I couldn’t remember the last time I suffered an abdominal cramp as bad as today’s. Isn’t childbirth supposed to eliminate the pain once and for all?
I did have a couple of cramp-less years after giving birth to Rachel and Mervin. But soon after Angel was born, the monthly cramps mysteriously returned.
The cramp was escalating since early afternoon. By late afternoon, it was tiring me out so much that I nearly dozed off while marking Angel’s assessment book. Feeling defeated, I made my way painstakingly into my bedroom and sprawled face-down onto my bed groaning like a wounded soldier.
“Mummy, are you feeling unwell?” asked a concerned Angel.
“Yes… Stomachache… Can you please do your work yourself while I rest?” I whined.
“Ok!” she replied as she ran her little hand over my forehead, pulled the quilt over me and tucked my feet under it.
“Are you okay, Mum?” asked a concerned Mervin.
“Mm-hmm,” I grunted.
“What are we going to have for dinner?”
“Oh… I think I’ll make eggs and sausages later,” I moaned.
“What I mean is: are you well enough to cook? I mean, can you cook? I mean…” the poor boy got a little flustered.
Stifling a giggle, I assured him that I appreciated his concern and I’d be well enough to make dinner for them in a while.
A moment later, Angel returned to my bedside with a glass of warm water.
“Mummy, drink this. It will make you feel better,” she cajoled.
I took a gulp of the love-filled drink and felt warmth spreading all over me.
“Thank you so much, Darling,” I smiled.
“Are you feeling much better already?” she grinned back at me.
I nodded and wanted to hug her, but drowsiness engulfed me like a thick blanket.
Before I drifted into unconsciousness, the voice of the little cherub rang beside my ear again.
“Mummy, take this. It will make you feel better.”
In the little hand held a little cup of little pills which I had always administered to her when she had a stomachache.
I looked at the pills and then to her, then to the pills and back to her again. She was so unbelievably sweet! My eyes were nearly welled up with tears.
Without a word, I popped the pills into my mouth and washed them down with the love-sweetened water she had poured for me earlier. Never had medicine tasted this sweet.
“Mummy, this is for you too!”
And in that little hand, she held out a candy.
As I sucked on that candy, I felt I was the most loved mother in the whole wide world.
Just when I thought I was going to faint from an overdose of ecstasy, Angel handed me a little hand-written note. On it was written,
“I love mummy. How do you feel. I think today you are not feeling well. Please stay at home and rest ok!!”My cramp was actually a blessing in disguise.
No pain, no gain.
2 comments:
Indeed!
My, My....What a bliss.....
Post a Comment