It was a rainy Sunday afternoon. Aboard our SUV, we were heading home from Pangasinan. It was a comfortable and peaceful ride as we hear the strong downpour on the roof while running at around 60-70 kph. Suddenly, a white sports car swiveled uncontrollably at the passenger side of our vehicle. I immediately tapped Gary’s hand to alert him but by then we were already hit by the car. The next thing I knew our SUV tipped and skidded to the right side and as the vehicle turned turtle several times, I embraced Lia very tight as she was sleeping in my arms. All I was thinking at that time was that I hope this is not happening and at the same time thought it could be the end. During the final turn, Lia was suddenly gone. I have no idea how she fell or thrown away because all along I was holding her very tight. When our vehicle finally stopped and I saw Gary moving, I immediately unlocked my seat belt and found my way out of the vehicle to find Lia. Scared and half hopeful that she was still alive, I was shouting “Anak ko!” I went to the other side of the vehicle and looked at my right and all I saw were tall grasses. I looked at my left and there she was lying on the mud crying because of the strong rain pouring on her. Thinking back, ‘Jesus on a manger’ is the best description of how she was safely placed. Knee hurting, I ran to her as fast as I could, embraced her tight, checked her for any wound and thanked God she was alive.

Seconds after, my husband, 2 sons and our yaya came running at our side. My eldest son, Marcus, embraced me tight crying and yelling, “Mama, ayoko na! Ayoko na!” Zach, on the other hand, was also crying maybe from shock because he was sleeping before the incident happened. Gary and I looked at each other without saying a word but thinking the same thing, “we are all safe now.” A van stopped and a woman calling to help us. She allowed the children to go inside her van because it was raining really hard and the kids are cold. Marcus doesn’t want to leave me alone, but I assured him that everything is ok now, that he has to look after his two younger siblings because I’m wounded and that I love him very much. I was left sitting where I found Lia because Gary doesn’t want me to move any further because he saw the deep wound on my knee. While the kids were inside the van and Gary calling for help, I tried to get up and go farther but my right knee is not helping. So I just decided to sit down and wait for the rescue to come. It was the time I got the chance to see everything that’s left of us. Our 4-month old SUV was a total wreck, my phone gone and our other belongings wet and scattered. I can’t help but wonder, “Why did God allowed this to happen?” But it was not anger or hatred that was in my heart at the time, it was gratitude and relief. Looking at the glass half full, I thanked the Lord and praised Him because all that were gone can be replaced.

Looking back, I don’t remember anything that could have stopped us from encountering the incident. One thing’s for sure though, God has prepared everything to ensure that we’ll be safe and taken cared of. It was indeed a miracle. When I saw the pictures of our wrecked vehicle, it made me cry because I cannot possibly think how all of us survived.

I remember the words I said after we prayed the Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be and Angel of God while on the road and before the incident… “Lord, please keep us safe.” He did.

We are a living testimony of His Greatness.

Exactly a year ago, I gave birth to our only daughter, Lia Anika. Months went so fast that now I no longer see an infant nor a baby, but a little lady trying her best to act like an adult. She’s so adorable that I cannot blame her father for being head over heels in love with her.

I just want to share with you what I went through as she was brought into the world.

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It was just a painful dream, or so I thought. The long and painful contractions woke me up at about past 6 in the morning. By then I realized my labor could already be starting, but I wanted to be sure. I stood up, went to the bathroom and then decided to sit on our sofa to wait for more contractions to come. They did come but they were still tolerable so I decided to go back to bed and try to get some sleep. But sleep never came because the pain was becoming more and more frequent and yes unbearable. Not wanting to wake my husband yet because he slept very late the night before, I did some last minute preparations by putting more things on my previously prepared maternity/baby bag. I also made a list of numbers that my yayas could refer to and set aside money for emergency purposes. All ready, I went back to our bedroom to tell my husband, but to my surprise he’s already up and doing something on the computer. So, I just told him I already need to be brought to the hospital.

Past 8 in the morning, the trip to the hospital was easy and comfortable except for moderate contractions every now and then. My husband dropped me to the emergency room and then parked the car, while a hospital attendant brought me immediately to pre-labor room.

At the pre-labor room, a belt was placed around my tummy which was connected to a machine that measured my contractions. While being interviewed by a resident doctor, another doctor measured me and guess what? I was already 5-6 centimeters dilated. I then heard the resident doctor talking to my ob-gyn and then my anesthesiologist on the phone to inform them of my condition.

During my last prenatal check-up, I already informed my ob-gyn that I wanted to be on Epidural anesthesia during labor. And according to her, epidural anesthesia will be administered when I am already 4cm dilated. And since I was already beyond that, on wheel chair I was brought to the labor room.

Everything happened so fast that in a couple of minutes I was already 7cm dilated and I was looking for my anesthesiologist who’s still on his way to the hospital. A nurse was beside me asking me questions which I think is her way of distracting me because the pain was getting more and more unbearable.

Finally I saw my anesthesiologist walking hurriedly and made instructions to prepare me for the epidural shot. But before the anesthesia was given, I felt an excruciating pain as my water bag finally broke. I could not think of a word to describe the pain and all I was able to do at that time was to moan and whimper. I was already 8cm dilated! 10-15 minutes after the epidural procedure, they were preparing me to be brought to the delivery room.

At the delivery room I finally saw my ob-gyn. Soft-spoken and pleasant as always, she started a conversation that I really did appreciate because it made me relax and feel comfortable again. The pain was no longer there, the shot finally reached my brain. Ready to deliver baby Lia, they instructed me to inhale and then push hard. After 4 times repeating the said procedure, 10:17 in the morning to be exact, Lia Anika was finally brought into the world. I praise God for a beautiful and healthy baby girl and for our safety during labor and delivery!

Today as I was putting Lia to sleep, I was thinking, ‘Am I where I should be right now?’ Honestly, I felt unproductive having to spend so much time and effort dancing my baby to sleep. I love what I was doing but I thought maybe I should instead be doing some online work at that very moment or even be dressed in a corporate attire doing office work.

And then my mother’s words came to me like an answer to all the questions that’s been bothering me. She said, ‘There’s a big difference with you running the house instead of housemaids doing it.’

Since I was a child, I’ve convinced myself not to be a full-time housewife. Not because I thought of it as a menial job, but because I was afraid that I couldn’t match, more so surpass, the sacrifice that my mother did to bring up her 4 children.

Yet now I see myself doing exactly what she was doing decades ago. And it scares me.

It scares me because what if with all the effort that I am exerting just to meet my children’s different needs, I would still end up a failure in bringing out the best in them.

And even if they all grew up the persons they are destined to be, I’m scared to find myself searching for an identity because my children are all grown up and doesn’t need me the way they do now.

Above all, it scares me because for the first time I am not in control of my future.

La Union has been featured several times as one good surfing spot, but it was just recently when I had the chance to see one of their famous resorts. Located in San Fernando, Thunderbird Resort Poro Point is a place I surely would recommend. The 8-hour land travel (stopovers and traffic included) was way worth it. Our rooms, which were upgraded to suite, makes us want to just stay inside and enjoy the cabled TV, free wifi and jacuzzi. But with the beauty of the resort, we were definitely torn between the luxury of the room and the beach’s clear water and fine sand, not to mention their eternity pool. What more, we were spared from the noise of the crowd. The only thing we regretted was that we booked ourselves for just one night.

Complicated is the first world that entered my mind when I saw London’s Tube Map the first time. But it didn’t took us long to comprehend which train goes where. And suddenly, London’s Railway system became a blessing as we were literally in and out of the tube as we visited various tourist spots.

And just how busy London is compared to other countries, I have no idea. Let’s see London, New York, Hong Kong, Philippines and Japan’s Railway System (respectively from left to right) and let the images speak for themselves.