WHY MY KIDS HAVE ONE NAME

 My name is Regina Lyn. I grew up being called "Gina" at home. Anyone who knew me when I was a child would call me Gina. In high school, someone started calling me "Reg". Since then, that name stuck with me, and I preferred to be called Reg until college onwards, leaving my baby nickname behind.

Sometimes during classes, I would be called Regina by my teachers. In grade school, my old teachers would even pronounce it in Spanish (Re.hi.na). Grade school classmates would refer to me as Regina. After college, someone preferred to call me "Reggie," and that name stuck with a few people who first heard me being called as such.

One time, my sister-in-law in the US sent money through Western Union using Regina as my first name. She forgot to include my second name "Lyn" and I wasn't able to claim that money because of the second name that was in my ID, but was forgotten by the sender. She had to change the name in her recipient profile before I could actually claim it. That was in 2015, 2 years before I gave birth to my firstborn.

Since then, I promised that when I have my own children, I will not give them a hard time with their names. I will only give them one name. 

So today, I have Shalom (peace), Agatha (noble), and Alexis (defender). Each name carefully selected and prayed for, with the prayer that my children will live up to the meaning of their names.

MY LIFE-GIVING JOURNEY: AGATHA

When my firstborn was seven months old, I found out I was pregnant again (after finally deciding to start using contraceptive pills that can be used when breastfeeding). I bought a pack of pills, and the instruction says to make sure I wasn't pregnant, so I got a PT kit. Turns out, I was positive

MY LIFE-GIVING JOURNEY: ALEXIS

MY LIFE-GIVING JOURNEY: SHALOM

May 15, 2017, at 01:46 PM, our little boy, Shalom Mondez Sumatra came out of my womb and into this world. We are blessed with a healthy baby boy weighing 3400 grams. The contractions started around 3AM, I went to the hospital around 9:30, and he came out in the afternoon after the painful contractions and a few pushes. Everything went well and baby was good in breastfeeding.

Even before we got married, my husband and I thought of the name Shalom for our future child (whether boy or girl). So when we got pregnant, it was a given what we were going to name him. My 2-year old nephew was the first to find out :)

Shalom, in Hebrew, means peace.

My pregnancy with him was generally "peaceful". I was surprised that I didn't have the common symptoms during the first trimester. I never had morning sickness or vomiting. I lost my appetite for a while, and only ever craved for fresh coconut (juice and meat), which my husband made sure to buy for me every single day when he was around. 

Because he was still assigned in Tacloban, there were more times that I was on my own, and I am thankful that I did not have any hard times being alone. I felt exhausted in the afternoon after working all day, and that made me sleep early (around 8 pm). I made sure I ate only fruits and vegetables, and occasionally have some meat (but I craved for it more). I did pregnancy yoga from the first trimester until the last. It attribute me fast labor and delivery to the yoga routines I did almost everyday.

During the entire pregnancy, I still traveled a lot for work. I finished my Peace Leadership Programme in Siem Reap, Cambodia during my first month. I traveled to Davao del Norte for work when I was three months pregnant. 

At 7 months pregnant, my father-in-law succumbed to his sickness and died, not being able to meet his grandson. I traveled with my sister to Davao for his funeral, and my husband had to go back to Tacloban right after.

Few days after I gave birth to Shalom, the Marawi siege occurred. My husband went there for relief work and saw the painful situation of  thousands of people affected, even newborns like our own son. We felt really blessed that we had comfort and security to welcome our firstborn. 

A month later, my husband decided to work in Palawan. We soon visited him there for a month with my parents. We were able to bring Shalom (and my parents) to a tour in Coron island and in the Calauit Safari where he was able to come close to giraffes and zebras.

Shalom was 7 months old when my brother visited from the US. We had a family reunion with three kids in the family: Rosh, Elias, and Shalom.

MY LIFE-GIVING JOURNEY (BACKGROUND)

 If you knew me back in 2007, then you probably know that I only have one ovary. It was one of the most challenging times of my life, being confined in a hospital for the first time, to have a surgery to remove a growing ovarian cyst. Little did I know, during my surgery, the doctors decided to cut my fallopian tube and remove my left ovary, since the cyst they removed was already enclosing the ovary. 

Since then, at the age of 17, I have already been asked multiple times if I will still be able to have children. Since then, I have started fervently praying to God to give me my own children, even before I started praying for a lifetime partner.

9 years later, I married the man that God rewarded me with, and soon after, we were blessed with a baby! Ten years after my life-changing ovarian cyst removal, I gave birth to a healthy baby boy through Normal Spontaneous Delivery. He was the answer to my decade-long prayer, and proof that God is faithful indeed.

One year and four months later, our baby girl came out and proved to be our joy and gift from above. While we were still contemplating whether having two kids is enough, we found out we were having another baby. The global pandemic, that is Covid 19, has changed many things around the world, and through the midst of it, I gave birth to our third child, another baby girl.

Throughout my third pregnancy, my husband and I decided he was going to have vasectomy. He agreed because for him, it is the most responsible thing any family man can do for his family. 

We know that in the Philippine society year 2021, vasectomy is still largely not accepted by men of any demographics. There is a notion that vasectomy lessens their "manhood". 

I am extremely blessed that my husband does not confine with the notions of society, but prioritizes only what is best for me and our children. Having three kids was enough for us, knowing the responsibility that goes with raising them, disciplining, and educating them. 

Natural family planning methods do not work for us, as proven by the birth of our two kids who are products of "calendar" and "withdrawal" methods. Pills have extreme side effects on me, particularly weight gain and anxiety. I never considered trying out other contraceptive methods which all require "women" to do the sacrifice. Therefore, I had several "talks" with my husband about vasectomy, and he did not give me a hard time to convince him at all.

Tomorrow, he will "go under the knife" (if that applies to him). I will be there with him and support him and show him how truly proud and grateful I am for having him as my partner in life.