The day Fighter was born, the Doctor pulled me aside and said in a really serious tone “I need to talk to you”. She went on to explain that after women give birth, their hormones go a bit crazy and they can fall into “postnatal depression”. Now she said this is something all women experience, but she was worried that Shorty might have it worse than others. Why? Because she’s had such a difficult pregnancy and had to suffer for the last 3 weeks of her pregnancy. Not to mention Fighter was going to be premature and it will be stressful for her. I just nodded. Shorty is normally a really bubbly girl so I had a bit of hope that she would handle it well and handle it well she did. There were however a few instances in the past couple of weeks where Shorty went really emotional because postnatal depression. With her permission I decided to share some of those instances with you guys.
#263
This was the first one. We were in the car on the way to the hospital to see Fighter.
Shorty: I’m feeling very upset right now.
Me: Why? What happened?
Shorty: I don’t know. I just feel very very angry… *tears*
Me: It might be your hormones Shorty. Don’t worry… it’ll pass in a while…
Shorty: No I feel very very angry. So angry I feel like leaving you and Fighter. I can’t take this.
Me: It’s your hormones talking Shorty. Don’t worry ok? You’ll get through this. *pats Shorty on the shoulder*. It’ll all go away when we see Fighter later.
20 minutes later when we are in the intensive car unit watching Fighter sleep, I see Shorty smile.
Me: So… still feeling angry?
Shorty: No….
Me: Still want to leave me?
Shorty: No….
Me: Still want to leave Fighter?
Shorty: No…. *frowns*
Me: Isn’t he worth it?
Shorty: Yes *tears*
#264
One night I came upstairs to my room after talking to my parents downstairs for a while.
Me: Wah I got a lot of stories to tell you.
Shorty: *ignores*
Me: So right do you remember that aunty… *looks at Shorty and notices that she’s crying*…. EH WHY YOU CRYING?!
Shorty: I don’t know… it’s the hormones.
Me: There there…
Shorty: I just feel like such a burden. Why I had to get preeclampsia. Why I couldn’t keep Fighter in my womb for longer… Why did I have to cost you so much money in medical bills…. What if you resent me after this and you don’t love me anymore? *cries*
Me: Hey…. remember I already told you that as long as Fighter can come out of this healthy, I wouldn’t have wanted this to go any other way. I think it has done a lot of good to our relationship, brought us closer. And hey… the money I spent on this whole thing is a lot of money… but I will earn it back eventually.
Shorty: *sniff* Ok… you’re my Rock.
Me: Yes I am. *raises eyebrow*
Shorty: Uhh… haha *awkward laughter*
Me: *keeps raising eyebrow*
Shorty: What’s that?
Me: You don’t know? *raises eyebrow harder to the point of pulling a muscle*
Shorty: No I don’t…
Me: The Rock?
Shorty: You mean you?
Me: Yes… no I mean… The Rock… the wrestler the Rock. How he used to raise his eyebrows? That was his signature!
Shorty: Uh… no I don’t know anything about that.
Me: Forget it! *walks away*
Timothy Tiah – Co-Founder of Colony, Kuala Lumpur Co-Working Space