The Journey of Motherhood Begins...

Being a mother is very fulfilling. From the moment you feel a heartbeat in your womb until you finally give birth to another being. The other day, I was tagged by @Usagi in her article about her journey of being a mother. I have written an article about my journey, but hers is in the form of a question and answer. And so I will accept her challenge and will also share mine.

Normal Delivery or CS?

Normal delivery. I am afraid of needles. What's more, the hiwa pa, charot! When I reached my last trimester, I started to gain weight because I eat a lot. I also loved to drink soda and eat sweets. Then my Tita told me to refrain from eating those because I might end up giving birth through CS and it scared the shit out of me. And the fact that CS is very costly, so I stopped consuming those foods and started walking everyday.

Was Father present?

Unfortunately, my husband was not present when I gave birth to our daughter. My husband was urgently needed at his work, so my Tita, or stepmother, was with me but not inside the delivery room. I gave birth in a public hospital, and the experience was so bad that I despised it.

Due Date

I was supposed to give birth on January 28, but I gave birth earlier than that.

Birth Date 

I gave birth on January 6, 2003 at 12:48 pm.

Morning Sickness

I had terrible morning sickness. In my first and second trimesters, I experienced puking on everything. I hate the smell of garlic. I don't like the smell of frying pans when heated. I don't like meat, and all I wanted to eat was fried fish and dried fish (tuyo). I always felt weak, especially if maaraw, so I stayed in my room and closed every window.

Cravings

I didn't have any particular cravings at that time, but what I always wanted to eat was bananas. Any kind of banana, be it ripe, cooked or not. And the one craving that I had that I did not get the chance to eat was for ube halaya, or purple jam.

The baby's gender

It's a girl! I did not have an ultrasound back then because I wanted the gender of the baby to be a surprise. I wanted a boy, and my husband wanted a girl. And so he was really happy when he found out that I had given birth to a beautiful baby girl.

Location of birth:

I gave birth to Angono Rizal just like Usagi. I was actually surprised when I found out that she gave birth at the same hospital. We both gave birth at Angono General Hospital, and as expected, I had a terrible experience giving birth there.

Hours of labor

I started feeling pain in my belly on January 4. And then I gave birth on January 6. Three days of unbearable pain and sleepless nights. So just imagine what I looked like after giving birth. But those aches and sleepless nights were all worth it when I saw my daughter for the first time.

Weight

She weighed only 6 pounds, and she was so tiny. My husband was scared to carry her because he might have crushed her tiny body. And my poor baby had to wait for a couple of days before I could nurse her because I had no milk yet after giving birth. I tried bottle feeding her but she refused. So the doctor told me to nurse her even though there was no milk yet. In that way, it would help stimulate the milk.

Baby's name

There were actually four names before we came up with her name. My husband wanted his name to be in her daughter's name. So there is always a Cris on her name. Criselle Ann, Cristy Anne, and Chrystalyn. And my mother also suggested Criselle Varyck. We decided to go with Criselle Varyck because there was a touch of both femininity and masculinity to it. It sounded like the name of a strong person. But here's the thing: I decided to change it right before the day of her Christening. I had her birth certificate processed and instead of writing down Criselle Varyck, I wrote down Crizha Keith. And it suited my daughter well.

Needless to say, I am so happy to be able to give life to a beautiful being. Now that she is already nineteen, seeing her grow into a beautiful, kindhearted, sometimes supladita woman, I can say that I did a good job being her mother.

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Date Published: March 22, 2022

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