POSTPARTUM

Giving birth here is a breeze. Once a mother-to-be is ready for labor, she just has to come to the hospital, ask for the maternity department, register at the desk and presto a room is given to you, no question ask. (Pre-registering months before giving birth is much cooler).

If you are the support person, it is easier. Once the mother-to-be is settled on bed, given an IV, monitors are attached all you have to do is sit, turn on the TV and wait for the intense contraction to come paving the way for the breaking of the bag of water and the coming of the baby.

But it is more than meets the eye.

I saw Jaz to be comfortable lying on bed (with oxygen mask on). From time to time, I checked her situation and he would reply that she is okay and doing fine. I knew, because the first time she was in the same situation more than a year ago, that was a breeze too.

Twenty-five past 12 a.m on September 2003, Dr. Patibandla and two nurses came to ready Jaz for giving birth. Fifty minutes past 12, with two push and prayers, Jaz gave birth to a 6.10 lbs baby we named Xandrei. After 2 days in the hospital we went home without any glitch.

But last night, over dinner of sinigang na manok with malungay (there is another story about this) and lumpiang shanghai, she told me a story that has a chilling effect on me even until this time.

Jaz told me that when I was asking her if she was doing fine while she was on labor, she in fact, was experiencing trouble breathing. She experienced shortness of breath and was thinking how much she had in her life insurance. She told me that if something happens, she is quite comfortable that she have enough amount for the education of the two.

I have never felt that at all. All I saw was a very courageous Jaz easily pushing before the baby came.

But it is indeed more than meets that eye.

So my (our) plan that we have XYZ children is now forever gone. (Why XYZ, well, Zach is the Z, Xandrei is the X and Yasmine, is supposed to be the Y).

From a mere statistical reading about maternal or infant mortality to a real experience, I came to realize how dangerous it is give birth. It looks easy but it sure is not. It is more than meets the eye.

I maybe am uragon, but SVP is right, live a life in moderation.

COCO'S COMING

From nine months to nine days… or less. That’s the amount of time we have to wait before Coco comes. Except for anything that is out of our hand, everything is ready. Two weeks ago we have “remodeled” the other room to suit his coming. Zach and I transferred to another shack and made a room for ourselves. The crib and all its bling-bling was set, newborn diapers purchased, baby clothes and colognes readied, cleaned and installed the infant seat to Sienna. Sitting beside Coco’s backpack are our separates bags, ready to be grabbed once Jaz breaks her water bag.

But still the anxiety remains there. Who has not experienced this? Coco’s coming maybe is Jaz’s second but he is not just like popping out like hen’s egg. It entails a lot of “ one, two, three push and breath, and push and breath and pray”. Unlike giving birth in Bulacao, where one can’t see the graphic symbolism of contraction in the monitor, here, it is very different. Although the technology reveals to you what is going on, yet sometimes it adds to the horror of giving birth. Good if the monitor shows the wave-like graphics of contraction, but that is only the beginning. Once the monitor shows the sharp edged-electric-like graphics that is the sign for you to be serious. Although we have attended a child birth class last time, yet in the end, Jaz ended up asking for the most sought after pain killer “epidural”.

So, anything can happen and we would only pray for the best. (We even checked the probability of Coco’s sex after one of my co-worker told me the story of her friend’s baby whom they thought to be a boy [as what the ultrasound said] but came out as a baby girl). To be honest, all we got for now is a name for a baby boy, Xandrei. We only hope that the ultrasound is right.

Far from home, with only the two of us, here we are again venturing into the life of addition. But as the saying goes, “you have do what you gonna do.”

What can you do? Pray for a safe delivery and a healthy baby.