Baby. Stroke. Me.

Having had a good, long break from writing my blog, I've come back in to the world of writing as a brand new Mummy. Today marks the three year anniversary of my stroke, and because of this I thought I'd use the occasion to welcome a new series of blog posts, telling you all about my pregnancy, the birth of my son, being a new Mum, and all the while taking on this new, amazing challenge, as a stroke survivor.

My tale begins in an unusual way... 

‘I have absolutely nothing to ask this woman,’ I told my three friends, as we waited in line, sat on fold up chairs, watching elaborate, marble dolphins shoot water from their mouths, displayed in a fountain that was standing proud in front of us.

We were queuing to see a psychic. One of my friends and her Mum were seasoned pro’s at having their fortunes told, whereas I was a novice and actually quite nervous. I didn’t have a clue what to expect, but was reassured by my comrades that I just had to let the psychic do the talking. 

Soon enough it was my turn to enter the tiny, golden booth, decorated with red curtains and yes, from the corner of my eye I did spot a crystal ball resting on a shelf… I had to stop myself from grinning.  What had I gotten myself in to? “Be open minded!’ I internally scolded myself.

Within seconds of me taking a seat, the casually dressed, middle aged woman had already guessed that my fiancé and Dad were both called Christopher, that three of my grandparents had died, and was able to give me the initials of my two female grandparents. She told me that I’d had two major illnesses in my life, one of them that had physically affected me. She was able to tell me about Chris’s ability to speak more than one language and his connection to all things Spanish. This strange, it seemed, ‘omniscient,’ woman, also knew about my hair anxiety and the fact that it falls out due to my alopecia, even though there were no bald patches visible to her. Her knowledge had me speechless, and if I’m honest, a little spooked. I simply sat there, trying to stop my jaw from hitting the table, and nodding when she got these personal facts correct.

As my ‘reading’ was coming to an end the psychic asked me, ‘ Do you have one child?’ I, in turn told her I didn’t. She looked at me with an almost, ‘knowing look,’ and replied, ‘There’s a child with us, here today.’ Not really understanding what she was saying, and wondering if she was referring to some sort of spirit, or child from the afterlife, (remember, I was a psychic virgin,) I just looked at her and waited for her to continue. ‘Do you want children?’ she asked. ‘Well, yes, I’d love children in the future,’ I said, not really knowing where this conversation was going. ‘One will be with you soon,’ she smirked. Then our session was over.

Slightly unnerved, I squeezed out of her little booth and headed over to where my friends Mum was standing, outside Boots.

‘So, did she say anything interesting?’ my friends Mum asked. ‘She said there was a baby with me…’ I looked back at her, and pulled a face, ‘No idea what that means.’ ‘Oh my God Becky, what if you’re pregnant!’ Laughing at her, I assured her there was no way, not a chance, not in a million years was I pregnant…

Oh my God, what if I’m pregnant?!

Reuniting with my other two friends, after they’d raided Boots, the four of us headed for a slap up lunch at TGI Friday’s. They all teased me about the possibility of being pregnant, and I laughed back assuring them it wasn’t possible, all the while trying to recount in my head when Chris and I may have slipped up. Were we ever not careful? Nope, there was no chance. Just forget about it Bec, I told myself. So I did, I forgot all about it and the next couple of weeks I barely gave what the psychic had told, a second thought, that was, until my period was late…