items back and put them inside her bedside cabinet.

I continued pretending to sleep even though my ears were reeling from disbelief.

Wow.
Just wow.

And yes, she still came to borrow more baby wipes and diapers before I eventually left there because I was discharged first.

~ Iyawo Emeka II
February 2025.