Makatara, the beloved wife of Kitifa, was carrying an unborn child in her womb. She was now ten months pregnant. The ninth month lapsed without a sign that she would bear a child. Her situation has concerned the doctors a lot, yet they remained hopeful and prayed that her situation will change. They do everything in their power to ensure that she is not harmed in any way. She remained under heavy observation, but everyone had begun to lose their patience. And that’s when Dr. Katiba was left with one choice: if she didn’t show any signs of going into labor that day, he would have to perform an operation on her.

Then suddenly Makatara screamed, “Ouch! The baby’s coming. Please help!”

Makatara’s water broke. The nurses came closer to her bedside and she was breathing heavily. Then one of the nurses laid her hand firm on Makatara’s protruding stomach.

“Push!” She says, pressing Makatara’s stomach down with moderate force, “Push!”

Makatara was breathing hard and screaming from agony. The nurses were doing everything they could to help her. Their exercises went on for a couple of minutes, without success. The noises Makatara made were filling the entire maternity ward. The nurses became confused and frustrated when they realized that the baby refused to come out, regardless of the effort they put in to assist the patient.

“Go and fetch Dr. Katiba,” said a nurse, who had her hands on Makatara’s stomach, to another nurse in the ward.

“Please hurry up.” She said.

The nurse didn’t waste time. She left the ward and rushed through the corridors, towards the office of Dr. Katiba. Without knocking, she quickly unbolted the door and entered the office. Dr. Katiba jumped from his chair, obviously shocked, and involuntarily released the papers he was holding, falling on the floor. Before he could ask what was going on, the nurse screamed!

“Doctor, we need your help urgently!”

She didn’t give the doctor a chance to respond. She left the office running back to the ward, the doctor rushed after her.

When they entered the ward, the other nurse was still trying to help Makatara but to no prevail. As Dr. Katiba began to examine the patient, he realized that she needed to go to theatre to undergo an operation. He didn’t have a choice: if he wasted any more time, Makatara could die, or the baby could die, or they both could die.

“Put her in a wheel-chair and take her to the operation theatre!” He commanded, as he left the ward to his office, to fetch some equipment he may need in the theatre.

The nurses helped get Makatara on the wheel-chair and drove her through the corridors that led to the doors of the theatre room. Upon their arrival, Dr. Katiba was waiting and ready to perform the operation. At that moment, Makatara began losing her consciousness because of the injection the doctor had just given her.

The doctor and the nurses carried on with the operation.

“Pull,” said Dr. Katiba, as he ordered one of the nurses to pull the baby from Makatara’s womb, who didn’t feel a thing at this moment.

“It’s a boy,” said one of the nurses, as she examined the child.

“Oh, he looks so big!” Exclaimed the other nurse.

The child was placed near his mother. He immediately executed a few kicks before he emitted a cry. By this time, Makatara was relaxing on the bed. She was still unconscious and not aware of what was happening around her. During the whole operation, she looked half-dead and half-alive.

They say that when a woman is in this situation, anything can happen; she can either wake up, or never wake up at all. Maybe that’s why doctors and nurses always pray when they undertake such exercises.

Fortunately, Makatara was lucky enough to come back to life. This operation appeared as if it were going to be a success. The doctor and nurses were in total bliss when they realized that the baby was healthy, and that the mother was slowly recovering from her unconscious state. The pain she was experiencing emanated from the severe wounds incurred during the surgery, but Dr. Katiba believed that she will recuperate in no time.

The nurses bathed the child and immediately covered him with warm clothes. The baby was then brought to his mother’s bedside, who had just returned to the maternity ward from the theatre. Her eyes were wide open. She looked as if she was gaining her full consciousness back, although she appeared as if she was experiencing some sort of pain from the stitched wounds on her belly. Then she instantly noticed a nurse coming her way, and it appeared as if she was carrying something, which looked like a baby. She was headed straight towards her. With amazing happiness in the nurse’s face, she handed the baby to Makatara, who stretched her hands to hold her baby in her arms for the very first time.

“Congratulations,” said the nurse with a grin.

She uncovered the child to examine him. As she was busy stripping the child with eagerness, she asked, “Is it a boy?”

The nurse nodded.

“He’s like his father, Kitifa,” explained Makatara with laughter.

“Really?” Asked the nurse.

“He resembles him with everything,” explained Makatara.

The nurse ordered Makatara to breastfeed the baby. As the nipple of her breast was inserted in his mouth, the baby kicked several times. The nurse smiled a little and nodded again. She saw that the two were connecting, and she left them with a sense of jubilation. The nurse felt like everyone’s mission was accomplished.

Two days later, Makatara was in good condition and ready to be discharged. She recovered quickly over the past two days, so Dr. Katiba felt brave enough to let her go home. He immediately experienced a huge sense of accomplishment. Makatara called her husband using the doctor’s telephone. She explained that she was on her way home, and she briefly told her spouse about how the child resembled him so much. And then lastly, she asked him to think about the right name for the child, for when they got home.

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