3 hours before birth: It was the kind of white tent you see in movies when there is an outbreak. I was about to enter it, afraid of what would come next…
…
4 weeks before the birth of Baby J: We started packing our hospital bag so we were ready to go anytime. We printed the baby checklist and spent a full weekend morning setting up the house for baby’s arrival anytime.
After everything, Mae said: Ready na tayo!
I interrupted while pointing to Mae’s womb: Except ikaw baby, dyan ka muna. Di ka pa ready!
…
That exact same night… I dreamt we were in the Philippines about to go out and have dinner out with the entire family.
Everybody was there including the family of Kuya JC and Ate MM (who are both in the US)…
Then as Mae was opening the door to the car… her water broke!
Nagsigawan na. Hala yan na. Tara na, tara na! Everybody was now rushing to get inside…
Hindi alam kung sino ba sasama sa hospital, matutuloy ba yung dinner? Saan ba dadaan, sa EDSA o C5? Meanwhile may nag c-check na sa Waze kung saan ba pinaka ok…
Everything felt so real.
Then nagising ako. Buti nalang panaginip lang.
…
2 weeks ago: We were running out of laundry detergent, so Mae started went to their office staff shop to buy the detergents at 50% off.
Now since part of the Unilever’s product lines are Ben and Jerry’s and Selecta (Walle’s), you could also get these products at a nice discount.
That day Mae came home with 1 laundry detergent, 1 pack of Dark Chocolate Magnum Minis, 1 Pint of Ben and Jerry’s Gimme Smores and 3 Pint Slices of Cookie Dough.
…
1 week ago: It was the final week of work before baby comes. Naturally it was a very busy week to make sure the handover of any open items and projects were okay.
With everything going on, I was more busy than usual while having less hours of sleep…
Buti nalang maraming ice cream for comfort food. 🙂
…
2 days before birth: Mika started to have runny nose which she got from her usual afternoon playmate.
The following morning, I was starting to have a scratchy throat. (Nasobrahan ata ng matamis). Later on this developed to a sore throat.
Sabi ni Mae, hala baka di ka pa papasukin sa hospital nyan.
And this brings us to the white tent outside the hospital…
…
3 hours before (scheduled CS) birth: I entered the white tent and the nurse explained that because I was displaying symptoms of an acute respiratory infection:
1. They had to do a swab test.
2. I couldnt enter the hospital.
3. I had to go straight home until the swab test result came back negative.
They had me sign some documents to make sure I understood everything. They gave some medicines and issued a mandatory medical certificate.
On the taxi ride home… I was wishing na sana panaginip din ito.
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1 hour before birth: I was unpacking a few things at home. Then I saw the medical certificate.
It said:
This is to certify that Juan Bernardo Patino is unfit for work/school for a period of 3 days from May 11 2021 to May 13…
Then at the end stated:
“This certificate is not valid for absence from court attendance.”
So malamang di rin siguro valid yung certificate for missing the birth of your child.
🙁
…
Meanwhile Mae was already being prepped for CS. She was so courageous and brave going thru everything knowing that she would be alone in the recovery room and possibly the entire first day.
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May 11, 933am: Baby Julian James Trinidad Patino… or as we have been calling Baby Ju was born.
Fortunately Mae’s recovery was better this time around.
By 11:00am she had sent pictures of Baby Ju all healthy. And she was also inside the room already, just about to rest. 🙂
The nurses at Thompson, majority of whom were Filipinos were taking great care of Mae and baby Ju.
…
24 hours and 4 mins after birth: I finally received the text message that my swab test was negative.
I quickly booked a taxi and within an hour I was finally able to finally see and hold Baby Julian ♥