There is often a hope in every individual that the events that color their life will be free from trauma and that the light at the end of the tunnel, through which they must travel, will be quickly reached.
But for people like Ayana Dean, who almost lost her life trying to bring a blessed gift to the world, learning to see the rose before its thorns allowed her to develop resilience, even she thought it was. was impossible.
“It was my little sister who first thought I might be pregnant. For some reason, she was really clinging to me the whole time she was around. I remember we were sitting on the couch, she turned to me and said ‘you are pregnant’. I decided right away, I would buy a test. I knew I was just a few days late….
She had no immediate plans for the kids, but on November 11, 2020, confirmed new responsibilities ahead that she had no choice but to prepare for.
“My first thought was to tell my husband. I told Joel a few hours later, after having had a moment to deal with the annoyance, sadness, and well-being, I wasn’t excited. I called him to our room and showed him the test, he asked “Yeah pregnant”, I confirmed and he said “Wow! I love you’… .”
With multiple food aversions, little to no cravings, seemingly nausea his best friend, sudden acne breakouts, and bloating, Dean realized that his fairytale thoughts about pregnancy were definitely not going to be his reality.
“I had imagined myself as a sexy mom, exercising and running errands, beaming and going. Instead, my second trimester found me in Joel’s undershirts covered in mango stains. I tried a bit of pregnancy yoga and a few exercises but it just got more and more painful, honestly I don’t know how moms go through the whole pregnancy killing her in the gym. As a reference, I saw my own mom able to climb trees when I was pregnant with my little sister. I could barely climb the stairs to our apartment. Despite everything, I was a happy camper.
Dean said it was her husband’s unprecedented support that lifted her spirits and fueled her will to get through each day.
“I have told my husband more times than I can remember, pregnancy is not easy. I have a deep sense of appreciation for teenage and single mothers, who lead life with little or no support. How can you do it without the kind of support my husband was able to give me? Joel’s presence was my comfort, my safety, my only reason not to curl up in a clumsy pregnant mango ball whose body is it anyway?
But as she progressed, Dean unwittingly prepared for a life-altering season she had come to know, with the help of her support system.
“I had the best OBGYN consultant in Jamaica, by far the best in the world, Dr Kiri-An Bridgewater. I knew every step of the way that baby and I were healthy. I am eternally grateful to my friend and confidante Kemesha Swaby, who insisted I see her OB which is now my OB forever. We knew we were well taken care of and that was half the prep we needed. Joel and I spent hours at discussing our parenting philosophies. Even before we got pregnant, we found ourselves revisiting our childhoods and re-parenting ourselves. We knew early on what attitudes and behaviors we would not subscribe to, “Dean said Family and religion.
She has taken all necessary steps for the health and well-being of herself and her unborn son, reading as much as future moms could, using the positive birth business app , equipped with affirmations and breathing exercises for mothers throughout pregnancy. and refusing to tell stories of horrific work experiences, as is popular practice.
Dean’s goal was to use her natural ability to help her baby enter the world safely and peacefully, but nothing could have really prepared her for the series of events which included dangerously high blood pressure, vision loss, her baby in severe distress at only 32 weeks, kidney failure, heavy blood loss, hospital transfers, blood transfusions and emergency cesarean section.
Her baby entered this world with an Apgar score, which measures physical condition – breathing effort, heart rate, and stimulation response, of zero.
At that point, her only hope was that her baby would thrive and survive to further facilitate this process.
But how did she go from almost dying to living the life because it’s golden?
Join us next week to find out how this new mom triumphed in her trials and was able to step into what she thinks were the best times of her life.
