Dearest Daughter,
You’re turning 2 today. You have grown so
much in the last year, it’s unbelievable! (You now run, ride your tricycle, understand
4 languages, and we’ve since said goodbye to the daiper and the bottle!)
At this time (7.26am) you are still
sleeping soundly on your bed…you’re not getting up till around 8.15 or so…or
somewhere around the time zumba at the park starts.J
These days we live in Los Sauces, Puerto
Vallarta, Mexico, in the apartment behind the park that’s close to Abuelita’s
place. It’s a blessing to be so close to Abue, your previous daycare (recently
you stopped going and Artyom has been taking care of you while I work at Mexico
Fun), the “ruins” at the park, the bakery, the fruit place, the mountains
etc…we love it here!
Today I wanted to write you about your
birth story…it was a miraculous time! <3 I can’t seem to decide where to
start though…from the time we got to the hospital? from the first contraction?
from the time I first spotted (which is sign that labor is about to start)?
I had already been waiting for you to
arrive, you see. If I remember correctly, your estimated date of birth was
gregorian may 28…so by the time june 3rd came around, I was pretty
eager to finally have you in my arms instead of in my belly! It wasn’t
uncomfortable at all…you blessed me with a very easy pregnancy! I just wanted
to meet you already!
I worked at the office until the last
possible day. If I am not mistaken, gregorian may 31st was my last
day at Mexico Fun. After having stained myself as I was preparing to leave
work, a co-worker named Wanda excitedly told me that that was the start of it. (She’s a really nice Puerto Rican lady
who organized the bets for your birth date and weight among the girls, which
Amanda eventually won.)
The next day I went to the IMSS hospital
to get official about it…I had not felt any contractions at that point, so I
felt a bit awkward being there knowing it wasn’t my/your time yet. A nice,
young-ish male doctor checked me out, and told me to return as soon as the
contractions start or if my water breaks etc. Still no you…bummer!
So your Papi and I tried walking around
and other stretching tactics...nothing worked. So we decided go to the movies and
see Avatar (please watch this movie!) to see if whether the excitement would
help jumpstart you out of (down) there. Sure enough, at around 5am the next
day, the contractions started.J
Let me tell you that I didn’t feel a lot
pain during those early contractions. I’m not really one to have cramps when I
get my period, so at that point it was just a mild discomfort. But being as
excited as I was, as soon as I felt one I started to time them (as per doctor’s
instructions), and since they started coming every 3minutes or so I started to
prepare for the hospital. I double-double checked the bag was complete; I cut
up a melon and made 2 sandwiches, one for me and one for your Papi. He was
sleeping around this time, I didn’t want to wake him until the last possible
minute that we had to leave the house (which, at that time was behind the
Medassist Hospital close to work…no way I was having you there though!), as I
knew he would get all nervous if I told him you were already coming.
After telling Abuelita it was time, we
left and rendezvoused at the hospital at around 7. We waited our turn and
eventually entered, and were again attended to by the same male doctor that saw
us prior, who was surprised to see you still in there!J
He said it was still too early though, so we walked to Lucy’s house
(Abue’s friend whom she met back in Manila), who happened to live 2 streets
away from the hospital.
By then I could feel the contractions a
bit more intensely…its still not painful, but I could feel the stretch
inside, so that outside I had to do the same. Luckily, Lucy had these super
comfortable light pink, suede-ish reclining chair she had brought back from the
Philippines, which I completely owned for the next couple of hours while I
texted friends from Manila (and elsewhere) that the show was about to begin. J
At around 9am Lucy drove us and we were
finally admitted. A nice young nurse set us up, and wheeled us into the room
where 2 other Goddesses are about to have their own little miracle. <3
It was a bit of an interesting time. There
were nurses, doctors in training, hospital staff, all of them going about life
just like any other day, while us 3 ladies stretched out on the wheeled beds…waiting,
feeling, breathing a new existence into being, one breath at a time.
One of the nurses tells me she is
surprised to see a first-time mom like me so at ease all morning…I tell her
living the first 7 months of the pregnancy on a house 200 steps up a hill
(overlooking the Pacific) must have helped…but that also, the contractions
stopped.J
Being a social security hospital where one
doesn’t have to pay for anything (although a certain percentage is deducted off
your monthly paycheck for this service), I think they were pretty eager to get
the line going, so to speak. So at around 11 or 12 they added the inducer-juice
into my IV line…and then the show really began!JJJ
Now that I am writing this…I come to
realize that: Yoga, really IS, Life. You, the union of body and Soul, came into
this world through yoga (hallelujah
for pranayama). As I started to become aware of each breath, I listened to my
body more and more…I trust my sacred body, She knows what to do was my
mantra (thank you, guru Anna, for teaching me this)…and I flowed with each wave
of contractions, opening myself more and more every time.
The same nurse that said I had been so
calm saw I was ready. She told another nurse, they both looked at me looking at
them, breathing, and they started to prepare the delivery room that was right
across me. I didn’t realize I had been so close all that time.
Once inside…it was funny, but somehow they
expected me to move bed,s already being 10cm dilated and experiencing bigger
contractions, all by myself. Ooook :S
Once on the second gurney however, the one
with the contraption to hold your legs up, it all happened pretty quickly.J
They cleaned me up and hovered around, I
kept breathing, the resident doctor came in, congratulated me for doing a job
well done so far, and told me to push ONLY when they said so.
Easy enough…you
were out in 3 pushes!
No epidural, but they did cut me up…it took them longer
to sew me back up than I did to deliver you!
Ananta Malaya. kg. 51cm.
Born on gregorian june 3rd
2012, 1.55pm…
Crystal Moon 11, Day 5, Yellow
Self-Existing Warrior.
Today, White Rhythmic Worldbridger.
Its 9.04am, you’re still sleeping. We will
be having lunch at one of my favorite restaurants in town, Coexist Café, having
cajeta cake from Suspiros (my favorite cake place!), with more or less the same
Circle of Love that celebrated your first rEvolution and blessing last year.
Then, in the evening…temazcal de mujeres at Rancho Madre Tierra…what a
beautiful day this will be! <3
Happy Birthday, Ananta Malaya!!!
Mom loves you with all her being, from the
depths of her Soul…always, in all ways…to infinity and beyond.
