'Every Time I Look Back At This Night, I Break Down In Tears,' Mukami Mwaura Shares More Heartbreaking Details About Giving Birth

Piece by: Caren Nyota
Lifestyle

Nominated Senator Isaac Mwaura and his wife Neilius Mukami are slowly healing from the pain of losing two of their triplets. The young couple, who got married in 2015, welcomed their triplets; 2 boys and a girl in January this year but sadly, they lost two of them.

In her new blog, Mukami highlighted what she went through before and after the birth of her babies, who were later taken to Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) where they were to stay for 3 months.

"MY HUSBAND ISAAC MWAURA AND I WERE HAPPILY EXPECTING TRIPLETS DUE IN APRIL 2017, ON 19TH January 2017 AT 10.10AM , 10.11AM AND 10.12AM WE DELIVERED OUR 3 BEAUTIFUL BABIES; 2 BOYS AND ONE GIRL. 11 WEEKS LATER WE LEFT THE HOSPITAL WITH ONE BABY BOY AND A HOSPITAL BILL OF KSH11.2M.

SOMETIMES IN LIFE, SOMETHING HAPPENS AND SHAKES UP YOUR LIFE IN WAYS THAT YOU NEVER IMAGINED. UNTIL THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENS YOU NEVER KNOW YOUR LIMIT, YOU NEVER KNOW HOW MUCH YOU CAN TAKE, HOW MUCH YOU CAN FIGHT AND HOW MUCH YOU CAN PRAY. THIS IS A PERIOD WHERE OUR FAITH WAS TRIED AND TESTED; OVER AND OVER AGAIN. WE SAW THAT TINY RAY OF HOPE SO MANY TIMES NEVER ACTUALLY REACHING THE END OF THE TUNNEL,AND WHEN WE FINALLY DID THE TRAUMA WAS SO MUCH WE DID NOT KNOW WHETHER TO CELEBRATE OR TO EXPECT MORE TRIALS.

She continued;

AT 28WEEKS PREGNANT THE LAST THING I EXPECTED WAS TO DELIVER MY BABIES, SO WHEN I GOT STRANGE CRAMP PAINS AT AROUND 9PM ON WEDNESDAY 18TH JANUARY, LABOUR WAS THE LAST THING ON MY MIND. I CALLED MY DOCTOR WHO TOLD ME TO HEAD TO THE LABOUR WARD ,THIS WAS NOT STRANGE AS I HAD BEEN ADMITTED TO THE LABOUR WARD SEVERAL TIMES BEFORE IN THE COURSE OF THE PREGNANCY. SO ONCE WE GOT TO THE LABOUR WARD THEY STARTED GIVING ME MEDS TO HOLD OR REVERSE THE LABOUR. BY 3AM THAT NIGHT I WAS IN FULL BLOWN LABOUR, AT AROUND 7AM THE DOCTOR CHECKED IN AND SAID WE WOULD BE GOING INTO THE DELIVERY ROOM FOR AN EMERGENCY CS. THE THEATRE WAS FULLY BOOKED BUT THEY MANAGED TO GET SPACE; ACTUALLY A FRIEND OF MINE WHO LATER LOST HER BABY IN THE DELIVERY ROOM ALLOWED ME TO GO IN BEFORE HER (I WILL SHARE HER STORY SOON )

ON 19TH JANUARY 2017 AT 10.10 BABY MWAURA MAIGUA MWAURA JR ARRIVED AT 1.2 KG, A MINUTE LATER BABY NJIRU MAIGUA MWAURA ARRIVED WEIGHING 1.12KG AND A MINUTE LATER BEAUTIFUL NJERI MAIGUA MWAURA MADE HER MAJESTIC ENTRANCE AT 1.02KG. BABIES WERE RUSHED TO THE NEONATAL INTENSIVE CARE UNIT (NICU)- A PLACE I WOULD CALL HOME FOR THE NEXT 3 MONTHS. AND THAT BEGAN A DIFFICULT JOURNEY …A JOURNEY OF TEARS, JOY, DOUBT, HOPE, PRAYER, JOY, QUESTIONS, REPENTANCE BUT MOSTLY EXPERIENCING GOD."

Mukami recently shared another post narrating the pain she went through during birth and how her triplets fought for their lives at the NICU.

"As I stated before my babies were born on 19th Jan 2017 at roughly 10 am, this was on a Thursday. I woke up a few hours later to find a lot of happiness in the room from my mum, my sister, my mother in law and a few friends. My husband seemed to be in a state of shock and a bit of sadness. I just thought it was the shock of the whole incident but I would later discover the reason for his sadness was because he had seen the children as they were being rushed to NICU.

I was not able to see my babies until later in the evening as I was transferred to the main maternity ward which was next to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. I was helped out of my bed at around 8pm.The Cs wound was super PAINFUL, I never imagined such pain existed. So we walked slowly into the NICU. It had a sign board written “staff only”, parents to the babies were the only ones allowed inside apart from staff so my husband led the way.

Let me start by saying that the NICU is the worst place for any child to begin their life. I salute the staff who work there because it’s not a pretty sight. For the longest time, I have blocked the memories of this first night because it was horrible. Seeing your child/children for the first time should be a joyous occasion but for me, it was one night that I hope to forget.

Every time I look back at this night I feel so helpless and disappointed and I can’t help but break down in tears. I never want to go through this again. It was a feeling of shock, disbelief coupled with feelings of failure, failure as a mother. I had failed my children, my body had failed me, so many questions ran through my mind when I remember this night.

We began with triplet number one (Mwaura Jr) who was at the furthest corner of the first room, then triplet 2 (Njiru) and 3 (Njeri) who were together on neighbouring incubators.

Small is an understatement, my babies were tiny, a bit wrinkled and covered in cotton wool wrapped in polythene bags to keep them extra warm. They were all intubated and on life support. I was sure this were not my children, they were white with a lot of black hair. They did not look like babies. I immediately felt like running away. Why was I here? These are not my children.

I asked my husband if he was sure they did not confuse them with somebody else’s children. These are not my children…. by now tears were flowing freely …one of the NICU nurses who was on duty that night came and held our hands to comfort us. She told us that the one single thing our babies needed was our strength. They needed to know that we believe they will be better. We asked her if they will be better.

She told us that the doctors and nurses will do the best but God does the healing. My head was spinning at this point. These are not my babies, at some point, I really wanted to wake up from this bad dream. I looked around and I noticed for the first time other children in the room, some were small while others were bigger than my babies but they all seemed to be fighting. NICU is an awful place but it’s also a place where you learn a lot, NICU is a room filled with the smallest fighters. There is a lot of defeat and winning. For the 11 weeks my babies stayed in the NICU, I watched the tiniest people fight harder than I have ever seen. They fought to

NICU is an awful place but it’s also a place where you learn a lot, NICU is a room filled with the smallest fighters. There is a lot of defeat and winning. For the 11 weeks my babies stayed in the NICU, I watched the tiniest people fight harder than I have ever seen. They fought to breathe and to live, it was a fight against death. Some won the fight while others lost the fight but we still celebrate them because, in the short or long time they lived, they left a great impact in our lives.

The now mother of one narrated how NICU gave her new outlook on life adding that it has turned her into a courageous woman.

Mukami's story has touched many and Kenyans have praised her for being a strong woman. Here are the reactions

Gakii: Your strength is amazing Mukami. Kuna nuru gizani.

Wanjiru: You are a strong woman Mukami. May God's Grace always be sufficient

Langat: You are a fighter too Mukami, the strength in you is priceless. God saw you through and he will still watch over you

Jacque: You are stronger than I thought. A fighter.

Favour: God's strength is made perfect when we are weak.You are a strong woman.may God wipe away the tears.Shalom.

Betty: You're one of the women who got strong hearts, May God remember you and may this Story encourage someone who feels so helpless.