​A few weeks ago, I dreamt I’d given birth.

In my dream, I gave birth early, unexpectedly. I was only at 36 or 38 weeks, and I was quite unprepared for childbirth. The birth was such a surprise that we brought with us no bag, and we had not even washed any of the baby’s things. It was so sudden that we didn’t even make it to St. Luke’s. Instead, I gave birth at an emergency clinic near our village. The place was clean, well-equipped and well-staffed, and so it wasn’t a terrible thing to give birth there. Still, the plan had been St. Luke’s! Even in my dream, I wondered, can we get our deposit back? 

The baby was big, about 7.9 pounds. There was no surgery in my dream, so perhaps I had a normal delivery. The child was plump, healthy. We wrapped him in a blanket that Oneal took straight out of the plastic packaging. 

Oneal’s cousin, Martin, sent a doctor friend of his to check on us. I asked him for the APGAR score. I didn’t get an answer, but later on in the dream, the clinic staff gave me the child. I held the dear thing, and brought him close to my breast. I felt him latch on, and suck gently. 

It was beautiful.