Grace olson would clock watch. Obsessively. With the accuracy of a potential military manoeuvre, she would know, to the minute, when she was scheduled to feed her newborn daughter, Tali; when her nappy would need to be swapped for a pristine clean one; when she needed to be laid gently in her Moses basket for her afternoon nap. Every day was the same. Monday round to Sunday. Week in, week out. Month after month. This preoccupation brought no joy to Grace's life. The elation that had followed the discovery that she was expecting her first child was absent. At that point, only weeks before, she had gleefully gone shopping and purchased all of the usual baby paraphernalia — buggy, car seat, cot. Then she found herself in hospital, which is when the unexpected happened.
Tali was two weeks late and then she got stuck and her heart was slowing, so I was given an emergency Caesarean section. The anaesthetic wore off when I was being sewed up and everyone ignored my pleas for help. That's when I went into shock.”
Nothing would be the same again for years for Grace, a massage
