And Baby Makes Two

Chapter Three (part three) - Between Wake and Sleep

Tasha stares at me agog and for a moment I revel in my own little miracle before diverting the topic of conversation.
“So, how were your births, were they all okay?” I remembered Davina’s appointment for a C-Section and was itching to hear the gorey details.
“Davina had a TV crew at her birth” Tasha divulges.
“Really?” I reply visibly rapt yet unsure if Tasha should have broadcast the information.
“Yes, I did. I had a call from a Producer friend of mine who wanted to film a birth for a documentary she is doing. I haven’t seen it yet but she says it looks good and they got what they wanted.”
“So did you have the ceasarian then?” I ask tentatively trying to piece the puzzle together.
“Oh no. I decided against that when I found out it would take longer to recover than a vaginal birth and would interfere with my schedule. Luckily Scarlett came up trumps and arrived early so I’ve had a bit longer to concentrate on my lines. It’s restored my faith in fate I can tell you”.
I smile and wonder what she is on but feel relieved that my ‘trick’ has softened her attitude towards me at least.
Bang on queue Flea sets my coffee on the table alongside her yellow water which is too closely related to my baths at the moment for me to want to drink the stuff too. Flea’s baby sleeps soundly in her sling. She looks remarkably uncluttered compared to all the stuff I have brought out with me. Looking about me I am pleased to see that both Tasha and Davina are accompanied by prams. Tasha’s is a huge Silvercross pram and looks like a burgundy floral cot on wheels lined in a fluffy pink cloud, while Davina’s is a three-wheeler; enormous mountain-bike wheels and a tiny triangular space for the baby. Her pram is black. Funny, I had never guessed that prams, like dogs, can often resemble their owner’s personality.

Taking a glug of her orange-smoothy-type concoction Tasha launches into her tale.
“Well, I nearly died!” She says sensationally. An ER style scenario follows with all the detail and description required for us to relive the moments with her,
“...then finally she came out but with two black eyes and the midwives said she might be BLIND! Can you imagine? Anyway I sent Will off to find the consultant who came back and said she wasn’t blind but they were going to check her for spinabifida! Well I was beside myself and then started losing blood so got stitched up in the other room while they took Avril away for tests. It was all fine in the end and I’ve been to a baby eye specialist to make sure all was fine and it is and Will took Avril to Gt Ormond Street to get her checked again for spinabifida just in case. I couldn’t bare to go, but that’s fine too. But what a nightmare! There’s no way I want to go through all that again.”
She stopped and I felt quite overcome, it sounded terrible.
“Oh how awful for you”. Flea consoles, “You must have been very frightened.”
“Yeh, I was!”. Tasha exclaims.
A moment of contemplation surrounds us.

“I have made something for all the new mums I know”. Flea says whilst reaching for her drawstring bag.
Tasha catches my eye and pulls a worried expression at me. “ooh great!” I gush in Flea’s defense. Davina turns her attention toward the patterned, homemade bag, and, with one eyebrow raised, patiently waits for its contents to be revealed. Flea uncovers little packages wrapped in brown paper. We are given two each. One with brown string and one with white. Tasha rips hers open first.
“Oh great....what is it?” she says flumoxed.
“Oh the solution in the bottle is a lavendar-based mixture for calming. You can rub it on your temples and your middle eye.” She points to a space between her eyebrows. “And the other thing is a tiny windchime I made. They work really well in the bedroom and are meant to aid sleep. The chime works in the space between sleep and wake....”
Davina interrupts,
“What, when your husband walks into it on his way back from the bathroom in the middle of the night just as you’re getting off to sleep!” she snorts. We all laugh, mine slightly less than the others.
“Yes that too.” Flea smiles, “but have it by an open window and it should work as a sleep catcher.”
We all politely handle our gifts and I thank her.
“Yes, thanks Flea.” Says Tasha. “The state of my head at the moment it should work all the time. I’m forever in the in-between sleep stage!” She slots the gifts into her Billy Bag pocket – a stylish nappy bag indeed.
“Right. I’m going to change Avril’s nappy and have a wee and when I get back I’m getting another purple haze smoothy. Does anyone want anything?”
“No” came the chorus from all three of us. She bustles off.

“So Davina, Scarlett seems to be feeding better. Did you try my cabbage leaf suggestion?”
Clearly Davina and Flea were already pretty well acquainted.
“Yes I did and Walter thought it was hilarious. Whenever we sat down to eat he would say ‘Darling, you appear to have some spinach between your breasts’” She mimicked a Spanish accent. “So I gave up, but Zoe here seems to have cured me with a bit of brute force.” She flashes me a wry smile and I blush.
“If you experience any more problems you should try the breastfeeding clinic on Thursday mornings. It’s a bus ride away but well worth it for advice and support.”
“Ooh, I love group therapy sessions.” Davina beams, “What’s the address?” She fishes out a small black notebook from her red leather bag and hurriedly writes the address details as Flea relays them to her.
“Could I take that address too” I ask, still eager to meet more new mums. Davina tears out a page from her book and hands it to me without looking up and then scribbles the address down a second time.
“Thanks,” I say, not quite sure what to make of this woman with the black Bob.

posted by Rebecca Valentine at 8:48 pm