My girl is turning 5

Do you know that July 2 is the midpoint of a common year? I got this from Wikipedia. This is because there are 182 days before and 182 days after in a 365-day year. The exact time in the middle of the year is at 12:00 noon. It falls on the same day of the week as New Year's day in common years. In a leap year, July 2 is the 184th day of the year. In July 2, 1977, Vermont becomes the first american territory to abolish slavery. A bit heavy to digest huh? I had to mention that because the abolition of slavery to me is a giant step for equality and democracy in humankind. In July 2,1929 Imelda Marcos was born. And in July 2, 2004 AJ was born. I can still remember the time when I knew that I was pregnant with her. I had the most painful of stomach cramps in the middle of the day. I went to the only Ob-gyne available in Iligan because the rest of her colleague were attending the convention. That is how I met the good Dr. Haydee Cabildo. She is a Manileña who migrated to Iligan because of her husband who is an Iliganon. She was part of the medical team who helped birthed Ryan Christian, son of Gov. Vilma Santos and Neda Director Ralph Recto. I digress..





I had a normal pregnancy with her. I underwent the normal activities of a pregnant woman, exercise, vitamins and healthy diet. My water broke and I didn't feel any labor pains. It was only when I was induced by Dr. Haydee did i feel the pain. I was loud and noisy during labor. Looking back, all the things that I've read about first time pregnancy didn't really register. All i felt was the pain and how difficult it seemed to me to push my baby out. I'm ashamed to say that I even defecated(sanitized term he he) inside the delivery room in another round of pushing. Ha ha now the world knows!

Really, i had a vaginal delivery but it was far from normal because forceps was used to pull AJ's head. Doc said that my uterus is lazy contracting that is why Aj is slow going down through the birth canal. When she's finally out she had bruises running from one side of her head passing through her left eye. It was two weeks later that we noticed that her eyelid doesn't open as wide as her right does. She was diagnosed with Ptosis but the cause was never determined if it was genetics or it was due to mechanical trauma. Thank God, she's still ok and that is most important. So now, I have been thinking of what to give her on her birthday. Just like any other child, she likes ice cream.

She also like the playground at the SM Mall of Asia seaside. Her favorite acts are those of the Pantomime artists performing nightly at Aling Marshya's restaurant at San Miguel By the Bay, MOA.

But we'll probably just celebrate the occasion quitely at her favorite restaurant, mc donalds. That's all it really takes to make her happy, food, cartoons and the family going on roadtrips.