my eldest daughter

my eldest daughter "rain".

she was born 12th of may 2005. for me, she came in the right time with the right reasons. she made everything right around my life. there had been a lot of changes. my life came into sense. and my relationship with my husband became significant,not just for the two of us, but for the people around us.

on the day of my labor. early morning that day,me and my husband had our daily walking exercise. when we got home, i noticed that i had a small red spot. so i quickly told my husband. we actually did not panic for we already were expecting it to happen that week and we already know of the labor signs.

twice the joy

my second child "ice".

she was born april 9 of this year. we named her denzelle gabriela. denzelle is a mixture of my name and my husband's(eden & noel). we just added the letter z. i was the only one who made up this name actually, my husband just approved. i also added gabriela since it was the day filipinos yearly celebrate the "araw ng kagitingan". coincidentally, it was the same day of the year 2000 when noel and i began our relationship.

my labor. at twelve midnight of april 7, i had spotting. april 8, we stayed the whole day in my mom's house so she could send us to the hospital whenever i feel signs of pain. at 6pm we went to the hospital, though i have not felt any pain yet. we decided it would be best if we settle to the hospital and wait there. we checked in tagbilaran city maternity and peuriculture center. the opening of the cervix was still 2cm so we still had to stay at the private room. they told us that if gets wider and i can feel continuous pain in the abdomen, then i can proceed to the labor room. my husband and my cousin-in-law (ate bebie) was with me the whole time. and rain, my eldest daughter also stayed for the night with us at the hospital (we can't stand to leave her at home without mommy and daddy). it's good that the hospital staff is not that strict about having kids around. during that night, noel and ate bebie gave me two uncooked native eggs(ew!), "salabat" or ginger tea, and would not allow me to eat heavy meals. they also rubbed "a wonder oil" in my tummy. they said, "to make the delivery easy".

april 9, 5am, the opening of the cervix was already 6cm. this time, the pain is no longer tolerable so we informed the attendants. i was admitted to the labor room. when i entered the labor room, there were two other women who were also having their labor. the other one looked very calm and relaxed( good for her). but the other lady, was obviously having a difficult and painful time out there. but i did not let that get into my nerves. i stayed calm, at least just for a few minutes or so. one nurse attended for me and assisted me through my labor. after few minutes, the pains kept coming into shorter intervals. at 10am, there was already a full dilation of the cervix so i was sent to the delivery room. boy, it was the painfullest moment ever.

at exactly 10:42am my daughter "ice" came out of this world. i felt overjoyed, not just because all the pain just disappeared in an instant, also because i saw an angel, she was crying,yes, but it sounded like music. i was wide awake. i saw her being cleansed and dressed by the nurses. oh, that moment was so heavenly. success.. fulfilment.. how could have been something so good become real, and just right here in front of me. i have been blessed. someone above must really love me this much to have sent me such precious thing. i never thought i'd deserve to be blessed like this.

memoirs of an expectant mother

I was already two months delayed with my menstruation, so my husband and I bought a pregnancy test kit, w bought two. I did it with him and the results showed positive, we were a bit thrilled but not shocked.
Being in the period of pregnancy is not easy. I experienced 4-month long nausea, morning sickness, mood swings, vomiting, and all that... But then, after the first trimester, these symptoms seem to loosen up. But still, I had muscle cramps every now and then, specially in the dawn and when the weather is so cold.

life after the wedding

immediately after the wedding,

My hubby...

WARNING: Very cheesy contents included in the writing below.

This is a picture of me and my husband when we went to the Loboc Crus-Dako, Bohol.. We went there to do our annual walk to the hills where there are stations for the "Way of the Cross". It is like our sacrifice and also is a time to reflect and recollect. It really feels good to do this once in a while, specially if you do it with your partner. We have been doing this even before we were together, when we were still co-members of a youth organization.

My husband's name is Noel Pilayre. Like me, he lives in Dampas District, Tagbilaran City. I knew him since childhood. But, we never were playmates because he was already adolescent when I started to play around. He is 9 years older than me. I only started to get along with him when I became active in the youth organization of our chapel, Divine Mercy Chapel. I never even thought that we'd complement each other...

How it all started?

Well, we started out as friends. We never planned to be more than friends. When we became friends, we were so close..that he knows almost everything about me. I treated him like my kuya. I ask for his advice whenever I need them. We always hang-out along with our other friends. He even knows who among our male friends are hitting on me and who are my crushes. We were so comfortable with each other. We never knew that it would lead us somewhere. Even at his age that time, I never found or even heard of him having any relationship with others. I was so naive not to think of anything odd with it. I just thought he might just be very choosy or something. I, too, at my age that time of 16, never had a serious relationship with others. I knew that this man really is someone special to me and hi definitely has a place inmy heart. Every time, I was with him , there's a feeling of excitement that I never felt before to anybody. I knew there's really something different about this guy. I also knew there is a different kind of understanding between the two of us that I just cannot put into words. But, still we were just contented with what we had that time.

One time, when we were walking with our other friends on the way to the chapel to have our meeting, I told him that one male friend of ours is trying to make a move to get to me. I told him that that man, (who, by the way, had just broken up with his previous girlfriend) told me that I was the one he actually liked but then that girl did the first move and led him on. I didn't know if it was true or not, but I told him (my husband) that I totally do not believe the other man. In fact, I was a bit disappointed with his actions. What am I? A fool? Did he think I was born centuries ago?

Anyway, Noel never commented anything harsh about that man or anything. He tried to be neutral since the other man was a mutual friend of ours. To cut the story short, I somehow suddenly asked him the trigger question... "Why are you so good at giving advice when as far as I know you haven't really had a serious relationship with anybody?" He told me that he actually has someone who he keeps in his heart but he was still hesitating to pursue her because there are some circumstances that tells him it's not yet the time for them. I asked him, why the wait? If you really love her that much then you tell her. I told him that life is short and we don't know what happens next. Suddenly, he began to describe "that girl". There's a certain feeling within me that I knew who that girl was (modesty aside, of course).

To cut the cheesy story short, he was then, (I guess we could say) "forced by the situation" to finally tell me what the name of that girl was. And guess who, of course, my name, why not! I don't know what happened, but he was also "forced" to say those three little words, out loud, three times. And, take note, while we were on the road, walking.

One week after,we went to the Loboc-Cruz Dako as we always do every year. This was the promised day that I was supposed to give my answer. Yes, that soon.. We climbed up the hill as part of our sacrifice for the Holy Week. But then, I was not able to tell him yet, I don't know what came into my mind, maybe I just don't want to spoil the moment of reflectiona nd recollection..I guess. I just told him that I do like him but I'm still not ready for a steady relationship. His reaction was just fine, although I know he was disappointed.

The day after, it was a Sunday, we went to mass at our chapel. After the mass, one friend of ours invited us to watch a movie that afternoon. I answered yes cause I thought there are many of us to go. But then, it came out that there were only three of us, there was I, our friend and him, of course. When we reached to the theater, the other friend of ours was in fact meeting up with his girlfriend also. So, it was only the two of us to watch the movie.