Hello Ethan!

On October 6 2010, Wednesday, I woke up at 11:30am feeling like I have my monthly period. I stood up to check and blood ran down my feet. I panicked. I didn't know what to do. I worried about the baby inside me. I called Allen who was at school. His cousin, Jelo, heard me screaming and he took me straight to Polymedics which was the nearest hospital.

People are telling me to calm down. How could I? I was scared. I wanted to cry when they were taking my bloody clothes off me. I wanted someone to tell me that my baby is gonna be ok. They had this thing which lets me hear the baby's heartbeat. I was relieved. He's alive. But things went upside down when they told me I was already at 6cm. I didn't understand. They told me that if I reach 10cm, the baby is gonna come out. Why, I thought, he's still in his 7th month. Why so early? My water was still intact so why? Then Allen came. The nurses left us to talk if we were going to stay in that hospital. Finally, I cried. I wanted him to hold my hand. Then his mom came and it was decided that I should stay. They took me somewhere but after about an hour they told me I was going to be discharged because they didn't have an available incubator. Oh wow wish they could've told us that earlier. They gave us a letter saying that I can transfer to any hospital of choice.

Allen's dad came. We took a cab to Philippine Children's Medical Center. Their nursery was infected so they couldn't take us in. They were gonna take me to St. Luke's but passed by Capitol Medical Center to take a chance. They had an incubator. They have good facilities. I still wasn't experiencing labor pains. Everything was a blur.

They took me to the labor room and I was at 8cm. My back suddenly started to ache like I've been sitting on cold concrete for the past 12 hours. At 9cm, they took me to the delivery room. My water was still intact. The pain was irritating but still tolerable. I was talkative, asking the doctors and nurses for tips, asking what will happen next. haha. I couldn't have anyone, even Allen, by my side while giving birth. Then they forced the water to break, at least that's what I think. Intense pain followed. I remember screaming. lol. Everyone was telling me to push whenever it hurts. It most certainly felt like taking a huge dump. I remember asking what if it really was just junk. haha. Then the pain intensified. I screamed louder. I was going to die, I know it. They gave me anethesia and everything below my stomach was numb. I calmed down a bit. They told me to push again which I did but because I was numb I didn't know if I was still pushing or just holding my breath. lol. At 6:15pm, they told me the baby was out. First thing I saw were his tiny little feet and tinier little-er toes. He weighed only 2pounds. He cried. I cried. I felt tired. I wanted to sleep but I wanted to see more of him but they told me they took him to NICU and I'll be able to see him later.

The video above was taken on October 9 2010, Saturday. It was my last day at the hospital so I went to visit him again. His organs are all still underdeveloped but his breathing is getting better. Ethan is still fighting for his life and we are rooting for him. We need prayers and financial help. For more information, send me an email at aquino.gale@yahoo.com.