What was it like to have a baby in Africa? Part Three

I am not completely sure whether Paul was born at 37 weeks or 40 weeks. Before we left for Africa, I had an ultrasound in America. We found out that Paul was a boy (yay!) and that based on his size, his due date should be December 27. When I got to Africa, the doctor told me that they didn't base due dates on the size of the baby according to ultrasound, but on the menstrual cycle alone. That put my due date at December 9. We had an ultrasound in Africa, and the doctor said that his size, although not very big, was perfectly fine for a healthy birth. The doctor even told me that if I didn't go into labor by December 9, he was going to induce. It made me a little nervous, wondering if it was really too early to be inducing, since the American doctor had given me a different due date. That last week the doctor also gave me a prescription for a pill that was supposed to help me have contractions, which I obediently took without thinking too much about whether or not that was a good idea.

What was it like to have a baby in Africa? Part Two

July, 2007. Five months pregnant. Getting on the plane to the tiny country of Togo, West Africa--not for a visit, but to spend years, perhaps a lifetime, building a life there. I was excited, nervous, afraid; not sure what to expect. I felt like I was jumping off a high dive (not something I normally like to do.) I had an idea of what difficult struggles I would face when I got to Africa: things like dangerous snakes and spiders, demonic activity, angry thieves with machetes, etc. I was wrong.