Wishes for Baby Sam

We’ll call the baby Baby Sam for now. We do have a complete name already, but I’m still feeling a bit madamot about it, hehe. But for sure, he will have a Samuel somewhere. Why? (1) to compensate for my husband Sam’s “hindi-pinag-isipang pangalan na Sammy” – yup, Sam’s full name is Sammy and not Samuel, and (2) In the Bible, Samuel is Hanna’s son. Which is very perfect… it also means, “God Hears”

Every night I have been praying special prayers to St. Raymond Nonato (A Novena for Expectant Mothers, from a my former BPI manager) and also prayers to St. Gerard Majella (the Patron of Mothers and Children, my first copy of which came from Kiel, and I also got some copies from other friends via email , thanks!!). It is interesting to note that St. Gerard and I have the same birth dates! The familiar words of the prayers said over and over also help me to have a good night’s sleep.

I love the pregnancy! Yes, even the aches and discomforts that come with it. I like how he sometimes kicks me comfortably in the middle of my tummy, and I still find it great whenever he kicks me down below … even if it is quite painful. I like imagining him making funny faces whenever I do something stupid, or hugging me from within whenever I am feeling sad. Hmm… perhaps what I don’t like about it (minsan lang naman) is that it makes me more absent minded than ever. Like that time that I spooned in uncooked rice into my decaf instead of sugar. Haha!

In my night prayers, the Novenas usually have blank spaces saying, (say your petition / wish here) – and just like the way I usually do it, I’d also like to send my wishes out to the universe so the elements can conspire to grant our hopes and dreams …

- a healthy and happy baby (dami pa iba wish, like smart baby, adventurous baby, water-loving baby, pero baka maoverwhelm ka, next time na lang muna yun!)
- a safe and easy delivery for mommy, no complications (or expensive medications!)
- safety of Popi Sam, and hope that he will be able to spend a lot of time with us
- good health for all the people around us, especially to Wowo and Wowa (note: Lola Memi and Lolo Pepi have christened themselves Wowo and Wowa even BEFORE that show Agua Bendita came. Last year pa sila Wowo and Wowa for Sarie and even for Mia. Inis nga kami that the evil grandmother in the show calls herself Wowa! Grr. ) and Lolo Andoy and Lola Doray. We hope they can all be strong and healthy enough to witness Baby Sam’s growing years!
- for mommy’s employment status to get formalized before the baby comes so we can enjoy the great medical benefits
- for the conditions (financial, environmental, Philippines, etc) around us to improve so that baby may grow comfortably
- having Ninong Gibo will be a nice touch!

Yes that last wish is for real. I’ve worked on it, got some progress… but I’m now stuck ... so I think I still have to work harder and think of another strategy… hmmm.