Chronicles of a new mom :

Nneka Omin
3 min readMay 18, 2017

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The day I got naked in Church.

It was my first Sunday service after a brief hiatus, unlike any other Sunday, it was Lee’s dedication service. I had everything figured out — at least so I thought — especially Lee’s feeding. Since the church service will last upwards of 3 hours, I’d planned to feed him his formula. I prepared enough formula to last him throughout the duration that we will spend in church.

The day started on a high note. I woke up early, prepared food for our invited guests, had my bath and invested in a great deal of effort to dress. I was aiming for that gorgeous look. I even managed to do my head gear all by myself. I wanted to look my best, you know, as a new mum on her first day in church post childbirth, I wanted to slay. I took a few pictures and off to church we went.

In all of these, I literally forgot to wear a breastfeeding-friendly blouse, because as usual, you can't predict babies. This one singular mistake became my biggest undoing. I wore a blouse which was very fitted at the bustline with a zip at the back.

Lee was having a great time, seeing lots of babies like him in one room was fascinating to him. He smiled, played and leapt while in my arms.

After 30 minutes, everything changed. He became uneasy and busted into a loud cry. I quickly tried to remedy the situation by offering him the formula I had earlier prepared, but he wasn't having any of it.

I stood up and danced, paced, but nothing will calm him. For a while, I thought it was the heat because the room was a bit warm. I removed every piece of clothing on his body. He was quiet for all of 3 minutes then the cry resumed.

If you’re a new mum and your baby happens to cry in the middle of older mums, you will experience almost body piercing stares, suggestions and even commands. I didn't want things to degenerate to this level.

I quickly grabbed my baby's​ bag, looked for a more convenient corner, asked a lady who was nearby to help me unzip my blouse. This was how I ended up half naked in the church in order to enable me to breastfeed Lee.

After feeding him, he became all smiles and calm again. Five minutes later, it was time for dedication and we were called to the altar.

How I managed to dress myself and Lee in in 60 seconds is still a miracle.
All I can remember is seeing Lee with only a single leg of socks on his feet while he was being prayed for at the altar.

This is one day that I will not forget in a hurry. After the breastfeeding and blouse fiasco, I have consciously bought and made breastfeeding-friendly clothes.

I will like to hear from you. Feel free to drop your comments.

You can follow me on Instagram at @nnekysmart, on Twitter @nnekaukpanah.

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