On the morning of August 4, andrea woke us up with a news of a bloody show. I knew then that it wouldn’t be long before anika would come out. I told her to get ready so we can head off to the hospital, but she hesitated. She said she wasn’t feeling the contractions yet. So I brought mateo to school first, went home, leisurely continued packing, then picked up mateo from school before heading to Cardinal Santos Medical Center.

On the way, that’s when she felt the contractions – regular, 8-minute spaced tummy contractions. But instead of panicking, she was calm. In fact, she wanted to eat lunch at Pizza Hut first before proceeding, so we did. Afterwards, we calmly went to the delivery room where her conditions were assessed. By this time, her cervix has dilated by 3-cm.

Before reaching the hospital, mateo fell asleep. When andrea went inside the DR, mateo and I waited outside where I continued mateo’s Daxter game in the PSP. At around 2 pm, andrea’s mom arrived. She volunteered to keep an eye on mateo while I settled the deposits and got a room ready. When I went back to check on andrea, her dilatation hasn’t progressed yet. But she was given permission to stay in our room.

It wasn’t until 11:30 that evening that she was readmitted in the delivery room and made to stay in the labor room until the next day. Although throughout the whole afternoon her contractions were getting stronger to the point that she was grimacing in pain already, it took her until 5:30 the next morning to completely dilate.

And even though I wasn’t with her the whole labor, it was comforting to know that the people around her were very accommodating. Apparently, medical assisting schools in the country are still producing good products.

Actual delivery to follow.