26th of November 7:14 PM

Now. 28 November 2012. 3:06 AM.

2 days ago at around the same time Daddy started to panic.

15 November 2012. Around 4:00 PM.

It was time for your Mom's weekly prenatal checkup. Daddy, coming from a shift, was irked about waking up early (Dad works on a night shift so he considers 3 PM early). It did not help to know that Mom's Maxicare was deactivated. Luckily, Mom has another HMO which can cover for the prenatal checkup.

As soon as Daddy, reported to the office. Daddy sent out an long email on how Mommy's Maxicare shamble could have resulted to an unfortunate incident. Thankfully, it didn't and Dad's office was responsible enough to fix it right away. At the end of the day, Dad was a happy camper.

 22 November 2012. Around 4:00 PM

Daddy did not sleep after his shift. It was Thanksgiving in the US the next day so that means no work for Dad later that evening.

Daddy wasted the whole afternoon away by playing Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core on his PSP. (*LOL* Dad finds it funny that by the time you will be old enough to read this on your own. You'll think of it as vintage console.). Even as I am writing this right now, PSP is already considered an obsolete gaming console but it will do to past time while anxious about your Mom's condition.

Daddy was waiting for your Mom's scheduled prenatal checkup. They found out that Mom's cervix is dilated by 1 cm from the 0 cm last week. This was a sign that you were about to come out however the time-frame of when you will come out ranges from the next day to the next week. The doctor gave out a few advice on how to determine if the you were on your way out but I guess we already know that since your Mom was good at researching stuff and was mentally ready for anything that will happen next.

After the check up, after being awake for more than 24 hours, Dad slept the rest of the day.

With the next few days, Dad was either busy finishing Crisis Core for the third time or asking Mommy to properly observe her contractions.

The first was just to kill time while the later was because we are expecting you to come out soon. You see,  Dad doesn't really believe that Mom can properly measure her contraction. Your Mom's pain threshold is different from an average person's pain threshold  On a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the most painful and 1 is a slight hint of pain, your Mom will have felt a 1 during a stimulus that an average person felt a 5 already. Aside from the pain, contraction can also be felt externally by touching the stomach area. The trick is to measure the time in between contraction and the duration of contraction. However, since your Mom can't  feel the pain, she can't always accurately measure the contraction and this is where Daddy comes in. Daddy always reminded your Mom to measure her contraction. Usually your Mom will pout and say that she is doing it but I guess it helped to remind Mom that Dad is watching her.

25 November 2012 Around 2:00 PM

Another scheduled checkup. This time you Mom's cervix was dilated by 1.5 cm but Mom still cannot answer the question on how often she feels the contraction. I guess it made no sense for the doctor to repeat what she said last Thursday so after a few minutes we ended the check up.

Earlier that day your Tita Shiela texted and informed us that they will drop by after stopping at Divisoria. You Lola likes Divisoria. She knows every nook and cranny of the crowded Mecca for bargain shoppers. Your Lola also used to drag your Dad on every street of the crowded shopping mall when he was still a small fry.

Your Mom and Dad shopped for grocery items on the supermarket inside the mall to prepare for the Salazar family's visit. However when they met at  SM Novaliches, where supermarket and satellite clinic is located, they opted to eat at diner inside the mall instead. Mom and Dad decided to save the grocery items as Dad's packed meal instead. (Unknowingly, it will be Dad's only source of nourishment when Mom was in labor. )

Your Tito Ramson, Tita Shiela's husband, dropped us at our house with the items from Lolo and Lola. Lolo and Lola  bought a lot of baby stuff from Divisoria a few weeks back. (We've guessed the baby was waiting for these items to make sure that everything's ready once he comes out. )

Dad slept at 7 PM that night and woke  up at around 12 MN.

26 November 2012 Around 3:00 AM

A few hours back,  Mom was talking to your Granny in the United States. Mom and Dad also ate mung bean for late dinner (This will be Mom's last full meal in the next few days). Now, at 3:00 AM Mom's starts to feel contractions and this time around she felt it. Mom was excited because she finally felt something she can measure. Dad was a little worried because if Mom feels a slight pain then an average person would have felt very painful on the same setting. The contraction Mom

felt varied in less than 8 minutes. Mom was excitedly measuring on a sheet of scratch paper while Dad was uneasy. Mom wanted to wait it out until the contraction becomes more frequent, Dad wants Mom to call the doctor. Mom texted the doctor but she did not reply immediately (after all it was 3:00 AM). We set the ultimatum at 6 AM. At 6 AM, we will call the doctor. Between 3 AM to 6 AM, Dad cleaned your crib, took out the plastic covering the mattress and change the covers of the pillows. Once done, Dad took picture and posted it in Facebook. Dad still feels uneasy. Even playing Crisis Core won't relax Daddy this time around so he pulled out his guitar and played a few tunes.

26 November 2012 Around 6:00 AM

Dad and Mom already took a bath. Mom had prepared the document since the beginning of the month. It's time to call the doctor. Mom called the doctor while Dad texted Lola. Your Lola, being a former nursing student, called immediately and inquired about the situation. So while Mom was talking to the doctor, Dad was talking to Lola. Both of them gave the same advise, go to the hospital.

26 November 2012 Around 7:00 AM

Mommy stalled a little. She wants to have labor at the shortest possible time so she was hesitating to go to the hospital too soon.

The hospital they opted for was FEU-NRMF Medical Center. They choose this because it is within proximity of Dr  Perez, their Ob-Gyne. It helps to know that a doctor is familiar with the hospital and its policy. Every hospital treats a patient differently, it helps to have your Ob-Gyne both serve as doctor and liaison officer just in case things goes unexpectedly.

The hospital was not exactly near so the travel took at least 30 minutes. The cab driver dropped them off the main entrance, instead of the ER, so they have to walk on their own to the ER. Mom can still walk so there was no need for a wheelchair.

After a few standard procedure, Mom was now lying on an obstetric table. For some reason obstetric tables looked more like a church altar rather than a examination table.

They were at the emergency room so Dad can help but overhear the doctor at the other side of the curtain. She was asking the patient on a condescending tone on why she (the patient) waited until morning to go to the Emergency Room. Long story short, the patient on the other side of the curtain was 27 weeks pregnant and for some reason they have to deliver the baby. Most of the conversation was spent on highlighting that the baby needs to be in an incubator from the 27th to 37th week.

 Incubator is a contraption the simulates the condition inside a woman's womb. It is said that the baby can hardly survive the outside world until they reach 37 weeks. Staying on incubator can be very expensive and it does not guarantee that the baby can survive. It made Dad think on how will he feel if he was father of this child. How strong is he to accept God's plan and meet His expectation. They say when life gives you lemons make lemonade but what if life gives you fresh dung,

Dad is not so sure if he could make a fertilizer out of it.

On the other side of the room, another pregnant woman was taken in with ruptured water bag. I guess the hospital was busy with pregnant people that day. Dad understood if they were not the top priority at that moment. After a few minutes, an Ob Gyne approached them and examined the dilation of the cervix. It was already at 4 cm the doctor order your Mom to be admitted.

While Dad was busy taking care of the paper work, Mom was sent to the delivery room. There was a short moment wherein Dad has to pickup their bags while she was on our way to the delivery room. Dad didn't realize that it was the last time that he'll see your mom for the next 16 hours. Dad was preoccupied with paperwork or maybe it was the urgency since your Mom was already en route to the Delivery Room, but in the next hours I regretted the fact that I haven't muttered take

care or gave a soft kiss for luck before I let her enter the Delivery Room.

I looked at the admission form it was 26 November 2012 9:09 AM.

During the first few hours, Dad spent waiting alone in their room. A couple friend of Dad's, kept his mind pre-occupied with their witty banter. After a few hours, Mom's sibling slowly started to dropped by. This gave Dad an  excuse to step out the room and light a few sticks of cigarette. (CIGARETTE IS BAD. DO NOT EVER TRY IT.). Dad's favorite pastime is observing people at a distance. Cigarette smoking started as an excuse to do his pastime now it is a bad habit.

Aside from regularly going down to smoke. Dad read mangas to keep him occupied. Dad was expecting 2 - 3 hours of wait. He was prepared for 3 - 5 hours wait but it was way past 5 hours and Dad has still yet have to wait for an update.

26 November 2012 past 4 PM

The first update came around past 4 PM. Mom's been dilated for 5 cm to 7 cm. We are still waiting for her cervix dilate further and there was also something about the water bag being ruptured by the doctors. (Medical jargon makes Dad dizzy).

26 November 2012 past 6 PM.

Dr. Perez told me that Mom will have a C-Section. Dad was not sad because Mom will have a C-Section but Dad was sad since he knew how your Mom will take the news.  It will take a lot of effort before they convinced her to do a C-Section.

Learning that she knew and agreed to it means that there was no other way.

26 November 2012 past 7 PM.

You were born. I was asked to go to the NICU. They gave me an admission form to fill up and a name of milk to buy. It was S-26 Gold. After 30 minutes, they gave me him go signal to see you but only behind a glass window. After seeing you he knew exactly what he wanted to do, he wanted to carry his baby boy. You were born at 26 November 2012 at 7.542 lbs. still unnamed. You were Baby Boy Salazar. It was sad news to know that it would still take days before Dad could finally touch his baby boy but right now seeing you is enough to put a smile on his face.

26 November 2012 past 9 PM

Baby boy was safe but Dad still has yet to hear news about Mom. Although I'm confident she's safe still the silence about her condition makes me a little unsettling. Finally Dr  Perez gave an update that your Mom's is currently in the recovery room. She will be resting for at least two hours before they take her to the  her room.

27 November 2012 almost 2 AM

Daddy was awoken by the sound of people entering their room. Daddy fell asleep waiting for Mom. Daddy sat by Mom's side and held her hands for the first time in the past 16 hours. Mom, who was still weak  from the long labor, spoke in soft words. "He is my baby boy. He is Gavin." Daddy nodded in approval and you are Gabriel Vincent Salazar.