pregnant – Hondred Percent

Girl: I got my period!
Guy: (thinking) THANK GOD!
The above is a perfect example describing the term, “breathe a sigh of relief”.
If you slept with a girl unprotected and she complains about a late period and later tells you that it came, you will understand the relief being described.
If a picture says a thousand words then the feature image by artist Ray Styles, says five thousand for sure.
Unfortunately it’s something that is rarely discussed. Our culture is partly to blame for it. Parents and family rarely discuss sex with their children and it sometimes leads to them getting into situations that could have been avoided.
Today I want to take a brief look at what guys go through in this situation when at university and encourage all to discuss this more in order for the youth not to repeat the mistakes of our past.
Majority of what I am going to share is from a Whatsapp discussion about the feature image. Guys behavior in this situation is funny when viewed from the perspective that the girl’s period eventually came.
Instead of you studying in school, you are chopping girls.
When your sex partner speaks of period lateness and you had unprotected sex, boys can’t think straight.
Stress be what! ????
You lose appetite, can’t focus on studies, travel back in time to perform analytics on whether your little yous suddenly became faster than Usain Bolt.
Some go forward in time and ask thought provoking questions such as:

How much are diapers?
Am I ready to be a father?
What will I do if she is actually pregnant?

Some become religious and are looking for a miracle so bad that the “we’re not interested” attitude when student evangelists came over evolves into reception and a new born again status.
And they PRAY!
So if a university male student tells you he is stressed and it’s evident and he keeps praying, chances are he is in period camp.
(Period camp….that’s a nice way to describe what guys feel)
Most guys enter a “God save me and I will never have sex again” contract. The lies God hears, I wonder whether He laughs or views it as a lesson in disguise.
The icing on the cake is that the girl in question often doesn’t freak out the way the guy freaks out. This apparently depends on how you look at it. Internally girls freak out. They also freak out in the physical to their besties. In the presence of guys however they often play it cool and this drives guys NUTS!
So why can’t students just use protection and save themselves from this wahala (stress)?

Condoms and a quote to emphasize what is precious — Condoms and a quote

That is a million dollar question. Is the education on contraceptives enough? Are youth these days pressured into being stupid?
The best thing is to abstain. I however would not put myself in a pot calling the kettle black situation and pretend that is the only solution. I repeat, it’s the best thing to do, not from a Christian standpoint but from EVERY standpoint.
If however you decide to delve into promiscuity, use protection. Yes, love without glove feels good and blah blah blah but let’s play a little game I learned in economics called opportunity cost.
What’s the opportunity cost of you having unprotected sex?

You could produce a baby ( don’t act you ain’t fertile)
You can contract an STD (Sexualy Transmitted Disease).
You can contract AIDS (I know it’s an STD but it deserves its own bullet point)
The stress – I can’t quantify it but it’s a LOT.
Cultural and societal embarrassment if you are a student and a baby is on the way.

The benefit of unprotected sex is the feeling and that as most ladies will tell you is not always guaranteed. So why risk it for some guy or girl you just met or your partner.
NEWS FLASH: a good portion of university relationships seldom make it to marriage so why fight against statistics.
Conclusion
We need to discuss this more with others. Not only our peers but the younger ones as well. Society today is bombarded with enticement from all angles.
The internet, social media and instant messaging escalates the importance we as adults need to place on educating the youth.
The problem is young people think they know. However letting them know of the close calls you had can be a turn around for them. A line after all needs to be drawn somewhere.
What has been your experience with late periods or period camp?
Will you discuss this with youth you know?
Let’s be real about this issue and keep it One Hondred!
A big thank you to Ray Styles for allowing me to use his image in this article and using his art to start a conversation.

“So is it a boy or a girl?”, I asked my wife. “A girl”, she said. “The doctor can’t see a penis down there and he has tried saaaaa, so I believe we have a girl”.
(saaaa: a word in Twi which describes how long something has occurred usually emphasized by the number of “a” used)
I had always wanted a girl as my first child before a boy. (Look at me acting like I was in control of that decision) I had my reasons, which I will explain later as this isn’t the purpose of my post.
I was pleased with the results after numerous scans pointed in my favor. I was however hesitant in accepting the gender verdict as I heard of surprises from other parents.
Thus baby shopping was always in neutral colours. Except for the Manchester United onesie I bought earlier in the year. (What a proud purchase)

Unfortunately when the baby was delivered I wasn’t around. It was in the early hours of the morning and I was asked by the hospital staff to go home and rest assured. It was my mother-in-law who called to deliver the news.
It’s a Boy!
?
(that emoji was my face when I heard the news)
I was surprised but not disappointed. Laughed my head off at God’s way of playing pranks with me and started thinking of what to call my new born son.
Fast forward into the future, I get surprised at people’s reactions when they are told of the baby’s gender.
“Chale you force oooo!”
“You have done well!”
I may sound unappreciative but I found those comments at times disappointing. Especially when I mention that I was looking forward to a girl and receive an opposite reaction.
In 2016 I thought Ghana’s views on children will have changed but it seems the old ways are still present.
A girl and a boy are different and each bring something different to a family. However it is God who provides these blessings and knows what is best for us.

As much as I was looking forward to having a daughter, I am ecstatic about my son. Never did I know the feeling of pride and happiness he will bring into my life. I just don’t like the idea that boys are still perceived as major achievement and girls as a minor one. Maybe it’s just because it’s my first child.
I liken this to a football match. You always prefer your team to score first and win as opposed to being scored first and then winning from behind.
I just worry about the social and cultural pressure placed on women who had daughters first and how they must feel. I mean, that could have easily been us. Makes me wonder the reaction to the gender some would have given if my child was a girl.
Maybe I am viewing this all wrong. I however feel these perceptions should change. So as you keep it One HONDRED! What’s your take on this?

Tag: pregnant

I Got My Period!

It's a Boy!