Be Inspired: 4 Moms and their Miracle Babies

Manilyn Reynes, 41
Singer and actress
Mom to Kyle, 17, Kirk, 11, and Kael, 2 years old
Married to Aljon Jimenez, 44, entrepreneur
 
“Ang tagal naming naghintay na magka-baby ulit — eight years! In 2010, I had a miscarriage on my fourth month of pregnancy. My husband Aljon and I talked about the miscarriage as part of the healing process. Little by little, Aljon opened my mind. He said, ‘It’s not the end. I know it’s hard for you — it’s hard for me, too — pero bibigyan pa rin tayo ulit ng anak.’ My older sons also accepted that the baby wasn’t for us and that he is already up there, watching over us.     

“Two years after the miscarriage, I got pregnant again. But on my sixth month of pregnancy, I was diagnosed with placenta previa; my placenta was too low and too near the cervix kaya nagkaroon ng bleeding. It happened on my birthday. The bleeding wasn’t a sign of premature delivery, but there was a chance I’d lose the baby. I had to stay in the hospital for three days for fetal monitoring. We were so scared. The doctor told Aljon, ‘I cannot make Manilyn go to work.’

“I was put on bed rest for about two months. I had to do everything in bed. I couldn’t even sit up. I’m really thankful to my husband for taking very good care of me. Inalagaan din ako nina Kyle and Kirk whenever Aljon was away.

“Thankfully, I never bled again. The doctors said that everything would be okay as long as we followed their orders, but we still prayed hard every day for the baby we’d been waiting for for so long. Eventually, I felt better during my eight month, kaya lang, napaaga naman ’yung labor ko. When Kael was born, he had a blood infection because of the fever I had the night before my C-section.  He had to undergo a lot of tests, and we had to stay in the hospital for his two-week antibiotic treatment.

“A few days after I gave birth, I was diagnosed with dengue. Buti na lang walang mas malalang nangyari kay Kael. But that time, whenever my older sons would visit me at the hospital, iniisip ko na it might be the last time we would see each other — ang hirap.

“Nahirapan  akong malampasan ang lahat ng iyon, pero dahil sa suporta ng pamilya ko, naibsan ang sakit. I’m blessed with a very supportive and loving family. Wala na akong mahihiling pang iba. Now, I’m very happy to see my three children growing up to be good and kindhearted people. When they were still in my womb, I would tell them: ‘Be good. Wag mang-aapak ng iba.’ It is so wonderful to see how my kids have turned out. Hindi naman sa nagbubuhat ako ng bangko, but I feel like I’ve done a great job [raising the kids] together with my husband.”

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Tanya Medina, 38
Mom to Pilar Zita, 9, and Olivia Beatriz, 3
Married to John, 44, banker

“When John and I got married, having kids was not a priority since we were both young and just starting our careers. A year after, we decided to have a baby. Unfortunately, despite all of our best efforts, I didn’t get pregnant.   

“After about a year of trying, we sought help from a fertility doctor. I was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome, a hormonal disorder that prevents me from ovulating properly. John and I had been trying for two years by the time we switched doctors, and the toll of the hormonal treatments and the depressing sight of negative pregnancy tests were wearing us down. “Our second doctor changed my drug regimen, and in a month, I developed five follicles that could each mature into an egg. But the eggs started to die — all but one. We did artificial insemination to fertilize that lone egg to increase our odds.  

“At last, after more than two years of waiting and heartbreak, I finally got pregnant. I spent the entire pregnancy in bed — and almost miscarried twice. In November 2004, we were finally blessed with Pilar Zita, and she was worth the wait.

“When Pilar turned three, we decided to try to have more kids. I quit my job as a banker to focus on getting pregnant again. We switched to in vitro fertilization, and were able to harvest and fertilize eight embryos. The doctors implanted four in me, and the rest were frozen. Of the four that were implanted, one took. Sadly, I went into preterm labor on my 23rd week and gave birth to our daughter Ines too soon. She lived for only three days.  

“Despite the devastating loss, we tried again after six months. After the last four embryos were implanted in me, I got pregnant with twins. I spent most of this pregnancy lying in bed, fearful that I would go into preterm labor again. And I did — at 20 weeks. Our twins Carmen and Chavo survived only for minutes. “We were heartbroken and decided to stop trying to have another child. We had already been blessed with one, so we thought we’d just focus all our love and attention on Pilar.

“Then a friend gave me a 54-day novena, and I decided to pray it. But I never asked for another baby. I just asked for healing and acceptance of God’s plan for us. Six weeks after I finished the novena, I kept getting sick. John was worried that the fertility treatments and the pregnancies had taken their toll on me, but it also felt like I was pregnant, so I took a pregnancy test to check. It was positive! When the doctor confirmed the pregnancy, I was already six weeks pregnant! If his calculations were right, I had gotten pregnant on the last day of my novena.    

“In June 2010, I gave birth to Olivia Beatriz. She is my only naturally conceived child. Borne of loss and enduring faith, she is living proof that miracles do happen. Despite the children that John and I lost and the long journey we had been on, our two girls are here, and we know how blessed we are and what a privilege it is to finally be parents.”

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Sharon May Banocnoc, 41
Mom to Matthew Louis, 14, and Ysabelle May, 7
Married to Luis, 44, IT executive

 “Matt came into our lives during Christmastime in 1999. I was so excited to see my baby for the first time, but I didn’t get to cuddle and nurse him right after giving birth. Barely a day old, he had to be rushed to the Philippine General Hospital for an operation that lasted 10 hours.

“On my seventh month of pregnancy, the doctor had discovered that Matt had hydrocephalus (fluid buildup in the brain) and spina bifida. These terms, especially ‘spina bifida’ — literally ‘open spine’ — had scared me and my husband at first. Eventually, we learned that during the first trimester of my pregnancy, Matt’s spine didn’t close at the middle. “It’s very rare for Asians to have spina bifida. Matt not only has it — he has its worst form: myelomeningocele in the thoraco-lumbar spine. That means he is paralyzed from the hips down. He also has kyphosis or a curving of the spine. His motor skills, among other things, are also affected. He has delays and difficulties in speech and learning, too, but he is hyperlexic. He absorbs words and information easily through reading and hearing; he also has an amazing memory.

“Back to the surgery: The doctors sealed the opening in Matt’s spine through skin grafting. They also placed a permanent shunt inside his head to drain the excess fluid to his stomach. This surgery was the first of several Matt would undergo during the first six years of his life to address the complications of spina bifida.

“To deal with these problems, Matt also needed therapy aside from surgery. He started undergoing occupational therapy and speech therapy at six months. We owe a lot to his very dedicated therapists. They have been handling Matt for more than nine years already, and they’ve seen how much he has developed. He doesn’t need a shadow teacher now to help him write legibly and answer his tests.

“I will never forget what his neurologist advised us years ago: ‘Do not look for things that he cannot do, but be thankful for every little thing that he has achieved.’ We celebrate his little victories such as learning how to clap properly and getting over his fear of the rain. We also let him be where he’s happy. For example, we could actually send him to a regular school, but we are content with his small SPED school because that’s where he is happy. We’ve accepted him for who he is.

“My son has been through a lot, but he has also improved a lot because of the help of his longtime therapists, his brilliant doctors, and our relatives who form our support system. Our firm faith in God also keeps us strong. Matt may hit some milestones much later than his peers, he may not be able to do many things that others can, and he may be ‘high-maintenance,’ but we stay strong for him always. If we had given up on him, he wouldn’t have shown any improvement at all.

“I share Matt’s story because I’d like him to be an inspiration to others, especially to those who have children with special needs. Matt has hurdled a lot of difficulties— all of us in the family have. If he can do it, then so can your child. If we can do it, then so can you.”

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Maria Carla Casiño, 35
Educator
Mom to Anika Kahlee, 1 year old
Married to Genard, 32, credit specialist

 “It was December 2010, but Genard and I weren’t excited for the holidays — we had just lost a child for the second time. I was also struggling with my health. Before Anika, I had two miscarriages, and it was only after going through them did the doctors discover a cyst on my left ovary.

“By February 2011, the cyst was almost the size of a fist. All of my doctors told me to have it removed because it could be cancerous, but I did not want to undergo a biopsy. Removing one ovary would lessen my chances of getting pregnant, too.

“I went regularly to the Quiapo church with my husband to pray for a child. One Friday, I asked the Lord to send us someone who could help me. As soon as we stepped out of the church, we saw a friend who asked if I already had a baby. After I told her about my growing cyst, she referred me to a practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine in Ongpin (in Chinatown).

“The doctor explained why I had miscarried: The nutrients that were supposed to go to the fetus went to the cyst instead. He gave me very bitter herbs mixed with powdered insects to drink several times daily.

“After six months, I went for an ultrasound to check if the cyst had grown. I was prepared to hear bad news, but the doctor could not find any cyst at all. The cyst was completely gone and I was pregnant! It was a wonderful gift from God.

“I thought God’s test was over... but I began to spot. The doctors warned me of another possible miscarriage. I went back to the doctor in Ongpin. He gave me medicine to make the spotting stop, and it did.

“On my 32nd week, the doctors discovered that the baby wasn’t growing much. On the 33rd week, my blood pressure was too high, so I had to stay in the hospital. A week later, my water bag broke at home and I bled profusely, so I was rushed again to the hospital.

“The baby was delivered through C-section. Due to my high blood pressure, the placenta got detached from my baby; this jeopardized her oxygen supply and threatened her life. Because she had neonatal pneumonia and fluctuating blood-sugar levels (a result of my gestational diabetes), she had to be put inside an incubator immediately.

“My heart sank when I saw Anika for the first time. She was as tiny as a newborn kitten, with so many wires attached to her from different machines. The stress she experienced while in my womb, however, helped strengthen her lungs.

“Though my OB-gyn did not charge us much for the very complicated CS, our hospital bills still piled up. We even tried selling some of our wedding gifts to solve our financial crisis. Then one of our wedding sponsors, Ninong Robert Velasco, offered to pay for the balance after learning about Anika. Soon after, our pedia said we could bring our baby home. She was weaned from the incubator in two days and we got her out in less than a month — much earlier than we expected.

“I then recalled what my brother said: ‘You will be amazed by how the power of God works. Even someone unexpected will be sent to you to prove that He knows your needs and what you are going through.’ Difficulties may come our way, but nothing can stop God’s will from being done.”

Photos by Alfred Mendoza, make up by Brian Yokota and Pipo Santos, hairstyling by Gerald Akiama.