The ADORABLE you... at approx 2 hours

2nd Sunday

Last Sunday, I was so excited to get you to church (and maybe to show you off?) hehehe, that I just closed the door behind us without taking the key with us.  But I did not worry cuz I have left a duplicate at your lola's.  Well, to make the story short, she left the key to our keyboard inside our house!  I got a bit irritated with your lola because the reason for duplicates are to be left to another person's care so that in cases like this, there would be an extra key to borrow.  Anyway, there was no key so your dad just kicked the door and today we could not go to church because there was no way we could lock the door.  We have no money yet to buy a new lock.  The old lock was not working too well anyway, so it is really high time to get a new one.  Yup, so we did not go to church today but you slept through it, make cute noises and cried hungrily from time to time.  You are getting really really cute.

Your attitude is changing too.  You cry louder now, and longer too.  You also stay awake longer and that is good although hopefully you'd stay asleep longer at night. 

My surgical incision is so sore today and my tooth is so aching it is giving me a terrible headache.  Even so, I went with your dad to the prayer meeting and prayed about a lot of things.  I especiallya sked our dear Lord to watch over you and let you grow in the knowledge of Him... that He would give us guidance and wisdom to guide your growing up in the right path the leads to Him.

I love you my dear Xami.

This morning, Tita Jocelyn and Tita Violy came to visit you at 7AM.  Tita Sharon, and your lola alternated carrying you also.

your first Sunday

Today is the first Sunday, well, not really, since we were in the hospital on July 31st and that was a Sunday, but today is the first Sunday that you went to church or rather that I brought you to church. Your daddy thank the Lord in public for giving you to us.  We love you so much, our beloved Xami.  I was watching you sleeping in your crib and you are just so adorable.  You are sucking on your lips and you look so cute. 

This afternoon, your uncle Lee came to see you.  And also to confess something not so good that he did in Nansiakan.  Your grammie Lina looked so forlorn upon hearing uncle Lee's confession.  She begged him to be like your grandpa Longcoy who had never given her any problem or cause for embarrassment.  I pray dear Xami that you will grow up a God-fearing, humble, respectful and respectable smart adult who will be someone that will make me proud.  I'm not saying you be perfect, just someone who is smart enough not to let himself be influenced by bad friends, substances like alcohol, or pride.  This is my one prayer...

Day 8: An exhausting day

My dearest Xami,

Today your cousins Giel, Jelyrr, Yzel, Tito Gerry, and Tita Julie came to have lunch with us. It is your little homecoming lunch.  Of course Auntie Sarah and Ate Brianna came a day ahead.  We had spaghetti and baked chicken and of course all you did was sleep through it. And you are so adorable!  You also did not make any fuss.  Lola Medy Lolo Robert, Tita Justine and Tito RD were also in attendance, as well as Kuya Jaeger and Tita Nards.  Lola Medy cuddled you again and you slept like the good baby that you are until the afternoon.

In the PM, more cousins came.  Rana, Rizel and their mom, Mives, Tita Precy, Tito Randy and Lola Tessie also came. We had dinner together.  Inulam natin ang manok na dala ni Kuya Giel mo. :)  Si Tita Sharon, kawawa naman, kase lagi na lang siya ang naghuhugas ng mga plato. 

Today, wala ka talagang ginawa kundi matulog to the point na nagresearch na ako kung normal ba yun kase gumigising ka para dumede tapos tulog na naman. Pero normal daw.

Pumunta rin tayo sa Doctor mo at nanggigil siya sa'yo.  Niyakap ka niya ng pagkahigpit.  She told us, you are so worth the wait... of course she is soooo right!

Last night, I was watching you sleep and I was so overwhelmed by my love for you, I cried and cried as I pray that may the Lord watch over you even if I won't be able to be the perfect mother that you, my darling boy, deserves. 

I was watching you again tonight...and you are so adorable. I changed your nappy once at 10 o'clock then I was gonna feed you pero antok na antok ka, at ang cute cute mo. Ayaw mong kinukumutan ang kamay mo, gusto mo nasa ibabaw ito ng kumot. 

I love you my dearest Xami...

OUR PRECIOUS MIRACLE, XAMI

 "All along the way, I, the LORD your God, have blessed your every effort.  I have been attentive to your travels through this great wasteland. These forty years I have been with you; you have lacked for nothing.’"  Deut. 2:7 (NET)

Sometimes, Bong and I felt like this journey of trying to have a child was somewhat like that of the Israelites wandering round and round the wilderness, sometimes losing sight of the Promised Land when we were faced with walls of Jericho, but the Lord has put His Words on our path as I have been working on the book of Deuteronomy, He has this passage to assure me, like He did the Israelites that He is there every step of the way.

And now, we are rejoicing in God's unending faithfulness.

We would like to introduce to you our precious little ‘giant’ Xam.  You have been praying for him and his mother for nine months now and we would like to officially announce that the Lord has answered our prayers and Xam was born via c-section last Friday, July 29th, 2011.

As many of you know, I (Margie) dreaded any wound as healing does not come very easy for a diabetic like me, so much so that I really begged my doctor to let me try what she calls a ‘trial labor.’  I have every intention of giving birth the normal spontaneous way that is why I have waited even a week after my expected date of delivery for natural labor to occur and the Lord did grant my wish, when by early Thursday, I started feeling that ‘fault-of-Eve’ pain that comes with childbirth.  I called my doctor and she said true labor will probably come 24 hours later so she advised me to stay active and positive.  By 4am Friday, the contractions were getting longer and closer together so after doing some walking around our compound, we  decided to head to the hospital.  I was admitted and examined right after we arrived at around 7AM and was wheeled to the labor room to be monitored properly.  I was hooked to a non-stress test monitor, and also to an IV line and the necessary normal delivery preparations were carried out.

There were at least 20 pregnant women who came and went through the labor room that day but at 8pm, I was the only one left.  My labor pains were intense for hours but for some reason my baby’s head won’t come down and my dilation got stuck at 5cm. I decided to ask for an epidural to manage the pain and was going to get it but my doctor examined me again and felt that my pelvic bones did not budge at all in all the hours that passed. She told me I need a c-section right away because prolonging the labor is causing distress to my baby and that I won’t be able to give birth normally anyway because she suspects a contracted pelvis not to mention that my son has gotten really big because of the extra sugar he had to deal with.  Upon further evaluation, the condition was confirmed and I was told that contracted pelvis is common to people with skeletal defects and I do have a spinal condition called scoliosis which most likely contributed to if not caused it.

My doctor went out to inform Bong about her suggestion and after a few minutes they came back together, and the doctor and Bong prayed over me and the flurry of activities prepping me for the procedure started.  Meanwhile the labor pain that seems to be getting me in and out of consciousness continued.  After like forever, my doctor came back to tell me that she cannot find an anesthesiologist and my condition is getting desperate as the baby is getting more stressed out.  She called every colleague she knew and no one is responding. But she had someone at the hospital call the hospital in the next province Ifugao, and thankfully, the hospital in Lagawe was able to send one of their anesthesiologists, and she arrived an hour or two later.  The Lord has held Xami inside for 9 months so I knew He is able to keep him for a few more hours of waiting for the medical team to assemble themselves. There was nothing I could do on that table but to leave it all up to my God and He did not fail me.

I learned later that my son was born at 10:35PM and I woke up at the recovery room at 1:30AM where I met my precious little Xami for the first time, when he was brought in to nurse as he was already waking up the whole charity ward with his crying.  Praise God that Xami did not have to spend any time in the NICU because his blood sugar levels did not crash to abnormal levels as could be expected of babies by diabetic mothers.  He was subjected to a lot of needles for blood glucose monitoring since the first hour of his birth but that was all.  He did not need any aggressive medical intervention. His parents are really really thankful for this.

As many of you know, I am medically 90% infertile due to my other medical conditions but for seven years we have kept the faith that the Lord will grant the desire of our hearts in His own time, and He did!  He has given Bong and me this precious gift and you have been part of this gift because you have faithfully upheld us in your prayers. We couldn’t have made it without the support we have been generously given by you, our family, colleagues, mentors and friends—all of you, our family in the love of God.

Our heartfelt gratitude goes to you and may the Lord bless you richly for sharing your love with us.


Some were asking what his full name is.  His full name is Raymie Xamyrrh (pronounced SUMMER).  The Ray is from his dad's name and the 'mie' from mine.  Most of you know that I prepared a girl's name which was Xamyrrh Dawn and have been calling the child in my womb Xami eversince (Bong calls him Xam).  But at 7 months, ultrasound revealed that the Lord gave us a boy but  Bong doesn't want to drop the 'summer' and 'myrrh' idea in the name anymore, as well as the 'sammy' sound in the nickname, short for Samuel--God's answer to Hannah's petition... that is why we kept 'Xamyrrh' even if Xami's a boy.

Panicky

It's 2:38AM and I was finishing up Deuteronomy 2 when I felt a crashing pain on my chest and upper to mid-abdomen.  I asked your dad to go get the stethoscope from grammie so I could listen to your heartbeat.  I was only able to count 100bpm so I did it again, but same result.  After a few minutes, I counted again, and it was barely 90.  What in the world is wrong with you now? Please be okay... I am begging the Lord to let me know if I need to wake dad up to take us to the hospital.  You are still moving a lot and that should be a good sign but it might also be because you are in distress.   I hope you are not.  I feel fine so I am hoping you're okay in there.

iloveyou, Xami
mama

THE CHOICE

So we are supposed to meet you for the first time today Xami, as this is your 40th week in there.  But no, you have decided to stay there a bit longer. :)

And we still haven't settled on your name yet.  Is it going to be Raynee/Raynie Xamyrrh or Xamyrrh Dew or  just Raymie? Your dad even suggested Raygie to get the last syllable of my name in there, but it sounds like Regie, and I don't like anything for you that sounds too common.  I hope you'll like the name I'll give you, whatever it is going to be.

The other day, I asked your dad if he is nervous at all about your coming out.  He said he's feeling quite relaxed right now but that who knows how he's gonna feel when it's time.  I told him I'm a bit scared about the whole thing.  So anyway, I told him that if it comes down to choosing between me or you, that he should choose you.  I cried saying that because of course, I would like to enjoy you, take care of you, be a really good mommy to you, but let's face it, this is a high risk pregnancy and it is not impossible for something to go wrong.  But I hope to God I won't die giving birth to you as I would really love to watch you grow and become the person that the Lord God wants you to be.

A while ago, our doctor told us that we can still afford to wait one more week for you to voluntarily come out.  If not, she'll have to cut open mommy and get you out.  I really hope you'd be born without much help other than my pushing you out.  Please Xami... please Lord Jesus! :)

It's 9 minutes to 1AM and your dad can't stand the light emanating from my laptop so he went and lie down on the coach in the living room.  I think mostly though that he's mad at me for bringing up the 'choice' thing.  But anyway, if that happens, that I perish birthing you, please make sure that your dad marries again, but not from the Kalanguya tribe.  He can marry anyone, just not another Kalanguya.  Why?  Because she will be kawawa in the long run.  Your dad will compare her to me all their married life and your mom is this unique weird girl who loves your dad with a love that knows no bound and sees no fault and so can never be replaced!  Hehehe! :)

And I so love you, my dearest Xami.