My Baby Book, part 1

WHILE dusting my old albums, I found a little hard-bound book that I kept ignoring for years.  The accumulated dust on the cover was the reason why I did not realize its value.  Upon discovering what it was, I sat down, stopped everything I was doing and read the contents.  It had a wealth of information about myself that I never knew Mama kept records on.

          For example,  I was born on a Wednesday at exactly 12:55 pm, in the UST Hospital.  Mama's attending physician was a doctor named Jesus Toma-Cruz, who was apparently also the attending physician during my older sister's and younger brother's own respective births.  There was even a list of my first visitors at the hospital, and two things that were emphasized were (1) that my Lolo Alex (my paternal grandfather) and Kuya Bongbong visited everyday; (2) while my Lola Celing (my maternal grandmother) actually stayed in the hospital throughout the entire confinement following my birth.

          Mama also made an ancestral tree that traced my roots up to my great-grandparents.  It was interesting to note how certain names seemingly belong to specific historical periods and nowhere else.  Names like Ignacio, Gervasia, Catalino, Cristina, Candido, Sotera, Casimiro and Enorata (my great-grandparents' names) are practically extinct as Filipino parents in the 60s and 70s began to shift name preferences for more American-sounding names.

          It's hard to imagine it now, but my weight at birth on January 18, 1978 was 8 lbs. and 2.5 ozs.  And my height was exactly 21 inches.  By my fifth month, I have already more than doubled my weight - measuring 17 lbs. and 12 ozs. on June 10, 1978.  My lower two front teeth appeared on the third week of October 1978, while my upper two front teeth appeared on the first week of November 1978.

          One thing that struck me was learning how sickly I was when I was a baby.  Right now, I'm probably the healthiest in my family, and that from my earliest childhood memory onwards, I don't remember ever being hospitalized.  Reading my health record, as detailed by Mama, paints a very different picture of me.  I am reproducing it in verbatim as it was written by Mama in my point of view:

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My Health Record

1)  3rd to 4th day after birth - my skin became yellow.  Papa and Mama decided to leave me in the hospital for further treatment.  I was released on January 24, 1978.

2)  On March 7, 1978, I had fever and Colic.  I was brought to St. Rose Hospital (emergency).  My fever rose to 39° C.  On March 9, 1978, I was brought to my Pediatrician, Dr. Edgardo Gicaro.

3)  On March 18, 1978, I was brought to my Pedia for my monthly checkup.

4)  On April 1, 1978, I was brought to the hospital because of my cold and fever.  On April 7, 1978, I was again brought to the hospital because of my cough.

5)  On July 27, 1978, I had fever and the doctor diagnosed it as tonsilitis.

6)  In October 1978, I always had fever, on and off, aand loose bowel movement.  This was because my first two teeth are coming out.

7)  On Nov. 30, 1978.  I was given anti-measles vaccine.  After two weeks, I was sick with measles.

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          I had to laugh after reading #7.  That was probably the most ineffective anti-measles vaccination in Philippine history.    There were also no entries after that, which might mean Mama simply got tired of listing down my many sicknesses, which was punctuated by the hilarious (in hindsight) measles event. 

To be continued