Another angel for Mikey Arroyo

Pink roses, teddy bears and heart-shaped balloons welcomed Mikaela Gloria Montenegro Arroyo when she was wheeled into her mom Angela’s suite at the Makati Medical Center the other day. The bedimpled, 7.1-lb. baby took her place in her mother’s arms soon after she was born by Caesarian section on Nov. 4. In keeping with the modern practice of babies rooming in with their mothers, baby Mikaela won’t be sleeping in the hospital nursery.

"I’m going to breastfeed her, so she has to be close," says her mom Angela, who was sitting up in bed the afternoon I visited mother and daughter. She looked none the worse after her Caesarian, and was savoring a bite from a bar of Food for the Gods. It was the first time she took in solid food in 48 hours.

She was rushed to the hospital at 8 a.m. Monday, four hours after her water bag burst.

"I have a high tolerance for pain," confides Angela, "I wasn’t screaming or kicking even when the contractions hurt."

Angela was expecting a normal delivery. But since her water bag burst and the baby wasn’t engaged in the birth canal as yet, Dr. Greg Pastorfide decided to perform a Caesarian on her by 9 p.m. Monday night. "Otherwise, bacterial infection would have set in," Angela pointed out.

Angela says she was awake as Dr. Pastorfide performed the Caesarian on her. "I felt a lot of action in my stomach, but no pain," she recalls.

"The baby was out in 10 minutes," recalls Angela. In the recovery room a few hours later, she called for her sister Rose.

"Please hold my hand," she asked Rose. At that time, Angela’s husband Mikey was in San Francisco, as he was not expecting her to give birth just yet. Her mother Charito was also in the US. Angela’s sister Emilie Yupangco spent the night in the hospital with her.

Despite hourly calls from Mikey and seven bouquets (three on Monday night and four on Tuesday) accompanied by "I love you’s" dictated via long distance to the florist, Angela felt alone and lonely in the wee hours after her delivery.

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I took a long close look at Mikaela, one of the most behaved newborns I have seen. In the hour I was in her room, she cried only once, and that was when she was hungry. She was asleep most of the time.

She has thick wavy black hair that clung to her head like a bonnet. Angela’s aunt Linda Morelos said the baby has GMA’s upturned nose.

"The cheeks are Mikey’s but the chin is definitely Angela’s," added Rose.

Mikaela has a dimple in the right cheek, just like Angela.

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For now, Angela, who is taking a break from work in her father’s firm to take care of Mikaela, is looking forward to being a hands-on mom. She has hired a midwife to help her care for baby Mikaela

She has even installed a small Zen water fountain in Mikaela’s nursery to help relax the baby.

Angela also is determined to lose the 50 pounds she has gained during her pregnancy in the next couple of months.

If Mikaela remains as good-natured and well-behaved in the next few weeks as she was on her first day in this world, Angela won’t be having sleepless nights. Her baby seems to have the disposition of an angel.

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