RICHARD FUJIRO UEHARA

Richard Fujiro C. Uehara was a very active fetus. It was peculiar that he would roll and kick whenever my professor in Criminal Law was lecturing; it must be his booming voice that agitated the baby. However, I was not able to continue my studies for long, because a bad bump on the road during one of my commute trips home started a series of premature birth contractions, which made it imperative that I take absolute bed rest.

He was right on time. Right after lunch on the 27th of August this year, I was brought to the hospital. Fujiro was born at 6:57 PM.

A Star is Born

I was still groggy when I was rolled out of the operating room, but I managed a feeble “Ay, ang cute” before I zonked out again. I couldn’t room in with him because he apparently ingested some fecal matter, so he had to take antibiotics through a hep-lock until he was two weeks old.

Jiro month by month

Month One

He’s one burpy baby. He belches like a grownup. He grunts like he’s always trying to poop with difficulty. I have called him Bajungjung during this time, and it has caught on ever since. Now, everybodyin the family calls him Bajungjung. One of his other nicknames is Choochoo. The story behind that was when I was pregnant with Fujiro, I once asked his eldest brother Scott what he would like to name the baby, and he said with the matter-of-factness of a six-year old, “Choochoo”.

The first thing that made us revel about him was that he wasn’t a crybaby at all. Whenever he had to take shots, he’ll only cry when the needle is inserted, and immediately stop when the needle has been taken out.

His doctor had to tell me that I had to ease up on breastfeeding because he had already doubled his birth weight on his second week—which meant that he was already overweight.

Month Two

By two months, he was already used to sleeping with his neck settled on the crook of my arm. When he went down with a cold, he insisted on sleeping with his upper body slightly propped up on a pillow so that he could breathe better.

He is a child of many advanced achievements. Already he was trying to lift and turn his head. He laughed and smiled a lot while sleeping. He also tried to turn sideways already and he always smiled sweetly whenever he woke up. He was so amused whenever he yawned or sneezed that he smiled after which.

You could tell that he would be a voracious eater. His second chin was prominent.

Would you believe that the only person who could put him to sleep quickly was his dear old Dad? There’s some Magic in Richard’s arms and swaying that instantly calms the baby down and puts him to sleep.

Month Three

At three months, he laughed louder and was able to lift his head more firmly. He also kept on trying to turn sideways. He is captivated by the tv and he seems to like watching SPongebob shows. He also cooed when he was spoken to. It was also endearing that he liked to hold on to my finger during feeding.

Oney and I still bathed him together. We did chores and took care of him in tandem. Whenever we had to bathe him and laid him down on the support net in the tub, he would make a little fountain of weewee just after he touches the water. He liked bathing, and looks relaxed whenever his father would soap him down.

He weighed 5 Kg at this month.


The Mom