OMG! My Daughter Turns 13 Today......God Is Indeed Gracious!

Today the 26th of September is a very unique date for me because asides the fact that it is my daughter's birthday, it also marks the beginning of a totally different phase of my life. She turns 13 years old today and it signifies the period of CHANGE in my life journey.

I have been kind off stupefied since yesterday night and barely slept till this morning because I was just in awe of how far God has brought us. Initially when I got pregnant with her in 2002, her father (my ex-hubby) was not down with the idea but I was adamant about having the child and truth be told, I really didn't think of the consequences.

This pregnancy made us hurry to get married without even thinking if that was the right thing to do. However, contrary to what some people might think, today is not one of regrets at all. I have NEVER regretted agreeing to go ahead with my pregnancy at that time. 

It was a very rough pregnancy, I was sick all the time, could barely eat and by the time I was about 6 months gone, the baby was barely growing. All this was coupled with the fact that there was no one around to pamper me and take care of me except my good friend, Dupe Awonusi Ben-Boye who now resides in Canada.

It was her who used to pack all my vomit from the floor and force me to eat something. She would make food for me or buy stuff for me that I was craving. She would help me fetch water from a far distance because at that time living in Anthony Village, water was like a luxury and there were no mallams like we have today peddling water. This she did until I traveled to meet my mum in London where I then had to be admitted because my baby was not growing well and was malnourished.

Fast forward to September when I then gave birth in Dublin, Ireland, it was another battle again. She was born with Hypoglycemia which is low blood sugar and she had to be put in the intensive care unit and was pricked all over her cute little heels with needles because they had to be checking her sugar level every hour.

This was very traumatic for me because I was all alone in a faraway land with nobody by my side, she came a few days early so my mum was yet to join me in Dublin then. I was a basket case and always crying until one of the nurses there spoke to me and showed me other babies in the intensive care unit who were barely the size of my palm, infact she showed me a particular child who had been in the incubator for about 3 months as he was born premature and his parents used to come daily and use a finger to just touch him and they always had a smile on their face while doing it.

Nurse Siobhan gave me courage and in appreciation to her encouragement and support, I gave my daughter the Irish name Siobhan which means, God is Gracious.

Today, I look back and say indeed God has been gracious to me. Raising a child especially in this day and age is not an easy task and while I won't say it has been easy BUT God has been there for me all the way and continues to be.

Happy 13th birthday my darling daughter, Ayokunmi, as your name means, joy always fills my heart when I look at you because I know you are a gift of destiny and my prayer is that as I have seen the start of your teenage years, may I see you grow to become a wonderful young lady, eventually a great woman and an awesome wife and mother (in that order of course....don't you ever go putting the cart before the horse like I did....LOL!)