I've always enjoyed the sweet childhood memories with my brothers,
and specifically with my parents; either it was going to the village on a
weekend to see our grandparents or getting Christmas presents. So, I had always
been keen to experience parenthood. I wondered what kind of father I would be.
Also, I have always wanted to create awesome memories with my family, and
fantasized about having lots of laughter, as I saw this as an opportunity to
intentionally be silly all over again.
When we found out that we would have twins, we were ecstatic. If I
were good at backflips, I would have back flipped all day in euphoria.
But, the whole screaming and losing your voice kind of ecstatic mad up
for my excitement. Man! This went on for a while, maybe, it still goes on...it
does, and it feels great. We had been married for 2-3 years, and our families
and friends alike wondered when we would conceive. No pressure at all. ....
Yeah! No pressure.
So when we were blessed to with two, we knew our prayers had been
answered. Blessings on blessings on blessings! We remained humbled, and
later surprised our families with the great news. In the midst of our euphoric
state, we understood the complexities of a twin pregnancy, furthermore,
considering how active we both were with our jobs, and being newly married,
working full-time to make ends meet financially, we remained optimistic and
prayed for the best outcome. In layman terms, it was also stressful.
Pregnancies are delicate. More elusive when you know so much about
its delicacy, and go through it for the first time, it can be stressful. The
dynamics of our relationship changed. We prioritized differently, and
compromised as we began to plan for our new future. Wow! I'm becoming a
father? I would often daydream. Deep down it felt so good. Deep down, I felt so
clueless on what to expect. So prayed, and prayed for the best.
As my queen's body began to change, so did our gems inside her. I
changed also, I waked shoulder high, became more concerned and curious about
our new transformation. Everything was new, but my excitement of becoming a
father overshadowed any uncertain fears. I laughed at how wobbly she walked,
and boasted " Yep! I did that"!
As the morning sickness kicked in earlier, but did not last, I
empathized with her, and Graham's crackers and spicy foods came in handy. I had
heard how needy some women became during pregnancy, which mostly is attributed
to hormonal changes, but my queen was easy on me, and the abundance of family
support smoothens this phase of pregnancy.
It was always exciting to go for the obstetrician visits, because
we came home with the cool ultrasound photos, indicating the length of the
gems, how their organs were developing, and what positions/locations they were
in. Our princess had a different pose every time, and our prince barely let go
of his thumb as he mostly assumed a yoga position in utero.
We would often spend countless times imaging how they would look,
how they would behave, and what traits they would have. And when it came to
names, we had countless, from Mawuena & Mawoko, and the list
goes on. Giving the African names was very important to us; we always want to
keep our unique lineage and heritage. In line of lineage and heritage, we often
imaging taking them to Ghana, and
anticipating all the questions they would have, and how much we would share
with them, as we toured our parents and forefather’s ancestry.
