Astig

As a foetus, I was already quite resilient, resistant to trauma and challenges.

When my mother was four months pregnant with me, she had an accident. She wasn’t aware she was carrying me inside her because there were no symptoms and her period wasn’t that regular even before she got pregnant.

So, being the active woman that she is, Mama decided to race a Toyota while on her bike (yes, my mother the speed racer). When the car made a sudden turn, she had no choice but to crash onto the kerb to avoid major damage. Although she only had minor injuries, she still went to see the doctor to find out if she was okay.

To her surprise, the doctor informed her that she was, in fact, with child — me holding on for dear life inside her uterus. Fear set in her, thinking of the many things that I could have broken while inside (she didn’t know then that harelip is hereditary so that was one of the fears).

She took every single precaution and followed every single rule given by the doctor to compensate for the accident. When I came out perfectly fine, it was a huge relief.

It just goes to show how resilient the human body is. It pays not to give too much attention to movies and soapies where women suddenly miscarry because of a little nudge. There are sensitive pregnancies, but not everyone is like that.

Still, it pays to be careful. I realised last week while manically looking for scallops and mussels (because I wouldn’t eat anything else for dinner) that I should be careful with my steps. Gone are the days of speed walking and semi running because now I can damage, not just myself, but what’s inside me as well.

As I was going through the frozen section, a wet spot of frozen peas made contact with my boots and I went flying down the aisle. I have great reflexes and managed to ease the impact of the fall by using my left knee and right arm as fall guys so the brunt of the force didn’t go to my stomach/butt area. I stayed on the ground for quite some time while this big tattooed man screamed at the attendants to help me, God bless him.

Apart from the bruises, I was fine, but the manager still made sure an incident report was filed and I was properly cared for. He asked his minions to go find my scallops asap while I sat down to rest. We both knew I could sue them if I wanted to. I wasn’t in shock but I needed to cry. I’ve fallen so many times before (blame the duck feet) but I’ve never been that scared.

I’m glad we’re okay, we are quite resilient, but I will still get the store to pay for my physiotherapy.

And yes, no more speed walking on boots.