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Last December 2, 2010 my wife gave birth to our first child. She's Martina Dominique, and she was born 21 inches long and 3204 grams heavy. The following is a running diary on what happened to me on the day she was born. The times you see here are precise since I was logging notes on my Motorola Milestone XT720 android phone.

0045 - My wife wakes me up because her water broke. This was a big surprise as she had just visited her OB the day before (Dec. 1 in the morning) and she was told her due date was Dec. 8. The weird thing was my wife did not want me to bring her bag of clothes to the hospital. So we go down from our condo, get a cab, and head off to Makati Medical Center (MakatiMed).

0109 - My wife enters MakatiMed's delivery room at the 5th floor. I start fixing her admission papers. We go for the small private room. Sadly it won't be ready until morning.

0122 - And the waiting begins...

0234 - ... And it goes on...

0300 - ... And on. At around this point (I forgot what time specifically.) A nurse from the DR (Delivery Room) goes out, tells me my wife instructed me to go home and rest. So I go home, pack her things, fix some stuff, but I can't sleep. I'm too excited, worried, nervous, amped up, whatever.

0645 - Around this time I head back to the hospital with her bag of clothes and I return to the DR and continue waiting.

0718 - After checking with the nurses, my wife's still at 1 - 2 cm opening. Our small private room is still not ready.

0954 - 3 - 4 cm opening, but still no room.

1135 - My wife has had an epidural, but unfortunately our baby's head is still too high up for her to go out. My dad arrived around 1100 or so, I really can't remember. I remember speaking with her OB, Dr. Capistrano, and she tells my dad and I that it will still be a long time before my wife gives birth so we should go out and eat first. My dad and I head off to Floating Island Restaurant (one of the highlights of MakatiMed, the food is almost always good) and I order a katsudon that I can't finish. I don't know if it's because I'm nervous or because I made the wrong order.

1300 - I meet up with Ferds, who decided to visit and offer support and company. My wife's at 9cm opening. It was around this time that I was really fatigued due to lack of sleep. I accompanied Ferds for lunch at Burger King, but I just bought a hot machiatto drink from Seattle's Best before following Ferds. It was also around this time that we finally get our small private room. Room 550 at the old wing.

1423 - Baby out. We see Martina Dominique for the first time inside an incubator (for transfer purposes from the DR to the nursery). The five people who see her are myself, Ferds, my father, my father-in-law, and my mother-in-law.

Well that's it. 14 hours or so of fatigue and anxiety all melt away when I see my daughter. It is an experience I do not wish to forget. Special thanks to Ferds who showed up even when he didn't have to, to my father for bringing a camera with fully charged batteries (inside joke) and to the nurses, doctors, and staff of MakatiMed who made our stay there a very pleasant one.

Out.