Chapter Seven [ Stillborn infant]

Chapter Seven: [Stillborn infant]

Although she has neighbors who don't seem conversational and interesting, Daniele started to loathe her new surroundings and the area because the house and its amenities are unusual to her.

Nine months pregnant, Danielle is having trouble moving around. However, she continuously keeps herself occupied by repairing her pregnant child's clothing and creating new, higher-quality accessories from scratch for David's handicraft business.

Daniele learns to be content with whatever life throws at her marriage to David and her new unborn child. She can't wait to meet her own child. As David had previously prepared a lovely space for the baby's birth, she sets up the cot and wall curtains.

Their new location's surroundings one early morning appear adversely gloomy, foggy, and sprinkled with rain. After finishing her work, Daniele chose to sit down on a wooden armchair and left her door open so that fresh air could freely enter their small apartment. She had begun to hammer nails into the concrete wall where she planned to attach the baby's curtains with the crib.

She has a neighbor who has three grown children upstairs who frequently come down to play in front of her door. The kids occasionally like to crack jokes and like chit-chatting with Daniele, who is constantly busy working on crafts. Their noises and fights cause Daniele to worry.

Their mother still appears to be younger than her actual age, and Daniele accepts all of her neighbors' relationships with married men. She has been advised not to judge others in order to avoid being judged herself. Daniele still smiles at them and lets them pass by her downstairs apartment. David is busy but frequently returns home for rest and relaxation. He frequently reminds Daniel to get rid of any trouble against others, especially to the neighbor as it endangers to him.

Daniele has no more room to exert effort discussing serious matter with David in her pregnancy period ready to bloom. That week seems abnormal because David didn’t arrive. But Daniele always presumes that David has many businesses meeting and clients to deal with and not create any problems because it may cause bad luck for blessings to come.

To provide her with spiritual inner strength and guidance in daily living with others, she consistently studied the Book of Psalms in the Old Testament of the Holy Bible.

That early morning of rainy season, Daniele thought she was just perspiring a lot from her groin, which is beside between her two legs, but she realizes that the water streams from her vaginal canal as her womb is hardened and her unborn baby stretches frequently. The water flowed suddenly between Daniele's two legs, quickly rushing down her two legs down to her knees and toes and to the floor.

Instead of experiencing pains to labor in pangs of delivery, she is oblivious of the other symptoms of a new mother giving birth. On the other hand, she doesn't experience any pain other than the baby's persistent, hard stretching in her womb.

In the back of her mind, Daniele asks herself, "How could I give birth if I don't have the pains?"

The midwife and her companion walk by as Daniele brings up the scenarios, and they both smile before leaving her. She brings up the events to her young neighbors, who all break into laughter as they carry on playing ball.

She doesn't think about going for a walk to the hospital as if she's entirely unprepared but rather waiting for pains to start. She never becomes anxious but continues to engage in joyful conversation with her younger neighbor.

Even though it is now late in the day, she doesn't seem to be in any pain as she prepares to deliver her baby.

“There is blood stains in my underwear. How could it b? I'm already worried, but I only have P500 without meals. Why don't I feel the birth pain?”

She keeps asking till 7 o'clock in the evening and it's already getting dark. Without taking into account the possibility that doing so would impede Daniele from giving birth to her kid safely, the midwife chose to inject her with a substance to cause agony.

The midwife's acquaintance, who is also her friend, murmurs to a neighbor upstairs,

"She should recommend to go to hospital rather than pressing other techniques which is harmful for the baby and the mother." It is not hidden from Daniele's family's perception. She simply speculates that the nurse competes with her friend, a midwife. In addition, the nurse is only a guest at the midwife's private residence, where her live-in partner occasionally engages in sexual activity with her midwife friend.

Everyone is blissfully unaware of the danger until Daniele experiences excruciating pain lasting from 11 pm to 4 am, but the baby has not yet emerged. When the baby does emerge, Daniele is overjoyed and excited. It is a very beautiful and healthy baby, but Daniele is oblivious to the baby's first cry.

“How come my infant won't cry? “It takes a while for the baby to make her first sound, Daniele’s worried as she insists to the midwife while Ate Celie and the nurse who is a friend of the midwife watch and are unsure of what to do or say. This is their first interaction with cases of a first child birth delivery.

Danielle struggles to sit up straight after forcing herself to get out of bed using both arms to support her frail body. She then continuously turns to the baby's nose while the midwife just newly cleans the newborn under warm water on the basin, trying to reach the baby's mouth and nose to breathe through it.

The midwife proclaims,

"I still need to forces the mother's placenta which is still inside her womb. It would be harmful for her to allow it stay inside her longer as it poisons her whole-body system. We should rush and transport the baby to the nearest hospital for emergency."

As her sister is awaiting the arrival of a new member of their family, Daniele and the midwife were left alone with her sister.

That was when the volcano erupted, spewing ashfall all over the northern region.

Danielle is in pain at the moment, but she has faith in God, and God is aware of her desire for a child. It is already early afternoon, but her newborn baby has not yet returned. The atmosphere seems to be experiencing sudden catastrophes. There's fog all over the atmosphere. That noontime seems like an ashfall as everything around is covered with wet ashes as the rains drizzle continuously.

A volcanic eruption that took place far away in the nation's north was reported to Daniele. The volcano unexpectedly erupted after sleeping on its own nests for 100 years, contrary to what was believed to be the case. This news caused Daniele pain because it restricted her activities and posed a risk to the lungs of her newborn baby. Despite this, she continued to hope for the well-being of her child. Daniele is anticipating David's arrival just as she did her newborn child. She expects her neighbors to be concerned about saving her child. Daniele anticipated that her baby would return home alive and that she would no longer be alone.

Danielle couldn't cry as if she had no more strength for the next chapter of her life. She chooses to accept the reality as what she learned in her prior studies and trainings inside the convent.

However, a worse situation added to her agony: her newborn baby was lying inside the coffin brought by the funeral services. The baby was still breathing and had a heartbeat while being transported to the hospital, but it passed away as a result of prolonged exposure without an air ventilation system. However, her neighbor decided to keep going in order to avoid snitches and unfounded accusations. They tried to assist in their own ways, and Daniele had no right to tell them how to proceed. They actually preferred that her baby not live in this world.

The nurse has just informed Daniele about the neighbors' behavior during those emergency circumstances afterward. Daniele knows that her newborn baby is alive as she heard a short cry. One neighbor and the nurses volunteer to bring the newborn baby to the hospital. But they don't exert so much effort to be in a hurry instead the other one chats with the nurse while walking on their way to grab the vehicle.

If they really want to save the baby's life, they can walk there. However, they waited a little longer as they waited for passing cars in the early morning rain and falling ash.

” What’s the matter with your neighbor? Why do they say that it’s better that your baby died? They can even declare that your baby has no father!” That’s what the nurse questions Daniele. Daniele suffers in agony secretly. David doesn’t return home yet.

She would prefer not to be crazy and treat herself as her patient in a mental institution. What she experiences seems like a passive reaction as she prays, but if she were functioning as a psychiatrist of herself at this point, she most likely yelled and got upset about this horrible fate.

“I'm not sure if this is Your will, Father God!” Adding,

“Although I am a doctor and have read extensively about marriage, pregnancy, childbirth, and parenthood, I am still unskilled and uneducated in many other areas. This is because of my lack of knowledge regarding abnormal child birth. However, if David were here, he would not permit me to give birth at home with an inexperienced midwife.” Daniele prays.

"Lord, I only ask that you accept the souls of my deceased newborn baby into your kingdom as I commit her to your loving arms." Daniele groans quietly.

While she organizes her dead baby's funeral for several days without David, as well as when she carries her dead baby to the cemetery for her final burial, she is helped by her parents and other family members. Even though she is spending the week of the funeral with her entire family, David is still not present. Nobody dared to inquire about it, but everyone nodded in sympathy as they shared her grief over the loss of her firstborn child.

Danielle's mother gives her the advice to ask David to affirm their prior marriage in order to make it legally binding after the baby’s buried in the cemetery. In a show of respect, her father is silent. Her family members continue to sympathize with her and exhort her to keep her composure while they all work to prevent the issue from growing worse.

Daniele is thankful experiencing genuine love from her first-generation family, which she loves and longs for. She stayed and waited for David's return no matter how long it took, but she trusts him. “If he won't return, I can be sure that David will dare to let me know by any means.” The sympathizers eventually dispersed.

Danielle is back to being alone in her apartment because David hasn't yet arrived. Meanwhile, Danielle's neighbor and the midwife, who were both by her side during the crisis, are both starving to death.

Danielle tells them calmly and gently, “Okay, I'll give you shares when my husband arrives. Anyhow, thank you for those times that you all didn't leave me alone.” She is still in pain and unable to withstand the next tragedy. Her desire at that time is for David to return and tell him about the tragic moments that happen to her and his newborn baby. Danielle is interested in continuing her family life with David.

Danielle’s muses that she quietly taking time to relax, be still and feel the love and care of the Creator and Giver of life. Daniele intends to reassure David with those encouraging words when he arrives: "We will still have more children, many children."