Surprise!

Finding out you are pregnant in the middle of the bush makes for a good story, if nothing else. In April, I had been wondering and hoping for several weeks but the two home tests a friend gave me came out negative—turns out they were expired by 4 years!—so my hypochondriac tendencies had me convinced that I had some rare untreatable disease causing my bizarre symptoms (some clues in my blog entries re: food).

While collecting interviews during the first phase of my fieldwork, I went to the small regional hospital in Lindi Town to meet with two German doctors about my dissertation research. Matt had mentioned that if I did happen to be pregnant they would be good contacts to have, and so I casually mentioned after our meeting that I suspected I was pregnant but hadn’t been able to find an accurate pregnancy test. One of the doctors said that the hospital is completely out of pregnancy tests right now (not unusual in these parts), but quickly volunteered that they do have an ultrasound machine, and would I like a scan? Part of me hesitated – no time to mentally prepare – was she really serious she would do an ultrasound right now? Right here, in the middle of this open-air hospital with signs everywhere posting “Free services for mothers and children”? But the suspense was killing me, so I accepted.

With German efficiency, almost brusqueness, she walked me the 50 feet to the radiology ward, a tiny 2-room concrete building with a worn red tile roof and the words “X-Ray 1” painted in large black letters on the outside. (Picture below) Inside was a completely modern setup that belied the humbleness of the outside. Almost as soon as I laid down, she had the ultrasound wand on my belly and on the screen we saw a tiny little jellybean with stubs of arms and legs, and a heart fluttering like a bird’s. I was almost embarrassed to register my awe out loud, with the doctor being so businesslike and matter-of-fact. The only thing I could say was “Oh my God.” It was certainly not the hand-holding cliché of movies, where two loving parents-to-be tearfully struggle to comprehend the miracle displayed on the ultrasound screen, but it was still mind-blowing. (Matt called 10 minutes later, as if on cue, so I could share the news). Thanks to the German-ness of it all, the whole process took less than 5 minutes. Everything looked normal and I am feeling fine. And very grateful to those two doctors.



Matt and I have jokingly teased that I should bring back a baby from Tanzania… I just didn’t expect it would be inside me!