When Cha and I got married, we talked about the number of kids we wanted to have. Both of us didn’t want to have a huge family (thankfully!) although she has 5 siblings. I only have 2 siblings. I wanted to have 3 kids, but she wanted 2.
I am not the one who will carry the baby for 9 months then risk my life to deliver them. In the end, we agreed to have 2 kids, with 3 or 4 years between them. In 2013, our son Coco was born and he changed our lives for the better. He brought so much joy and happiness in our lives.
Postponing our next Baby Project
We planned to have another baby when he was 3 years old. But our plans had to change because we ended up moving to the USA in mid-2015. We thought we were going to postpone having a baby for a year. After all, moving from the one country to another is a BIG move.
But our waiting season turned out longer than we planned. In 2017, we felt that it was time to try and have another baby. So we prayed and tried. We had to wait some more.
Since we have a family prayer time together before bed, Coco got to pray for a baby brother or a sister. After almost a year of praying, he just couldn’t seem to wait anymore.
Coco (to me and Cha): “Where is my baby sister, we pray and pray but she’s not yet here.”
Me (trying to stifle laughter): “Anak, we need to be patient and wait.”
Coco (with some hand waving and a big pout): “But I can’t wait anymore!”
Nanay: “Let’s keep praying and waiting anak, hopefully she will come soon.”
As you can tell, we were hoping to have a girl. At first, Coco wanted to have a brother, but we tried to make him understand that whether we have a boy or a girl, we will love the baby all the same.
Fertility Check and Treatment?
In February, we decided to see an Ob-Gyn doctor to see if we can enhance our fertility. The doctor recommended that I get a sperm count and Cha go through some procedures to also check the health of her egg cells.
But these processes were expensive! To get the sperm count, I would have spent $100 and the procedure recommended for Cha (Sorry, I forgot what it was called) was going to cost more than $200!
We sat down and decided to wait another month or two. We’ve been waiting and trying for more than a year now, another month or two wouldn’t hurt.
Baby on the way!
Finally, after more than a year of waiting and praying, we confirmed in late March that we are pregnant! Hurray! Prayers and… well, some work, finally paid off.
The Ob-Gyn we consulted wasn’t really surprised when we showed up at the clinic with the news that we are pregnant. She said that sometimes couples want to get fertility checked only to get pregnant the next month.
We were so happy. Coco was so happy. We shared the news with family and they rejoiced with us.
Planning and Thinking for Birth
We’re in the planning stages now for expenses and paperwork on all that. Though we have medical insurance, we may still end up spending some money out-of-pocket. There’s also the question of citizenship for our baby–he or she will most definitely be born in the USA as an American citizen. Then we’ll need to apply for his/her Filipino citizenship.
Given my work-related travels, who will be able to help us out in Nashville? Can we invite my mother or Cha’s mother to spend some time with us until Cha gives birth and right after?
How long will I need to file a leave from work? I gotta research about paternity leave, its duration, and my options for staying home to take care of Cha and our baby.
What is it like for a Pinay to deliver a baby here in the USA? Is it anything like the movies or TV series?
So many things to plan for. But we are happy for being given this gift of life even though we are in a foreign country. (I get to blog about it, too!)