I discovered that I was two months pregnant last January 2002. We were living in Malaysia then. He was our first and still our only child. Knowing that our fruit of love was inside my womb was one of the best thing that ever happened to me. We couldn’t explain the joy and the excitement knowing that we will finally be parents. The missing piece in our lives will be filled by the most wonderful gift God has given us. We loved him and cared for him from the very beginning that we learned that I was pregnant. When I was three and a half months, our doctor in Malaysia gave us the good news that we were having a baby boy.
I was seven months with our son when I came back in the Philippines. My due date was supposed to be September 11. But it was 12midnight of August 27, 2002 (I was 38 weeks then) when my Inay, my brother Jojo and my Tita Bhel accompanied me to Mary Mediatrix Hospital in Lipa City, Batangas. My “honey” was still in Malaysia. It was a twenty two hours and thirty five minutes (to be exact!) of labor. The first few hours were easy for me but as time passed it became harder and painful. Thanks God my family were there for me. I called “honey” at around two in the morning and the moment he learned that I was in the hospital, right there and then he decided to packed and fly to the Philippines even if he was scheduled for September to come home. We believed that our dear son really waited for his daddy. Bernard always talked to our son even if he was still in my tummy. He told our son to wait for him. He wanted to be there and be the first one to hold him in his arms. And our baby really listened and that was the reason why I labored for more than twenty hours. He really waited for his daddy. His dad came to the hospital at around ten in the evening and I was in the delivery room already. I thought that he couldn’t make it on time. Bernard asked the nurse if he could see me for just a minute for me to know that he was there already. They permitted him and the moment that I saw him, I believed that our son knew that his daddy was there already and after only thirty five minutes he came out. I remembered my doctor showing him to me and I touched his nose and then I fell asleep. His daddy was the first one to hold and kissed him. And like almost all parents, we fell in love with our son the very first moment we saw him.
I was seven months with our son when I came back in the Philippines. My due date was supposed to be September 11. But it was 12midnight of August 27, 2002 (I was 38 weeks then) when my Inay, my brother Jojo and my Tita Bhel accompanied me to Mary Mediatrix Hospital in Lipa City, Batangas. My “honey” was still in Malaysia. It was a twenty two hours and thirty five minutes (to be exact!) of labor. The first few hours were easy for me but as time passed it became harder and painful. Thanks God my family were there for me. I called “honey” at around two in the morning and the moment he learned that I was in the hospital, right there and then he decided to packed and fly to the Philippines even if he was scheduled for September to come home. We believed that our dear son really waited for his daddy. Bernard always talked to our son even if he was still in my tummy. He told our son to wait for him. He wanted to be there and be the first one to hold him in his arms. And our baby really listened and that was the reason why I labored for more than twenty hours. He really waited for his daddy. His dad came to the hospital at around ten in the evening and I was in the delivery room already. I thought that he couldn’t make it on time. Bernard asked the nurse if he could see me for just a minute for me to know that he was there already. They permitted him and the moment that I saw him, I believed that our son knew that his daddy was there already and after only thirty five minutes he came out. I remembered my doctor showing him to me and I touched his nose and then I fell asleep. His daddy was the first one to hold and kissed him. And like almost all parents, we fell in love with our son the very first moment we saw him.
"Meinhard Benedict"
After many choices of names, we finally chose to name him “Meinhard Benedict”. “Meinhard” (origin-German) means “strong” and “firm” while “Benedict” (origin- Latin) means “blessed”. “Meinhard” also came from Inay’s (Mina) and his daddy’s (Bernard) name. He was born on the 27th of August, 2002 at 10:35 in the evening in Mary Mediatrix Hospital Lipa City. My ob-gyne was Dra. Lilibeth Manguerra and the pediatrician was Dra. Javillo. His birth weight was 3.01kgs. (6.622lbs) while his birth height was 48cm. His head circumference was 32cm and his chest circumference was 30cm. Everybody would tell that Meinhard looks like me even if his daddy claims that our baby looks like him.
Now “Meinhard Benedict” is two years old already. He’s growing to be a very smart and loving son. Just like any other kids of his age he is very active and he loves to play. He also loves to color and write (even if he still doesn’t know how to hold the pens and crayons properly). He loves books a lot. He likes it very much when we read him stories or anything at all. He loves to watch “Barney, Sesame Street, Thomas The Train, High-5, Pooh Bear, Leap Frog and sing-a-long Nursery Rhymes”. He loves to sing “Strawberry Jam; Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star; Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes; Itsy, Bitsy Spider” and a lot more. He knows his alphabets, numbers, colors and shapes already. At this time, he has lots of questions already. We can always hear him say “why mommy?, why daddy?, what’s that mommy?, what’s that daddy?”. He talks a lot and he is really trying to formulate sentences already when he’s talking with us. Of course, most of the time we still couldn’t understand him but he is really trying to say and express what he wants to tell us. He always prays at night. I also love it when he says “embrace Mommy” and he couldn’t sleep without me embracing him. He has his own way of “kakulitan”. He can also be shy and quiet whenever there are people he doesn’t know around him or whenever he is in a new environment. Just like any parents, we are really proud of our son. We just hope and pray hard that he will grow to be a very good person who is loving, smart and God-fearing. For us, he will always be our baby.
Now “Meinhard Benedict” is two years old already. He’s growing to be a very smart and loving son. Just like any other kids of his age he is very active and he loves to play. He also loves to color and write (even if he still doesn’t know how to hold the pens and crayons properly). He loves books a lot. He likes it very much when we read him stories or anything at all. He loves to watch “Barney, Sesame Street, Thomas The Train, High-5, Pooh Bear, Leap Frog and sing-a-long Nursery Rhymes”. He loves to sing “Strawberry Jam; Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star; Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes; Itsy, Bitsy Spider” and a lot more. He knows his alphabets, numbers, colors and shapes already. At this time, he has lots of questions already. We can always hear him say “why mommy?, why daddy?, what’s that mommy?, what’s that daddy?”. He talks a lot and he is really trying to formulate sentences already when he’s talking with us. Of course, most of the time we still couldn’t understand him but he is really trying to say and express what he wants to tell us. He always prays at night. I also love it when he says “embrace Mommy” and he couldn’t sleep without me embracing him. He has his own way of “kakulitan”. He can also be shy and quiet whenever there are people he doesn’t know around him or whenever he is in a new environment. Just like any parents, we are really proud of our son. We just hope and pray hard that he will grow to be a very good person who is loving, smart and God-fearing. For us, he will always be our baby.
