I laughed, grabbed my purse, slipped my free hand into his, and pecked him on the lips as I stepped out.
“I’m literally two minutes late. Your ass is just looking for a reason to turn down the water birth. How long have you been out here?” I wanted to know.
“Like fifteen minutes,” he said, putting his hands on my waist, so that he could move me out of the way, and close the door.
Once it closed, I locked it, and I tried to walk away, but he grabbed me, making me stand in front of him, and with a serious look on his face, he looked down at me.
“At the end of the day, it’s your body, and your choice. You’re the one that has to carry our baby, and push them out, so ultimately, when it comes down to it, you gotta be the one to make the decision on how you feel you want to deliver them. With that, I still want you to hear a nigga out though. If we get in there, and I’m not fuckin with what she’s saying, and the reasons that I’m giving you are valid, just hear me out. That’s all I’m asking you. I don’t want you to feel like I’m bullying you to decide,” he said, and his words sounded so sincere.
“I know, baby. Let’s just go inside, and see what she’s talking about,” I let him know.
I stepped back, so that I could turn, and lead the way. As we walked, Tank kept his hand on the small of my back. He didn’t remove it until we reached the door, so that he could reach over, and open it for me.
When we walked inside, I gasped because seeing this birthing center in person looked ten times better than what I saw online. It was luxury. It screamed rich. I felt like I was somewhere on Maimi beach, walking inside a five-star hotel, getting ready to get an 80- minute Himalayan massage. It was the nice lighting that they had out in the lobby, with the neutral painted walls, couches, and armchairs. It gave me a sense of ease. A sense of comfort because I was a little scared to be carrying a baby.
The check-in process was smooth. The front desk person was very friendly, she offered me plenty of compliments, letting me know how much she loved my outfit, and purse. I had to fill outsome paperwork, and during that, someone came out, offering me water, or tea. I looked at Tank, smiling, thinking that this spot would get some brownie points for that, and all he did was shake his head. I just knew that I worked his last nerve. They offered him something to drink as well, but he turned it down.
By the time I finished with the paperwork, one of the doors opened, and I assumed that it would be a nurse or something that was coming to get me, but it was the midwife herself. I did so much research online, and all fingers pointed towards this midwife, Tamera.
Tamera had so many good reviews, and success stories. I spent hours researching her. So many women had made TikTok videos about her, hyping up their experience, and letting it be known that if they were to carry again, Tamera is who they would come to. She was forty- eight years old, but she didn’t look it. She looked much younger, and I think it’s because of the innocence of her face. It could even be the fact that she had her hair pushed back, showing of her youthful facial features. She was short. She couldn’t have been any taller than 5’0. Small figure too, reminding me a lot of how Jada Pinkkett Smith looked in the 90’s.
“Hi. You must be Dionne. God, your beautiful. I’m Tamera,” her voice was so soft, and soothing, as she walked over, and she stuck her hand out, so that I could shake it.
Seeing her, and hearing her calm voice, it did give me a sense of ease, but it also made me a little nervous because this was really happening. This was the beginning.
“Yes. I’m Dionne. It’s nice to meet you, Tamera. I heard so many good things about you,” I responded, standing up from my seat, and Tank stood up as well.
“I love to hear that. When we get to the back, I’ll tell you a little bit more about myself, and some other good things that you probably weren’t able to find online. Dad, right? How are you?”Tamera focused her attention on Tank, and she literally had to tilt her head up to him because that’s just how much of a height difference it was between the two of them.
Tank was a gentlemen, so he smiled, and he stuck his hand out, so that she could shake it.
“Yes. The proud father,” he said, always feeling the need to be charming. He literally couldn’t turn it off. His charming ways is the reason why I’m pregnant now. That man had a way with his words.
“I love to hear that. Come on. Let’s head to the back,” she offered, leading the way.
We did just that, and as she led the way, we could see the exam rooms because the doors were opened. I’ve been to plenty doctors’ appointments over the years because I took my annual appointments very seriously, but I’ve never seen one that looked as decked out, and luxury as these. Elevator music was playing, as we followed behind her, which continued to give this place that peaceful feeling that I’ve been feeling since we’ve got here.
Seeing the rooms, I was able to peek, and from what I could see, each room felt so intentional. I think it had a lot to do with the lighting, and the colors that they’d used. The exam beds is what stood out to me. Chile, they had soft throw blankets at the end of the tables. Once we made it further down, Tank was the one to stop me, pulling me in the direction of one of the rooms because we could see the large tub that was built into the floor.
I paused, so that I could look. Tamera felt when we stopped, so she turned around, with a smile on her face, so that she could look at us.
“Trust me, I’m going to give you two a full tour of this entire place. I’m even going to show you the bathrooms,” she said, getting me to laugh.
We were eventually at her office, and it was a huge office space. I loved how she chose to use her wall space. There werepictures that took up pretty much every inch of the wall, and it showcased her in her element with women of all colors, all shapes and sizes, as she helped them bring their babies into the world. Seeing that, it really made me have so much respect towards her. The pictures really showed her all in. Some of them, you could see she was crying right along with the moms that had given birth.
In some, you could see her breathing with them, coaching them, massaging them, just doing whatever she needed to do, and I loved that. I could tell that Tank was amazed by it as well because he walked over to the wall, stood with his arms crossed, and he examined the pictures. There was a look on his face as if he was truly impressed.
“Tamera, I’m impressed. I didn’t do the research on the home birth. It was never something that I was sold on, so Dionne did all the research, and she presented it to me last night, but I’ll be real and say that I was half listening to her because I wanted her to change her mind and have our baby in the hospital. I’m a country boy, so I don’t know about this stuff. All I know is hospitals, and doctors. I just didn’t get the whole idea of a home birth. I guess I thought about the dangers. These my two babies, and if something were to happen to either one of them, I would have preferred them to already be at a hospital, where it’s safe. I won’t lie, walking into your office, seeing these successful pictures, knowing that you delivered all these babies, it tells me something. I respect what you’re doing. Your bringing life into the world, and that’s no small accomplishment. That’s big, so I thank you for that,” Tank let her know, and I beamed, feeling like he was finally on the water birth train with me.
“I appreciate that. You don’t have to feel bad about not knowing much about water births. I get dads that come in here all the time, who feel as if their girlfriends, or wives are crazy for wanting to deliver a baby this way. I’m telling you, you’re in goodhands. Dionne, and that baby is safer with me than in a hospital, but that’s a conversation for another day,” she went on to say.
From there, she had us come over to her desk, so that we could get all the formal introductions out of the way. I found out a lot about her. Tamera had four beautiful children, in which she had sitting in beautiful frames on her desk. She was married, and I found myself smiling from ear to ear, upon learning that her husband and her were high school sweethearts.
I learned about the troubling birth stories that she had with her two oldest children, and how her needs weren’t heard from doctors. Her third pregnancy is when she decided to do something different, and she went with a mid-wife, where she had a home birth. She loved the experience so much, that she did it again with her 4thchild, and ultimately, she put the work in and decided that this was a career that she wanted to jump into, so that other women around the world could be heard too. Her story is really what moved me, and I knew that this was the route that I wanted to go.
Tamera was true to her word, giving us a tour around the place. When the tour ended, that’s when she took my vitals, and we got to listen to our babies heartbeat for the first time. I was a pool of tears upon hearing how nice and strong it was. When that ended, Tamera gave me her personal number, telling me that our journey started now, and that I could text her or call her anytime that I wanted because she was going to be there for me throughout this entire pregnancy.
I scheduled my next appointment, and now Tank and I were walking out of the building. We went over to our cars, and I walked to him, placing my arms around his neck.
