Amaia
In a tiny birthing center of Davao City at 3:33 pm of August 20, 2022, my wife gave birth to a healthy and beautiful baby girl. We named her Amaia. She was 3 kls, and has a height of 53 centimeters.
I was being given the opportunity to accompany my wife in giving birth. I held her hand while she laboured in pain. All I have in my head during those moment was a prayer, “Almighty Father through the Son, please take care of my wife and baby”. It was surreal to witness how agonising it is for a woman to hold her breath and with all her might push from her abdomen the little baby out. Not to mention the cuts and stitches she had to endure. At times I would close my eyes when the blade would cut her flesh one more time. I think the torture on her wound brought about by those needles is equally painful as to the stretching of her womb. She was almost about to pass out at one point.
The moment i held Amaia on my hand, that is when it dawned on me that I am now officially a father. We can now be legitimately called a family. I thank the Almighty Father for that.
Watching her grow by the day is such a delight. I remember what Ms Maan Chua, the good wife of sir Kublai told me, “goodluck sa sleepless nights”. Sleepless nights indeed.
On the first two weeks after we went home with Amaia, I grew pimples and rashes. I did not sleep in bed with them since I was too afraid I might accidentally push the little baby, or worse, laid my hand upon her. Instead, I slept on the floor with a sleeping mat. I need to consistently wake up Donna every two hours to feed the baby. And so, I had my phone set to alarm every two hours. We were on the dot following instructions we could find on the internet regarding how to take care of a newborn. The good thing is, Donna is blessed with abundant breastmilk. Her regular intake of powdered Malunggay months before her labor did its job well.
It was quiet challenging on my part to go to work with just a little amount of sleep. It was just me and Donna, I have to leave her every morning till evening for work. Before leaving to work I have to make sure that breakfast is ready, the water containers are full, there is enough food for snacks, and etc. I go to work before 8 am then arrive at home around 7 or 8 pm. At times I went home 11pm or 1am, depending on the urgency of work.
TBC…