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As fireworks exploded all over Cebu City on New Year’s Eve, Glen Vergara waited anxiously outside the delivery room of the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC).
At 12:50 a.m., his wife Mecel delivered an eight-pound boy, their first born, making it the Vergara couple's happiest New Year's Day.
There were 16 babies delivered on New Year’s Day at the city hospital. Another 14 were born at the government-run Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center.
Mecel, an education graduate, works at a mall coffee shop while Glen is a draftsman at a private architectural firm.
“I am happy that my son came out on New Year's Day,” the new mother said in Cebuano from her hospital bed.
Her doctor advised her beforehand that Jan. 1 was her expected date of delivery.
“I gave birth pretty fast. He just came out in a flash,” she said.
The couple are still weighing the choice of names for their son.
According to Mecel, hiking and daily physical exercises during the last term of her pregnancy helped hasten the delivery and lessened her labor pains.
She went into labor a few hours before midnight and was rushed to the CCMC.
Glen said that he wanted his son to follow in his footsteps and become an architect.
Mecel, holding her firstborn tightly in her arms, said that all she wanted was for her son to finish his studies and become a professional someday.
“We will work very hard to give our son a good future,” Glen said.
His wife said she would return to work after two months.
“I will go back to work because times are hard,” said Mecel.
For now, she said she’s not thinking of getting pregnant again because she dreads the labor pains. Her husband said he still wanted to be a father again.
It was birth by Caesarian Section for housewife Daisy Sumilhig, who delivered her second child about 10 p.m. of Jan. 1, 2009 at the Cebu Maternity House in Cebu City.
Her husband , Andy, a fish dealer, held in his arms the baby boy that he had been fervently praying for.
“Adrian” is the baby’s name, one long thought of and used by Andy since he was a child.
It was only during his college years, said Andy, that he learned from his Birth Certificate that his real name was Andy and not Adrian.
So now that he has his own son, the name will be put to good use.
To financially prepare for the coming of their new child, Andy traveled daily from his hometown in San Remigio, northern Cebu, to the Pasil Fish Market in Cebu City to deliver fish.
But this did not prepare him for a CS-delivery, which costs more than P40,000.
“Excited og nalipay kaayo ko bisag Caesarian,” he said.
Andy said he hoped both his children would grow up to be responsible individuals. His first child is a girl. She is now two years old.
“I hope they finish their studies and become professionals ,” Andy said.
With the high cost of living, this may be the couple’s last child.
“Two children are enough because it's too hard to earn money nowadays,” he said.
In the same hosptial Charis Avergonzado, a 23-year-old nurse, was filled with joy in giving birth to her first child.
Her husband, who works abroad, was not at her side and the delivery required a Ceasarian operation but this did not dampen the young mother’s spirit.
“It was a very satisfying experience,” said the resident of Minglanilla town.
Baby Alexandro had to be delivered by Caesarian Section because his umbilical cord was coiled around his neck.
Baby Alexandro was among 10 infants delivered on New Year's Day at the Cebu Maternity House.
Baby John Nińo, who was delivered at 12:19 a.m., was reported to be the first infant born on New Year's Day.
He is the fifth son of Rodrigo and Nympha Cayson of Cebu City.
Common advice from parents of the New Year babies: Couples should plan the size of their families especially since the economy promises tough times ahead.
