In Rome 26Sep - 5Oct

[posted by Eileen]

Thank you Lord for our beautiful trip to Roma.

A blessed and spiritual pilgrimage for Justin & I with our daily church visitations, especially when we get to go to the Basilica of Saint Mary Major (Feast day of the Basilica on 5th August, a special day that Justin & I will forever remember dearly).  We tried to go to the Basilica often during our 10 days trip. We also get to see the Eucharistic Miracles of Bolsena and Lanciano, the relic of the True Cross at Basilica of the Holy Cross In Jerusalem, and the Holy Stairs (Scala Sancta). And attended Masses at The Basilica of St. Mary of the Angels, and at the Cathedral of Orvieto.

A wonderful time spent with our former priest in BSC, Fr Remi Liando who was with us on pilgrimage for 6 days out of our 10 days trip, and communal bonding with fellow catechists Paul and Jacqueline who happened to be in Rome too.

A nice time catching up with friends Cedric and his wife over dinner (they happened to be in Rome as well).

And most of all, daily yummy gelato treats... as Justin always says "A gelato a day keeps you happy all day! " 

Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore

Remembering our darling

We finally found the perfect photoframe (L-O-V-E) to put up the lovely precious pictures of our angel Raphaelle. :-)

White Roses

[posted by Eileen]

As mentioned previously, Raphaelle was born on the day in dedication of the Basilica of St Mary Major (or known popularly as Our Lady of Snows). On the 5th August each year, a custom that commemorates the story of the miraculous snowfall is still maintained: at the conclusion of the Solemn Mass in the Basilica, a shower of white rose petals is dropped from the dome of the Chapel of our Lady. 

Therefore, Justin and I decided to buy white roses for Raphaelle's niche at St Teresa's Church and we managed to find a small bunch of white+yellow artificial roses for the niche. :-)

Today is 6 September and it has been a month since Raphaelle was called home to our Lord. Justin and I attended the sunset Mass, and we were pleasantly surprised to see that the church is decorated with similar white+yellow roses at the sanctuary. What a beautiful way for us in memory of our daughter Raphaelle. :-)

Time flies

[posted by Eileen]

Time flies...a month has passed since that special day when Raphaelle was born, and I am thankful to God that I have you @Justin Teo to journey with me.

Today we believe God wants us to know that....

[posted by Eileen]

From the facebook 'God wants you to know' app today...

Today we believe that God wants us to know that...
beginnings are only possible where there are endings

Clear acknowledged endings are as necessary to intelligible life, as pauses between notes to intelligible music. although endings sometimes feel like the end of you, take them for what they really are, - the end of a stage in your life. Here is to new beginnings!

Thank you Lord Jesus for today's message. Amen.

Amen

Internment of Ashes

We collected Raphaelle’s ashes in the morning and internment of ashes at St Teresa's Church was done in the afternoon, with a short prayer service by Fr Thomas from BSC. With early planning and also the help of family and close friends, the entire process following Raphaelle’s passing went smoothly. We both deeply missed Raphaelle but knowing that she is a saint and is in Heaven watching over us will be our source of comfort in our grief. Please continue to pray for us and our families.

They says when it rains, a great person joins God in heaven

God has always been there for us, in all time and seasons

[posted by Justin]

We just finished praying our daily rosary today with much difficulty, cos we have been praying with Raphaelle for the past 9 months. The difference being that she is no longer physically with us but spiritually with us.

Today is the Feast of the Transfiguration of Jesus. God really knows when to bring Rapahelle home. And as today is Wed, Eileen and I got to pray the Glorious Mysteries of the rosary, starting with the Resurrection of Jesus. I must say that God is telling us to believe in Him. We have chosen the following phrase for Raphaelle's tablet: "In Him we live and move and have our being." Acts 17: 28

We are sharing this with you to testify that God has always been there for us, in all time and seasons. 

Baby Raphaelle called home to be with our Lord

[posted by Eileen]

Wednesday, 6^th August

At around 3.55am in the morning, the nurse from NICU came over and told us that Raphaelle was having breathing difficulties and she would bring her back to our ward. At 4.11am this morning, baby Raphaelle was called home to be with our Lord. Letting her go was extremely difficult, Justin and I spent the next 2 hours with her by our side, with tears flowing down our cheeks continuously. We felt devastated but the same time, we were thankful to God that she was not born stillborn and she was strong such that we had some good hours with her.

The nurses prepared simple bread for us in the morning as we did not have much appetite. Our good friend Edwin came early at 7am to help Justin with the logistical matters. Good thing that Justin had already planned all the funeral logistics a month beforehand and therefore, he just need to call and activated those involved. Our family members all came early for a morning prayer together at the NICU. And the pastoral manager Rose arranged to have Raphaelle’s handprints and footprints onto a small memorial booklet.

Raphaelle's Handprints & Footprints

White dress which Daddy and Mummy specially bought for Raphaelle to wear
Beanie hat & booties from Godpa Julius & Godma Karen

While Justin and Edwin were busy settling the administrative matters such as birth and death certificate and the funeral logistics, I was resting in my ward and getting my siblings to help with the packing since I was planning to be discharged by noon (instead of the next day as originally planned). Now I appreciate the fact that I did not go for cesarean because I would not be able to get out of my bed if I had the surgery and will not be able to be present for cremation that afternoon or the interning of ashes the next day.

Raphaelle’s funeral service was held at the chapel at Mt Alvernia hospital that afternoon at 2.15pm. We were comforted by the many church friends, Antiochers and Justin's colleagues who turned up at such short notice, and the chapel was full. Fr Anthony Hutjes came to conduct the service and shared that God speaks to us today in our moment of grief and that we should trust in God that today on the Feast of the Transfguration when Raphaelle was called back home to heaven and that we can be assured that her body is also transfigured like Jesus, and that she is now a Saint in heaven watching over us for she did not sin and that she was properly baptised by her father, Justin. After the service, we proceed to Mandai Crematorium and baby Raphaelle was cremated at 3.45pm.

Funeral Service @ the Chapel

We went back to Blessed Sacrament Church after the cremation to collect Raphaelle's baptism certificate and now we can say that Raphaelle is officially a Catholic.

Entering our bedroom was the toughest part when we reached home that evening because it reminded us of baby Raphaelle who was with us for the past 41 weeks. Our daily chats with the baby in my tummy and our daily rosary together. Even praying rosary that night took twice the amount of time. We did not hold back our tears because we knew that we have to go through this grieving process of Raphaelle’s passing, if not, it will come back to hit us again.

Here comes Baby Raphaelle!

[posted by Eileen]

Tuesday, 5^th August

6.00am

30 hours has passed and I am still at the delivery suite waiting to pop.

7.00am

Nurses come in every few hours to check my dilation and at 7.00am, my dilation remained at 2.5cm. I started epidural last night to ease the contractions pain, and I slept so soundly throughout the night after epidural. Hehehe :-)

9.00am

Dr Ong came to see me and told me that I am still dilating very slowly. Normally those in labour will go for cesarean after long hours of labour, but for my case cesarean is not recommended. So he said that if I do not deliver by the next day, I might have to go home and then come back another day. (the thought of having to go home and then come back again and restart the process is making me nervous.)

After Dr Ong left, Justin and I prayed our daily rosary together with baby Raphaelle. And we told baby Raphaelle to help mummy and come out quickly, so that mummy doesn’t have to go home and come back again on another day for labour. Daddy also told Raphaelle that no matter what happens, we love her and that we will always be together because she will always be in our hearts.

12.50pm

Dilation is at 4cm

2.00pm

Justin and I were watching Pirates of Carribean and then ‘POP’! my waterbag bursts! What an experience! And a big mess for the nurses to clean up! Hahaha. Baby Raphaelle must have heard Daddy and Mummy talking to her this morning asking her for help. Such a good girl.
Counting down now…. :-)

2.20pm

Dilation is at 6-7cm. The beauty of epidural is that I am able to relax and enjoy the counting down process. Hehehe

6.50pm

Dr Ong is here to deliver baby Raphaelle. During the delivery process, poor baby Raphaelle’s shoulders got stuck and she turned blue.  

7.15pm

With the help of Dr Ong and the 2 nurses, baby Raphaelle is born! 2.75kg at 50cm. Justin cut the umbilical cord and we carried our baby girl. We did it! :-) Paediatrician Dr Simon Ng is with us and he said Raphaelle has a very strong heartbeat. Praise the Lord! Justin baptised baby Raphaelle immediately and then Dr Ng placed Raphaelle in sort of a warmer to warm her up before bringing her out to see our family members who are waiting outside.

8.20pm

Nurse San told Justin that he can bring baby Raphaelle out to see our family members already. She informed Justin to warn our family first about the little girl’s bruises on her face (since she was stuck during delivery) before bringing Raphaelle to them. Justin did as he was told and our family members (who have been waiting for many hours outside the delivery ward) saw baby Raphaelle that very evening.

8.35pm and onwards

I was transferred to my ward. That night, Justin and I spent some good hours with Raphaelle and we gave thanks to God for a safe delivery and a chance for us to spend quality time with our little girl. :)

Photo of Justin & I with baby Raphaelle

@ the delivery suite

(Her face was actually quite bruised but I managed to touch up the photo with my basic photoshop skills. Thank God for technology)

Our precious family photo

Waiting to pop!

[posted by Eileen]

After a night of contractions and having to take a painkiller injection in the morning at 6.00am to ease the pain, I only dilated 1cm at 11.00am.... guess it will be a long way to go before reaching 10cm.

At least the food at Mt Alvernia is good and Justin & I get to watch nice movies on TV.
Justin told Raphaelle to take care of Daddy because the sofa is uncomfortable! lol!

At 5.45pm, the dilation was at 2.5cm.... ... ... Justin and I thought that 4th August (Feast of St John Vianney) will be the birth date of Raphaelle, but I guess Raphaelle prefers another date. ;-)

Checking in @ Mt Alvernia

[posted by Eileen]

Checking at Mt Alvernia was a breeze.

With our 'hospital bags' and also Justin's pillow (yes!! he brought his pillow along cuz he knew that he will be lying on a sofa chair! Haha), we entered Mt Alvernia and the security guard told us to proceed to level 3. At level 3, the first signage that we saw when the lift door opened was "St Raphael's Ward". Seeing the sign reassured us that God is with us and with baby Raphaelle. 

At the delivery ward, I simply told the nurse my name and she showed us our delivery suite, which looks exactly like the picture below from the internet.

Justin took care of the administrative matters and the nurses prepared me for my induction of labour.

Some time later, the contractions began….

Induce labour

[posted by Justin]

We went to the gynae this afternoon and we have decided to induce the delivery of our baby Raphaelle on Monday 4th August morning. She is 1 week overdue. Eileen and I will check in to Mt Alvernia tomorrow, Sunday 3rd August @ 2359hrs and hopefully baby Raphaelle will be delivered on Monday morning before noon.

Key dates through the eyes of God

[Posted by Justin]

I would like to share with you all what Eileen and I just found out last night while we were chatting about Archangel Raphael. I wondered when is Archangel Raphael's Feast Day and so I checked on the internet and we were surprised when we looked at the dates. 

So when we put down the key dates of our marriage and our baby Raphaelle, this is what we got.

• Our Proposal Date: 29 Sept 2002 (Roman Rite, Feast Day of Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael)
• Our Wedding Date: 8 Nov 2003 (Eastern Orthodox Rite, Feast Day of Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael)
• Raphaelle's Conception Date: 1 Nov 2013 (All Saints Day)
• Found out that Eileen is pregnant date: 13 Nov 2013 (Justin's Father's Birthday)
• Baby Raphaelle's Estimated Date of Delivery: 26 Jul 2014 (St Anne's Feast Day)

Looks like God had a plan and the Archangels were there looking out for us in our marriage. God is there all this while when we look at the key dates through the eyes of God.

The day has finally arrived! Or maybe not yet? :-)

[posted by Justin]

We just finished our gynae visit and baby Raphaelle may go past full-term of 40 weeks. As there are no signs of labour yet, the gynae has scheduled the next visit to see him next Saturday. Thank you for your support and prayers.

On High Alert!

[Posted by Justin]

Eileen and I have packed our 'hospital bags',  and this week we are on 'high alert' for any signs of contraction. Haha. Just like any 1st time parents. I know alot of people are affected by our situation and their faith in God are severely tested. I believe that everything happens for a reason and God won't give us a challenge that is too big for us to overcome.

I would like to share with you a passage from 1 Peter 1:6-7.

"In this you rejoice, although now for a little while you may have to suffer through various trials, so that the proven genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that is perishable even though tested by fire, may prove to be for praise, glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ."

Eileen and I are grateful for the support and prayers from our family, friends, colleagues and BSC parishioners. It will be tough times ahead but we will come through it. Thanks for your support and prayers. Appreciate it.

Jeremiah 29:11

[posted by Justin]

We had heavy breakfast at Tiong Bahru this morning after mass, so we decided to have dessert @ Domani Cafe for lunch. Brownies obsession, cheesecake and cappucino. Then there was this bible passage written on the chalkboard:

Jeremiah 29:11

I know well the plans I have in mind for you - oracle of the Lord - plans for your welfare and not for woe, so as to give you a future of hope.

Looks like God is 'stalking' us. ;-)

Remain united with Him!

A reflection done during our catechist meeting today:
(taken from Prayer for Living: The Word of God for Daily Prayer, authored by Sr Sandra Seow, Verbum Dei SG)

Matthew 11:28-30
Jesus said, 'Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest. Shoulder my yoke and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Yes, my yoke is easy and my burden light.'

Come
Jesus has just one word for us today. Come!
His love always bids us to come and never go away. His hands stretch out to us, wanting to give us his rest, his inner peace. Many times, when we pray this passage, we have certain resistances. We think that Jesus should then remove all problems we have in our lives. We then look at all the unpaid bills, the boss who keeps finding fault, the spouse who is always not at home, the children who are demanding and the stream of endless problems. We simply find it hard to believe the words of Jesus. Jesus will not remove our past, present and future difficulties. He tells us, ' Come to me, all you who labour and are overburdened, and I will give you rest.'

Difficulties and hardships are part and parcel of life. We will always have them, but we will also always have Jesus with us. He gives us strength, courage, peace, and love to go on.

There is a writing that goes like this:
'I asked God to take away my temptation. God said, 'No, It is not for me to take away but for you to give it up.' I asked God to make my handicapped child well. God said, 'No. Her spirit is whole. Her body is only temporary.' I asked God to give me patience. God said, 'No. Patience is a by-product of tribulations. It isn't granted. It is earned.' I asked God to give me happiness. God said, 'No, I give you blessings. Happiness is up to you.' I asked God to spare me pain. God said, 'No, Suffering draws you apart from worldly cares and brings you closer to me.' I asked God to make my spirit grow. God said, 'No. You must grow on your own, but I will prune to make you fruitful.' I asked for all things that I might enjoy life. God said, 'No. I will give you life so that you may enjoy all things.' I asked God to help me love others, as much as He loves me. God said, 'Ahhh,..finally you have the idea.' Jesus calls out to us with just one word, 'Come'

Do we go to Him so that we can find real rest? Or do we walk away from Him?

When we go to Jesus, He makes us see things, people, and events, even ourselves with eyes of faith, i.e., with God's eyes. From Him, we live a life of true inner peace, even in the midst of our storms. Let us stay close to Jesus and remain united with Him!

Baby Raphaelle turned head down :-)

[posted by Eileen]

Just finished our gynae appointment. The good news is, baby Raphaelle turned head down position! She is no longer in the breech position!! That will definitely make my natural delivery process much easier!

After the last appointment when she was still in the breech position, Justin and I constantly talked to our little girl for the past 3 weeks to ask her to help Mummy to have a smooth delivery when the time comes. Such a good girl she is, she listened and she turned! Praise the Lord!

Breech position

[posted by Eileen]

Nearing the EDD already, but Raphaelle was still at breech position during the scan from the last appointment. According to our gynae, anencephaly babies often are in breech position because they don't have the weight of their head to help them move to a head down position. However, our gynae also told us not to worry as baby Raphaelle is a small baby so I will be able to have a vaginal delivery even though she is in a breech position. (He is avoiding cesarean delivery for me as much as possible)

Trust Him with His Plan

Fetal Anomaly Screening Scan

Today, Dr Ong did the fetal anomaly screening scan of our baby. This is a detailed scan that is done at around 18 to 21 weeks for all pregnancies and the main purpose of this scan is to examine the structural anatomy of the fetus to check for major anomalies. For our case, we already know that our baby has Anencephaly. But from the scan, we were glad to find out that anencephaly is an isolated abnormality and there are no other major abnormalities detected from the ultrasound assessment.

Dear Lord, have mercy on us and grant us your blessings

From sharecatholic facebook post:

Bear Bear

We saw this cute bear today when attending lunchtime mass at Novena Church and we love it so much that we bought it. I am sure Raphaelle (in my tummy) loves the bear too. :-)  Daddy and Mummy bought it to remind ourselves that God is with us no matter what happens, and we just need to pray. :)

Christ be our light

[posted by Eileen]

Very often when I attend lunchtime mass at St Joseph @ Victoria Street, this song was sung as the opening hymn. This song reminded me that to be the Light of Christ, we need to carry our cross as well and to be the bread that is broken for others.

Christ be our light
Longing for light, we wait in darkness
Longing for truth, we turn to You.
Make us Your own, Your holy people,
light for the world to see.

Refrain:
Christ be our light!
Shine in our hearts
Shine through the darkness
Christ be our light!
Shine in Your Church gathered today.

Longing for peace, our world is troubled.
Longing for hope, many despair.
Your world alone has pow'r to save us.
Make us Your living voice.

Longing for food, many are hungry.
Longing for water, many still thirst.
Make us Your bread, broken for others,
shared until all are fed.

Longing for shelter, many are homeless.
Longing for warmth, many are cold.
Make us Your building, sheltering others,
walls made of living stones.

Many the gifts, many the people,
many the hearts that yearn to belong.
Let us be servants to one another,
making Your Kingdom come.

It's a girl!

During the routine ultrasound today, the little one was as usual, very active and kicking away non-stop. Then Dr Ong informed us that our baby is a girl! Wow! We were so happy to know that we are having a princess! So now that we know that our baby is a girl, she shall be named Raphaelle ! :-)

We find peace in God

Yes, with God... We find peace. Amen
And we also find peace when we know that we are blessed by the Lord with many wonderful family members and friends who are always there to support us and love us. It will not be an easy journey to go through for the next few months but with God, we will have peace.

Spirit of the Living God

With our heavy heart, we attended the sunset mass in BSC today and we heard this song sung by the Lumen Christi choir during Holy Communion. Such as apt song for us, in relation to our current situation. Yes, our Lord understands where we are and what we need.

Spirit of the Living God
In all of my trials, in all of my fears
In every situation, in all of my tears
There is one place of refuge, one understanding ear
So I will lift my heart up and this shall be my prayer

Chorus:
Spirit of the living God descend on me
Come and fill my heart and calm my troubled sea
Lord you understand just where I am and what I need
So Spirit of the living God descend on me

So when you're feeling burdened, with all of life's demand
And when you're broken hearted and no one understands
Don't let your heart be troubled with worry or with care
so humbly lift your heart up and let this be your prayer

2nd Opinion

[posted by Eileen]

Justin and I scheduled an appointment today with our former gynaecologist, Dr JJ Chee to seek a 2^nd opinion on the diagnosis of the baby’s condition.

Entering Dr Chee’s clinic brought back memories of those few years of our TTC (Trying To Conceive) journey at The Obstetrics & Gynaecology Centre in Paragon. Dr Chee was very happy to see the both of us and was delighted to hear that I got pregnant naturally, especially she knew very well what we have gone through during our TTC days. However after we updated her on the purpose of our visit, she became quiet and then called her nurse to prepare for the ultrasound.

During the ultrasound, she was solemn and then started to explain to us the images of our baby via the ultrasound and confirmed that our baby indeed has Acrania. After the ultrasound was done, she asked us what were our plans and we told her we decided to keep the pregnancy. Dr Chee then gave us advice on my pregnancy journey for the next few months and to be prepared for congratulatory wishes when my belly starts showing. She also said that natural delivery is preferred to cesarean in such cases.

It was great to see Dr Chee again, felt like seeing with an old friend. Hopefully the next time we meet her, we will be able to share happy news with her instead of the solemn appointment that we just had.

'Life isn't fair, get over it'

[posted by Justin]

We're not angry with God, just hoping that we can be good parents to our unborn child. And since this child is a gift from God, its His right to bring the child home at the time of His choosing. I may not understand why things happen to us but based on my past experiences, I trust in Him to do the right things for us. It'll be difficult but we'll try our best. There's something positive that comes out of this & it is that Eileen is able to conceive naturally and not through artificial means. And if in the future we encounter others in this situation, we can offer our support as we have gone through it.

I used to have a sign in my car, 'Life isn't fair, get over it'. 

I guess that's what God was trying to say to me. Now I get it.

About Anencephaly

Anencephaly is a serious birth defect in which a baby is born without parts of the brain and skull. It is a type of neural tube defect (NTD). These are birth defects that happen during the first month of pregnancy, usually before a woman knows she is pregnant. As the neural tube forms and closes, it helps form the baby’s brain and skull (upper part of the neural tube), spinal cord, and back bones (lower part of the neural tube).

Anencephaly happens if the upper part of the neural tube does not close all the way. This often results in a baby being born without the front part of the brain (forebrain) and the thinking and coordinating part of the brain (cerebrum). The remaining parts of the brain are often not covered by bone or skin. 

There is no known cure or standard treatment for anencephaly. Almost all babies born with anencephaly will die shortly after birth.

Informing the family and friends

[posted by Eileen]

Shocking. Unbelievable. In denial.
We are still in a state of shock to recover from the devastating news we heard today
Why me? Why us? We wonder. We felt so sad and helpless.

Telling our family was the hardest thing to do. My mother-in-law felt weak and my mum's legs went wobbly when they heard the news. My sister wrote a beautiful text message to me to show her support and care, "You have my support....both of you have been faithful and trusting servants, God's hands are upon you and his angels are with you, I know you will walk through this difficult journey with unwavering faith and whatever the outcome, it will lead you both to be even strong witnesses of God! My tears are with you. It is a trying time for us as a family, but we will trust."  

Yes, my sister is right. It will be a trying time for us as a family, and also for our close friends who are supporting us and praying for us right now. We may not understand why this happen to us, but we know everything happens for a reason and it is part of God's plan for us.

Jesus, our life, our strength and our joy

[posted by Eileen]

Today's scripture reflection gave us the answer. "When you find it difficult to answer God’s call to love, remember where you can go to refuel. Jesus is always there for you. He’s always ready to embrace you, to feed you, and to build you up."

That is what exactly what I need to do to move forward. Attend daily mass from now onwards to receive the Holy Communion for strength and nourishment. Look for our Lord Jesus for refuel.

Heartbreaking news

[posted by Eileen]

During the ultrasound today, we were as usual excited to see how the little one is developing, and also heard the loud heartbeat when our gynae placed the fetal doppler on my belly. However, as Dr Ong continued with the ultrasound, his facial expression changed. And he informed us of the bad news... our baby suffers from a rare condition called Acrania (which will normally develop into later stage condition named Anencephaly). It is a rare congenital disorder & it has a 100% fatality rate.  With this condition, the baby will not survive more than hours, at the most days outside the womb once delivered, and Acrania may cause a fetus to spontaneously abort before reaching term.

This was an extremely shocking news for the both of us. While I tried to remain calm at the gynae’s clinic, Justin was unable to withhold his tears. Dr Ong told us the 2 options, 1) to terminate the pregnancy, which he will recommend another gynae for this procedure as he does not do termination of pregnancy due to his beliefs, 2) to continue pregnancy to term and he will journey with us throughout.

Well, we made our decision very quickly. We were both very clear that termination of pregnancy was definitely not an option for us at all because of our religion and faith. So Justin and I decided to go through this difficult journey, even if it means leading to the birth of the baby in July for a few precious moments of the little angel's life.

Dr Ong also stopped all my hormonal injections and tablets from today and we will let nature takes it course. Dr Ong also asked us to see a priest who we are close to so that he can give us some spiritual guidance.

After leaving Dr Ong's clinic, we went to Blessed Sacrament Church, where we have been serving there since we were teenagers, to look for Fr Anthony Hutjes. Though it was his off day, he didn't hesitate to see us. When we were seated in his office, he asked us what has happened and we told him. And he said, "I am sorry to hear of your situation. I was very happy to know that Eileen is pregnant and I can see during the past few weeks, the both of you very happy and smiling when I saw both of you in church. However, whatever I am going to tell you, is what you already know I am going to say to you. But let me tell you nonetheless because that's what you needed to hear."

"Everyone will have to die someday. Some people die at an older age, some at a very young age. But what's important is that they have lived a good holy life. Your baby, if she is going to die at birth, is sinless and will go to heaven because she did not sin. And you will have to baptise her as soon as possible after birth, and I am sure Justin will do a good job of it. And if time permits, you can come to the church and one of the priests here will go and baptise her at the hospital. Both of you are good catholics and I am sure your faith will sustain you in this time of need. I will be praying for both of you."

EDD

During the dating scan (to predict the due date of the baby) today, Dr Ong informed us that the due date will be on 26th July 2014, we thought the date sounds very familiar.  After much thought, we realised that it is the Feast Day of St Joaquim and St Anne (parents of Mother Mary). What a meaningful EDD to remember!

*EDD = Expected Date Of Delivery

St Raphael

[posted by Eileen]

Justin told me that when he was attending the Parish Retreat earlier today, he heard a sermon given by Fr Augustine about St Raphael in the book of Tobit. (Briefly, St Raphael healed Tobit of blindness, he protected and guided Tobit's son named Tobiah on his travels and he delivers Tobiah's wife named Sarah from an evil demon. Tobit, Tobiah and Sarah were beset by trials and difficulties to purify them, but they remained steadfast in their faith during the period of testing, and eventually enjoyed God’s blessings and mercy. All prayed for deliverance and God sent St. Raphael.)

So Justin suggested that we named our child after St Raphael and I was very surprised when I heard this. This was because  1) We always planned to have our boys to have names that start with letter 'J' and girls with letter 'E' ever since we got married.   2) I was praying a few days ago, and during my reflection, I thought about the Theology of the Body course that Justin & I attended some months ago, and Fr David Garcia also spoke about Marriage and also reference to the book of Tobit, so I was also thinking that Raphael will be a beautiful name for our child :)

What a coincidence that both of us were thinking of the same name (it must be God's message to us).
And when we looked up the meaning of the name Raphael, it means 'God Heals'. :-)
So yes, we shall name our child after St Raphael.

It's a Miracle!

[posted by Eileen]

We have been trying to conceive a child since we got married in 2003, but without success. We have seen three gynaecologists over the years and undergone many fertility treatments but to no avail. Then in 2012, our 3rd gynaecologist suggested IVF as the next option but we did not go ahead with her suggestion as it is against our Catholic values. So after that, we decided to stop stressing ourselves to conceive a child and discontinued our treatments with the gynaecologist. 

Then in February 2013, Justin and I read from the Catholic Digest about the Naprotechnology FertilityCare program that focus on finding and treating the underlying causes of fertility problem, and also an article about Adoption. I have heard about the Naprotechnology program from a church friend before, but never proceed to find out more. Over the years, we have also thought about adoption but felt that we were not ready to adopt (Our church priest, Father Anthony even suggested to us about adoption twice because he thinks that we will make good parents even if the child is not our biological child).

So after reading the articles, Justin and I discussed and decided to give the Naprotechnology FertilityCare program a try so as to understand and learn about my fertility issue through natural fertility awareness and tracking. I started seeing the catholic general physician Dr John Hui. And also after much prayer and thought, we decided that we would like to adopt a child even if we have a biological child, and hence we signed up for the adoption briefing at Touch Community on 21st November 2013, wanting to find out more.

Then on 13th November 2013, we found out that I was pregnant! To be able to conceive naturally is a wonderful miracle for us! Dr Hui was surprised at my pregnancy because I did not have signs of ovulation that cycle. Upon checking our fertilitycare chart tracking, we also found out that the little one was conceived on 1st November 2013, Feast day of All Saints. :-)

[Even with the wonderful news of pregnancy, Justin and I went ahead with the adoption briefing on 21st Nov to find out more about the adoption process.]

After confirmation of my pregnancy from the HCG blood tests taken, Dr Hui recommended us to a catholic gynaecologist Dr Douglas Ong for follow-up checks to monitor the pregnancy and we started to see Dr Douglas Ong since then.