THE MOST IMPORTANT HANDSHAKE OF MY LIFE

Taking a respite from the barrage of political entries I’ve been posting since this blog came about, allow me to announce with much joy in my heart that after five long years, my wife finally gave birth to a baby girl whom we now fondly call CANDICE ABIGAIL.

My daughter’s journey was not easy. During the first few months of my wife’s pregnancy, she almost suffered a miscarriage. The bleeding was so severe that we initially thought that the fetus would not make it. Surprisingly, the fetus survived up to the ninth month. However, barely three weeks before her “due date”, she noticed that the baby was no longer moving inside her womb. We immediately sought the doctor’s assistance until the baby’s biophysical profile count showed that the only way to save the baby’s life was through caesarean section.

What was the baby’s intra-uterine condition?

Part of the umbilical cord got coiled around her neck which had slowly tightened everytime she moved. Had it not been for the timely medical intervention, it would have reached a point where the baby would “suffocate” and eventually die.

But God is good. He did not allow our worst fears to happen.

Then finally, at exactly 4:21 p.m. on August 9, 2006, Candice Abigail was brought into this world — normal, healthy, bubbly and… ahem… looks quite like his father.

As if to confirm the old saying, the most important handshake of my life happened five days later when Candice Abigail’s tiny little hand touched my index finger.

Certainly a unique and profound feeling for a first timer like me. (photo above courtesy of midwivesonline.com)