Discovery in my belly, baby!

J and I started our adventure together with a trip to Puerto Galera last October. We enjoy traveling, I love going to his gigs to watch him sing, and our favorite pastime is window shopping for sneakers. We had just discovered each other and we became inseparable.

Some time late March, J and I also discovered that we were having a baby! We made the journey to St. Luke’s Hospital to visit the OB-Gyn, Tita Steny, and just by examining me, she could tell that I was pregnant. 2 months at that! So my period last February was a hoax!

At this point I got pretty stressed. I was a heavy drinker and smoker and my Biology notes flashed before my eyes…deficiencies caused by nicotine and alcohol, oh my God. I needed to have an ultrasound but the line was too long, so I just had my blood test and we went back three days later. It was April Fool’s Day and I was half-heartedly hoping that this whole pregnancy thing was just a joke, but there it was, a baby already in the quickening stage with limbs-to-be fluttering on its sides. It was only 3.76 centimeters long and it looked as though it was waving at us frantically, “I’m here, I’m here!” I waved back excited, smiling and cooing at the monitor. J just laughed. We loved it.

The semi-techie geek that I am, J and I came back for the second ultrasound in June with a VHS tape. (I didn’t want a CD because the video would be compressed…I told you I was a geek.) Aside from checking on the baby’s development, we also decided that it would be more practical to know the gender if possible. I was so tired of calling the baby “it”, although we did call it “he” sometimes in the hopes of having a boy; but the doctor couldn’t tell because its legs were crossed. We counted all the fingers and toes instead. It was a healthy baby at 22 weeks, and to J’s delight, its nose was matangos.

Another doctor came in and transferred me to another machine to get a better look, but it was no use. The baby’s legs were still in the way. The doctor told us to come back after my check-up, just in case the baby changes position. So we visited Tita Steny and went back to the ultrasound clinic and the doctor was nudging the probe on my tummy, trying to make the baby move. “Maybe the baby feels it’s being violated,” I joked. J was about ready to give up, until finally, the baby moved, and there it was! Nothing!

Baby was a girl. :)



Pink and red colors entered my head…I knew what to buy her, how to decorate her room, how to dress her up! I tried to imagine how she’d look, if she was going to be athletic with a pinch of kikay just like me, and artistic and intelligent just like her Pappee.

While driving out of the hospital, J suddenly blurted out, “Layla…”

“I think I like Layla,” I said.

And so we named her Layla Andrea, after the song Layla by Eric Clapton, and after me because my second name is Andrea. She is almost 7 months old now and is kicking in my tummy like crazy. Yes, Layla, I know! I know you’re in there! And we can’t wait to see you, too. :)