Kalispell, Montana – And Baby No.3 is out!
We named him – are you ready? – Jeffrey Peter Lato Ruffolo Jr. after his father, Jeffrey Peter Ruffolo. We followed the Philippine naming system, like the twins, so he’s middle name is my maiden name.
It took 26 hours of labor, two hours of pushing, and around 40 minutes inside the operating room for a cesarian section operation before we finally met Jeff Jr. or JJ to us, his family.
JJ is now the youngest brother of Danielle Mackenzie, Nicholas Louis, and Antoinette Elena. He was born at 11:40 a.m. on September 15, 2015 (Tuesday) at the Kalispell Regional Medical Center.
In this another family milestone, we’ve been blessed with a good army of doctors namely Dr. Gwenda Jonas and Dr. Thomas DeHoop of Kalispell OBGYN Associates who were there from the morning of September 14 up to today (September 17, Thursday) in making sure that JJ and I are doing okay. My anesthesiologists, Dr. Sugarmann and Dr. Hoffman, are my angels for making sure that I felt comfortable in between labor pains. My perinatologist, Dr. Debra Guinn, made sure that both JJ and I are doing well in the weeks leading to this delivery. My dietitian, Grace Caplan of the Diabetes Care Center, taught me carb counting and was instrumental in my diet change to manage my gestational diabetes.
I couldn’t be more blessed with the presence of the OB nurses who were hands down caring, kind, and sympathetic to my condition. Hollywood should put a spotlight on these healthcare providers. I would like to specifically mention Alisha Van Brunt and Jennifer Steele as these two ladies were the ones who attended to me during the most difficult times. The entire KRMC staff: you affirmed again and again that our decision to leave China to continue the pregnancy and eventually, have this baby delivered here was a great choice. Everything – from the prenatal visits, diabetes care, lab tests, checked in procedures, customer service, and the room service menu – was excellent!
Our deep gratitude to our family in Montana, Joe and Sheryl, for always extending all possible resources for us to utilize. We are eternally indebted to your kindness and generosity. We were also blessed with an angel named Anita, who took time and effort, to take care of the twins while Jeff and I were in a mad dash for the hospital and then trying to make sense about labor, induction, and C-section.
We thank everyone for all the prayers and well wishes. We are truly grateful to be parents again to another human being, who like his siblings, we will raise as a man of God and a responsible citizen of the world.
Presenting… Jeff Jr.!
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P.S. To those who are asking, yes, I’m writing my birthing story for this one too. I wasn’t able to see what was going on because the lamps above me were covered but the experience this time is out of this world and while I wasn’t able to experience a vaginal birth as I hoped I would, I experienced and survived the entire process of labor and pushing and that for me is more than enough. For now.
