At exactly eight years ago, 16 October 2003, 1 AM, I  experienced labor pains for the first time as I laid down next to a fetal monitor in a dimly lit room at a new hospital in Alabang, Muntinlupa City. The pains had just started then–two hours after my water bag broke while I was sleeping–and regardless of my resolve to go through it bravely and with as little help as possible from anyone, I was already writhing in pain by 3AM, begging for the anaesthesia that I had sworn to avoid. And I thought that I could do it all naturally since I considered myself well prepared for it–I religiously exercised, read everything I could that would help me cope with the situation, and I was very careful with the kind as well as amount of food I ate. I guess in the end the fact remained: my threshold for pain was simply low no matter how much I willed it to be otherwise. Looking back, it’s amazing how I survived the night. The pain seemed vent on killing me, yet it would not do so. I tried to counter the labor pains …